STATUS FOR ALL!

We live here! We work here! We’re staying here!

We march together to demand an end to deportations and detentions, and in opposition to the double punishment of migrants with criminal records. We demand Status for All, and organize for a “Solidarity City” for all residents of Montreal.

A child-friendly march. Bring your kids!
Get in touch about any accessibility needs. 


—–

-> Join the migrant justice contingent during ANTI-CAPITALIST MAYDAY:
TUESDAY, MAY 1^st, 2012
The migrant justice contingent will gather behind the “ImmigrantEs, travailleurs/euses: même combat!” banner at 4:15pm at the corner of corner of Saint-Antoine & Gosford.
May 1st gathering at Champ-de-Mars at 4:30pm
Métro Champ-de-Mars
INFO: www.clac-montreal.net/en
—–

WHY WE MARCH

This year, we march in opposition to the Conservative government’s relentless attacks on people here and abroad. We take to the streets to assert our dignity as workers, students, refugees, immigrants, and queers.

We reject the militarization of borders, the criminalization of migrants, the institutionalization of wage-slavery through temporary worker programs, and the dominant xenophobic and racist ideology. We also denounce Bill C-31, the “Refugee Exclusion Act”, an immigration law that jails asylum seekers, entrenches a two-tier refugee system discriminating against the majority based on their nationality, and gives the Immigration Minister enormous discretionary powers to take away people’s permanent residency after they have been granted refugee status. This law advocates intrusive biometrics data collection on all migrants in the country, and gives increased powers of arrest and detention to border guards that will affect tourists, permanent residents, students and refugees alike. It will also force many more people to live underground, with no access to labor standards or essential services like healthcare and education.

The march is organized in support of four main demands:

STATUS FOR ALL! We demand a full, comprehensive and ongoing regularization program for all people living in Montreal, Quebec and Canada who do not have full status (ie. permanent residence or citizenship). Simply put, Status for All means that all residents of Canada will get the documentation they need so they can access basic services and the same rights as anyone else. Status for All means we struggle and organize so that all residents, regardless of their origins, can have full dignity as human beings.

NO TO DEPORTATIONS! We stand in solidarity with those who struggle to resist their deportations and forced removals. We denounce the violence of deportations that breaks up families and uproots people from their communities. We believe that everyone has the right to migrate, the right to resist forced displacement, and the right return to their homelands if they so choose.

NO TO DETENTIONS! On any given day in Canada, there are upwards of 500 people in immigration detention centres, including up to 100 individuals and families at the Centre de prevention de l’immigration de Laval. We demand the immediate release of all detainees in immigration detention facilities, and organize for the closing of all detention centres.

NO TO DOUBLE PUNISHMENT! “Double punishment” is the term used to describe the unjust policy used against non-citizens who face deportation after being punished for a criminal conviction. Double punishment is often the direct result of racial profiling. The reality of double punishment in our communities often provokes feelings of shame and isolation, due to the stigma of a criminal conviction. We aim to break this isolation by taking a clear stance against double punishment, to expose this injustice, and to support the individuals fighting to remain with their families, friends and community here in Montreal. We believe that double punishment is an extension of the prison-industrial-complex that profits from the criminalization and incarceration of entire populations.
—–

We are also demonstrating to affirm a SOLIDARITY CITY in Montreal:

For thousands of undocumented migrants across the country cities such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are sweatshops. Immigrants and refugees work the most precarious and dangerous jobs. The Canadian economy cannot survive without this work force that is exploited due to the lack of permanent status and the threat of forced removal. Instead of the city being a sweatshop, we organize to build a Solidarity City.

A Solidarity City is the creation of a community that rejects a system that engenders poverty and precarity, not solely for immigrants and refugees, but also for other Montrealers confronting these same realities. We are opposing fear, isolation and division and we strike back with solidarity, organized mutual aid, and direct action.

The “Solidarity City” campaign is an attempt to generalize and broaden some key organizing principles that have been applied in migrant justice work in Montreal: networking and unifying around common and straightforward demands; practicing autonomous mutual aid and solidarity in contrast to charity or service approaches; holding decision-makers accountable for their actions and policies; and using direct action to achieve justice

All individuals and groups in Montreal can be part of contributing to and building a Solidarity City by providing support to undocumented residents, and by linking your efforts to our larger campaigns for social justice. Get in touch to learn more.
—–

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS:

* ENDORSE: By endorsing our demonstration and campaign you are agreeing with our demands and you will help to publicize our events within your networks.

* PUBLICIZE & PROMOTE: We have posters, flyers, as well as e-mail callouts, in French, English and Spanish. Get in touch about getting access to our publicity materials, or to join one of our door-to-door outreach teams in Côte-des-Neiges, Parc Extension, Villeray, St-Michel & Hochelaga.

* DONATE: We are an all-volunteer effort and rely on modest donations to sustain our campaign. You can donate by making a cheque out to “Solidarité sans frontières” and include “Status for All” in the memo line. You can mail your cheques to:

Solidarity Across Borders
1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, #204
Montreal, QC H3G 1N1
Contact us if you want to make a cash donation or to organize a benefit.

* GET INVOLVED: We have committees that are doing active outreach and mobilization, as well as preparing art and other materials. Just e-mail or phone to lend your support.

* LEARN MORE: Invite us to make a presentation about the Status for All campaign to your group or organization, to learn more about our demands and the Solidarity City campaign.

—–

Organized by Solidarity Across Borders, No One Is Illegal-Montreal, Dignidad Migrante, the Immigrant Workers Center, JOC-Montreal, and Mexicans United for Regularization. (Dignidad Migrante & Solidarity Across Borders are working groups of QPIRG Concordia.)

TO STAY IN TOUCH:
solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com

Tel: 438-933-7654

www.solidarityacrossborders.org

L’angoisse, la peur, la précarité: chaque jour, à Montréal, plusieurs dizaines de milliers d’immigrés organisent leur vie autour d’une donnée majeure: leur situation illégale. Ils sont demandeurs d’asile déboutés, parents d’enfants canadiens, touristes venus ici non pour voyager mais pour travailler, ou encore entrés ici illégalement. Les chemins qui les ont menés à la clandestinité sont nombreux. Ils n’ont pourtant qu’une seule destination: la vie sans statut, le cul-de-sac juridique. Pendant des mois, voire des années, ils survivent dans l’anonymat le plus complet. De petits boulots payés au noir, dans des conditions qui dérogent aux normes québécoises, leur permettent de subsister. Ils n’ont pas accès à l’aide sociale ni à l’assurance maladie. Ils rasent les murs, hésitent à sortir de l’anonymat, de peur d’être dénoncés aux autorités canadiennes, arrêtés, renvoyés vers leurs pays. Ils sont prisonniers d’une vie quotidienne, privés des libertés les plus simples. On estime à plus de 250 000 personnes le nombre de clandestins au Canada, dont près de 40 000 à Montréal, qui vivent et travaillent à nos côtés. La Presse a rencontré certains d’entre eux, qui ont accepté, non sans réticence, de nous raconter leur existence sans statut au Canada et leur rêve d’une vie normale.

Voici leurs histoires:

i) «Tout ce que je veux, c’est vivre ici.»

C’est un après-midi glacial, au coeur de l’hiver montréalais.

Autour de la table de cuisine, Edma, 49 ans, est assise en face de sa fille Rachel, 24 ans. À côté d’elles, Daniel, 30 ans, copain de Rachel. Il tient dans ses bras leur deuxième enfant, une petite fille de quelques mois.

Le bébé et son aînée de 3 ans sont les seuls membres de la famille à être officiellement canadiens.

Rachel est arrivée au Canada il y a sept ans avec sa mère, son père et son frère. La famille, propriétaire de terrains au Mexique, a quitté le pays en catastrophe, chassée par la pègre locale.

article: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/201205/06/01-4522456-tout-ce-que-je-veux-cest-vivre-ici.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_vous_suggere_4522453_article_POS1

ii) «J’ai mes rêves, mais quand je me réveille, je me dis: merde, il n’y a pas d’avenir pour moi.»

À 30 ans, Emilio* a travaillé en Espagne avant de poser ses valises au Canada. Contrairement aux États-Unis, le Canada, lui avait dit un ami qui s’y était installé, laisse entrer facilement les Mexicains. Là, le travail au noir abonde.

article: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/201205/06/01-4522458-jai-mes-reves-mais-quand-je-me-reveille-je-me-dis-merde-il-ny-a-pas-davenir-pour-moi.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_vous_suggere_4522453_article_POS2

iii) «On est forcés de travailler plus que n’importe quel immigrant.»

«Je ne peux plus continuer comme ça.»

Cela fait cinq ans qu’Alejandro* n’a ni vu ni serré dans ses bras sa femme et ses trois filles.

Elles vivent au Mexique, lui à Montréal.

Alejandro est ici illégalement.

Toute la famille était venue à Montréal au début des années 2000, pour demander l’asile. Le statut de réfugié leur a été refusé, et ils se sont résignés à retourner au Mexique.

Mais la situation là-bas est invivable.

article: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/201205/06/01-4522459-on-est-forces-de-travailler-plus-que-nimporte-quel-immigrant.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_vous_suggere_4522453_article_POS3

iv) «Pour eux, c’est juste un dossier. Pour nous, c’est notre vie.»

Dans la petite salle d’audience de la Commission de l’immigration et du statut de réfugié (CISR), le gris domine.

Nous sommes mercredi.

Devant le drapeau canadien, Mélanie Martel, petite femme ronde, est assise, entourée des trois enfants de son mari, de sa soeur, de sa mère, de quelques amies et d’un représentant du groupe Solidarité sans frontières.

Tout ce comité attend anxieusement l’arrivée du commissaire chargé de déterminer, ce jour-là, si Jean-Bernard Devilmé, mari de Mélanie, pourra être libéré du Centre de prévention de l’immigration de Laval, où il a été conduit lundi.

article: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/201205/06/01-4522460-pour-eux-cest-juste-un-dossier-pour-nous-cest-notre-vie.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_vous_suggere_4522453_article_POS4

v) «Quand on tombe là-dedans, on ne sait pas ce qui nous attend.»

Malinka* a 36 ans, le verbe haut et le regard franc.

Elle a passé plusieurs années dans la clandestinité.

Elle vient d’Afrique de l’Ouest et espérait trouver refuge au Canada, il y a sept ans. Mais quand elle a été refusée, Malinka n’a pu se résoudre à partir.

«J’ai eu un ordre de sortir, mais j’ai eu un enfant ici. J’aurais pu partir, mais j’ai pris le risque pour mon enfant. Je voulais lui donner une vie meilleure.»

article: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/201205/06/01-4522461-quand-on-tombe-la-dedans-on-ne-sait-pas-ce-qui-nous-attend.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_vous_suggere_4522453_article_POS5

vi) «Une grande portion de notre économie est basée sur les personnes sans papiers»

Le groupe montréalais Solidarité sans frontières vient en aide aux immigrés, et notamment aux sans-papiers. Bien connu des intervenants du milieu, il revendique la régularisation de tous les sans-papiers.

«Il n’y a pas de gens qui ont plus de droits que les autres», croit Rosalind Wong, militante de Solidarité sans frontières.

article: http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/201205/06/01-4522462-une-grande-portion-de-notre-economie-est-basee-sur-les-personnes-sans-papiers.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_vous_suggere_4522453_article_POS6

NO BOSSES, NO BORDERS, NO DEPORTATIONS!

We declare that Migrant Rights are Workers Rights !

Since May 1, 1886 immigrant workers have been on the frontlines of workers struggles, taking direct action to demand justice and equality. This year, the Status for All! Coalition* takes to the streets in the context of crippling austerity measures and increasing attacks against refugees, migrant workers and immigrant communities. We join the call for a general social strike put forth by the CLAC.

Like the Chinese migrant workers who built Canada’s railroad at the turn of the century, immigrants have historically been the back-bone of the capitalist economy.

Today, Canada is closing the door on refugees, families, women who are victim of violence, and LBGT communities while entrenching a just-in-time immigration regime of migrant worker programs as a way to control migration and boost profits for big business and its primary industries.

These temporary worker programs are designed to legalize slavery, forcing migrant workers to labor long hours for low pay, under the constant fear of deportation by their employer. Migrant workers have no access to permanent status, no social protection or healthcare, no labor standards, no benefits, and no rights. They are fully taxed, and completely exploited.

All major Canadian industries depend on migrant labor. Over 300,000 migrant workers toil in the hotel industry, manufacturing sectors, greenhouses, farms, meat factories, fast-food restaurants, construction sites, nanny services, and the Alberta oil sands.

Canada counts on the fact that migrant workers send money back to their families. Remittances account for more money than the first-world aid to developing countries provided for by governmental agencies like CIDA. In this way, the government doesn’t have to invest in peoples’ well being. It is the migrant worker that bears all the costs of the imperialist, capitalist economic system here and in their home country.

AUDIO 2min origins of Mayday

—–

*Solidarity Across Borders, No One Is Illegal Montreal, JOC-Montreal, the Immigrant Workers Center, Mexicans United for Regularization and Dignidad Migrante are joining the May 1st anti-capitalist demonstration under the banner “Migrant Rights are Workers Rights”.

We are calling for the abolition of immigration controls that protect the free movement of capital, while stifling the freedom of movement of people.  We oppose anti-migrant legislation like bill C-31, racial profiling, police surveillance and the criminalization of immigrant communities. We reject the militarization of the border, immigrant detention and deportation, and the prison industrial complex. We struggle to build a ‘Solidarity city’ in which everyone has access to all social services no matter their immigration status. We demand Status for All!

We are also organizing a “Status for All” march on Saturday May 26th at noon (at metro Jean-Talon, corner Jean-Talon and Boyer). Join us!

NO ONE IS ILLEGAL!

Information about strategies on what to do after your refugee claim is refused

Upcoming Clinics: May 30
from 6pm to 9pm
at QPIRG Concordia
1500 de Maisonneuve West, # 204
Metro Guy-Concordia

Find out what are the options after your refugee claim is refused. We will cover the legal procedures that pertain to your situation, and talk about political strategies and collective action in a safe space based on solidarity

Info: solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com, 438-933-7654

WE SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN OF ECONOMIC DISRUPTION

March 26, 2012, Montreal – This week, Quebec students escalate their tactics, building on almost one month of a general strike, and last Thursday’s massive demonstration against the Charest government tuition hikes.

The ongoing strike and Thursday’s historic demonstration are a starting point, not an end, as many student organizers have pointed out. The upcoming week of disruptive actions is especially important.

We are writing to support the Coalition Large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (CLASSE) who have called for a campaign of economic disruption to pressure the Charest government to cancel the tuition hikes. We agree that it’s not just through symbolic protests and actions – which are important to build solidarity and support – that the Charest government will capitulate. Rather, they will respond to the sustained and tangible disruption of the Quebec economy.

Already, business organizations, politicians, police and mainstream media commentators have referred to the economic impacts of the general strike. More blocked bridges, ports, highways and government buildings, as well as the continued disruption of colleges and universities, will force the hand of the Charest government.

Beyond the immediate demands to cancel the tuition hikes, sustained economic disruption opens up political space to talk about broader social demands. In addition to demands for free access to education (“gratuité scolaire”), some student associations have made broader links, by opposing Plan Nord or taking a stand in favor of full access to schools for non-status persons. Sustained strikes and disruptions opens up democratic spaces in the streets and in our communities for larger demands to confront capitalism, patriarchy and all forms of exploitation and oppression. A social strike puts democracy into the hands of people and their grassroots assemblies and institutions, not the sellout politicians and parties loyal to “representative democracy”.

We are writing, as local grassroots social justice collectives, groups and organizations, to publicly support this week’s economic disruptions. We will encourage our members to lend tangible support, by participating, and by engaging others in support of this week’s escalation. We denounce the use of police to attack students who are using legitimate tactics to force the hand of a government that refuses to listen to popular power. We also express our solidarity with blockaders and resisters on the frontlines, and denounce all attempts to use the media or police to divide movements.

For more information, please consult: www.stopthehike.ca/

Statement endorsed by:

- Solidarité sans frontières / Solidarity Across Borders - www.solidarityacrossborders.org

- QPIRG Concordia / GRIP à Concordia - www.qpirgconcordia.org

- La Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC) - www.clac-montreal.net

- Personne n’est illégal / No One Is Illegal-Montreal - www.nooneisillegal.org

- Organisation populaire des droits sociaux de la région de Montréal - http://opdsrm.com

- La Pointe Libertaire - www.lapointelibertaire.org

- Dignidad Migrante - http://dignidadmigrante.info

- Le Centre Social Autogéré - www.centresocialautogere.org

- Réseau de la Commission Populaire / People’s Commission Network - www.commissionpopulaire.org

- Ste-Emilie Skillshare - http://steemilieskillshare.org

- Artivistic - http://artivistic.org

- Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie (PASC) - www.pasc.ca

- Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP) - http://cobp.resist.ca

- GRIP-UQÀM - www.gripuqam.org

- QPIRG McGill - http://qpirgmcgill.org

- People’s Potato - www.peoplespotato.com

- Cinema Politica - www.cinemapolitica.org

- Montréal-Nord Républik - http://montrealnordrepublik.blogspot.ca

- Concordia Community Solidarity Co-op Bookstore - www.co-opbookstore.ca

–> To endorse this callout, please contact blocampmontreal@gmail.com . The callout will be re-sent this Thursday morning. <–
[By signing this callout, we will share information actively via our networks (public contact lists, public events, e-mail announcements, website, social media etc.) and publicly support students and their supporters who are organizing economic disruptions this week and beyond. We also support the CLASSE in opposing all tuition hikes, within the perspective of free access to education.]

SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2012

Dinner starts at 6:30pm

Location: Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs Church, 284 de l’Église, Métro de l’Église

Food, entertainment, speakers, and more!

FREE. Childcare and kids activities on site. Bring your family!

Welcome to all!

The Status For All! Coalition is composed of Solidarity Across Borders, No-One Is Illegal, Dignidad Migrante, Immigrant Workers’ Centre, JOC Montreal, and Mexicans United for Regularization, the Status For All! Coalition will be hosting its next community dinner, a “Spring Gathering,” in anticipation of the May 26^th Status For All! march. 

Join us for an evening of delicious food, good company, entertainment and shared stories from those who are fighting for justice and dignity. Learn more about the current mobilization strategies for our Status For All! campaign, as well as our efforts to build a Solidarity City. The event will also be catered with the help of le Réseau D’Entraide de Verdun and the People’s Potato.

The Evening will include:

* A Community Dinner (both vegan and meat options will be available)

* Speakers

* Music and other performances!  And more!

Info:  statutpourtoutessouper@gmail.com

If you can help with the preparation of food, or help with cleaning, get in touch. We need volunteers!

If you can help with the distribution of flyers and posters for this dinner, get in touch as well!

Contact us with your questions about accessibility.

MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION KENNEY DISRUPTED IN MONTREAL

Approximately twenty migrant justice activists and allies, including many involved in the militant student movement, entered a hall where Minister of Immigration (aka Minister of Censorship and Deportation) Jason Kenney was scheduled to speak yesterday. Kenney was in town to promote market-driven immigration in a talk called, “Targeted, Fast and Efficient Immigration System with Focus on Jobs and Growth.”

The activists shouted anti-racist slogans such as, “No borders, no nations, stop the deportations,” and held a banner stating, “Jason Kenney emprisonne les réfugié-e-s. Arrêtez le projet de loi C-31. Mettez fin au racisme! (Jason Kenney imprisons refugees. Stop C-31. End racism!)”

After they were driven out by the SPVM (Montreal police), the event was delayed as police secured the location. The police also prevented CUTV, a Concordia University station, from entering despite the fact they were already registered and other media were allowed to enter.

A lavish meal, at $100 per plate, was provided to people from companies such as SNC-Lavalin, Hydro Quebec, Rio Tinto Alcan and Bell Canada, as well as to journalists. A table was also reserved for McGill University.

Gerry Weiner then introduced Jason Kenney. (When he was the federal Immigration Minister himself, Gerry Weiner brought in the investor class of immigrants; he now works for a consulting company tailored to these investor immigrants, Pace Global Advantage.) Weiner congratulated Kenney for forcing women to uncover their faces while taking the citizenship oath, for replacing family sponsorship with super visas for the rich, for making changes to the immigration system that would cater to corporate needs, and for successfully challenging some of the “sacred cows” of the immigration system (presumably treating migrants with some degree of dignity).

In classic disinformation style – ignoring the lively protest outside and the earlier mass disruption – Mr. Weiner claimed that Jason Kenney had been able to bring in these changes with no opposition and no nay-sayers.

As Jason Kenney began to speak, a migrant-justice activist rose to challenge Kenney’s immigration policies.  She specifically challenged the Refugee Exclusion Act (Bill C-31), which will make permanent residency conditional for accepted refugees. Those who have already been accepted as refugees and granted permanent residency risk losing their status if it is determined that they are no longer in need of protection. She stated that this will further put people who are poor, women, children, and LGBTQ in danger and place them in a perpetual state of precarity and violence.

After she was dragged out, shouting, “immigrants are not commodities!”, Kenney struggled to regain his composure. But as he resumed his
speech, a second activist interrupted to denounce the fact that, under Mr. Kenney’s Refugee Exclusion Act, refugees will face mandatory imprisonment
for one year. Child refugees will either be detained with their mothers or separated from both parents. She, too, was forcibly removed by security
guards, as she called for people to fight against such immigration laws, which are destroying people’s lives.

Outside, a family friendly rally took place with speakers from the South Asian Women’s Community Centre, Women of Diverse Origins, the Immigrant Worker’s Centre, Mexicans United for Regularization, Solidarity Across Borders, the People’s Commission Network, and No One Is Illegal. They spoke passionately and powerfully about Bill C-31′s effects on women and LGBTQ migrants, double punishment (where migrants pay twice for the same crime: criminal sentence and then deportation), the detention and deportation of migrants based on their profile (security certificates), and the situation of Mexicans fighting for status in Canada, a country blind to the violence and instability of its Mexican business partner.

The main body of the rally then went to join forces with the powerful demonstration against Plan Nord taking place on the other side of town, making links between Jean Charest’s colonial expansion project in the north of Quebec, his massive tuition increases, and Jason Kenney’s commodification of the immigration system in Canada.

Previous disruptions of Kenney in Montreal in 2010 and 2009:
2010: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.ca/2010/03/jason-kenney-perturbe-et-confronte.html
2009: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.ca/2009/10/i-plead-guilty-im-racist-jason-kenney.html

No One Is Illegal! All power to the people!
http://www.nooneisillegal.org/

Friday, April 20, 11:30am
Outside Marriott Hotel, corner of Peel and de la Gauchetière (Bonaventure Metro)

On Friday, April 20, federal Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney will be in Montreal to promote the Conservatives’ market-driven immigration policies. The event is organized by the Conseil des Relations Internationales (CORIM) and sponsored by Rio Tinto Alcan, Hydro-Quebec and SNC Lavalin. Kenney will try to justify “Targeted, Fast and Efficient Immigration System with Focus on Jobs and Growth.”

Un-documented people, migrants of various communities, and people of colour can read between the lines: profit before people.

Since his appointment to the Cabinet in 2008, Kenney has led a vicious Conservative campaign against immigrants, queers, and social justice activists. Internationally, he has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Israel’s apartheid regime. At home, he is the author of the recent federal Bill C-31 (the Refugee Exclusion Act), a sordid piece of legislation essentially designed to create a racist, disableist, two-tiered system where refugees get fewer rights based on their nationality. With Minister of Injustice Vic Toews, Kenney is responsible for creating a climate of fear and hysteria around immigrants, whether through the system of “double punishment” (where immigrants to Canada are forced to pay not once for crimes committed but twice by having their immigration status placed into question); through the system of “security certificates” (where immigrants are indefinitely detained or deported based on their profiles); or through witch hunts and deportations of immigrants allegedly guilty of “serious criminality” or war crimes, often without the slightest shred of evidence.

Meanwhile, down the street at the Palais de Congrès, demonstrators will disrupt the Salon de l’Emplois du Plan Nord, a massive spectacle put on by the major corporations involved in the theft and “development” of indigenous land in Quebec’s northern region. In the face of the crisis of North American capitalism, the neoliberal state in Quebec and Canada alike have turned to massive infrastructure and resource extraction as a way out — saving their bacon on the backs of poor and indigenous communities across the country. The Plan Nord operates on the same fundamental logic as Kenney’s racist immigration regime — exploit the many for the profit of the few; crush dissent; hand over power to “efficient” corporations.

Similarly, students across Quebec continue to strike against unjust tuition hikes. We stand in solidarity with this struggle and remember particularly the plight of international students, who according to racist neoliberal logic are faced not only with tuition hikes but out and out deregulation of all fees in many programs. Under Kenney’s regime, their resistance to the corporatization of education in Quebec often puts them at risk of losing their immigration status.

On Friday, April 20th, we take the streets!

PEOPLE ARE NOT FOR SALE!
IMMIGRANTS ARE NOT COMMODITIES!
JASON KENNEY NOT WELCOME!

Organized by: No One Is Illegal – Montreal and allies,
nooneisillegal@gmail.com

*Endorsed by: Solidarity across Borders, People’s Commission Network, Anti-Colonial Solidarity Collective, Women of Diverse Origins, South Asian Women’s Community Centre (SAWCC), Dignidad Migrante, Coalition Large de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE), La Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC), QPIRG-McGill, Tadamon! Montreal.

Media coverage HERE. 

Paola comes Home!

After having been deported by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) on September 23rd, 2011, Paola Ortiz has finally come home. She returns to her family, her two children, her friends, and her job. In 2011, the federal government refused her refugee claim under the pretext that the Mexican state could assure adequate protection to female victims of domestic violence. Seven months later, Immigration Canada has agreed to accept her application for permanent residency and Paola arrived in Montreal with legal status on April 13, 2012.

Paola Ortiz’s return marks the end of seven extremely difficult months of living in semi-underground conditions in the country that she tried to flee six years ago because of domestic and sexual violence committed against her by her partner at the time, a federal police officer. Her daily existence in exile was defined by isolation, fear of reprisals, and uncertainty with regards to her future and the possibility of seeing her children -both Canadian citizens- who remained here in Montreal with family members.

Paola’s struggle to stay here exemplifies the struggle of many. The Canadian government claims that Mexicans are “fake refugees” abusing Canada’s generosity, and as such, has deliberately targeted this community with visa requirements and mass deportations. Yet, Canada is blatantly denying its role in the increased poverty, the widespread violence, and the forced displacement of entire populations that is ravaging Mexico. Canada, through trilateral agreements like NAFTA and the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), has served to protect authoritarianism, militarization, and impunity in Mexico.

Paola’s perseverance, despite the enormous odds and painful decisions she was confronted with, inspires us all. Paola’s victory is shared by her friends, social organizations and supporters who continue the fight for justice, dignity, and Status for All!

Thank you Paola for your courage!

More information on Paola’s case HERE

SATURDAY, March 3rd,
from 11:30am to 1:30pm
at the Delta Hotel, 777 University Avenue (corner St. Antoine),
Montreal

More information about the Conservative Conference (including list of guest speakers, such as Jason Kenney): http://cpcyouthconference.ca/

CONSERVATIVES ARE NOT WELCOME!  NO ANTI-IMMIGRANT HATRED AND VIOLENCE!

This Saturday at 11:30 am Dignidad Migrante (DM), Immigrant Workers’ Center (IWC), No One Is Illegal-Montreal (NOII) and Solidarity Across Borders (SAB) will join a rally that will take place in front of the Delta Hotel where a national conference for young Conservatives will be hosted.

While the young conservatives have come to listen to their senior members and party leaders celebrate the federal election results and “prepare for the future,” we will be there to tell the naïve youth and their paternalistic leaders that we categorically reject their agenda: it represents an unbearable future consisting of violence, inequality, repression, war, a culture of snitching, fear, distrust, withdrawal, racism, sexism and oppression where the most rich and powerful squash everyone else.

As long as the young Conservatives dedicate themselves to the party, they should be aware that they will be met by people and groups that fight their backwards, elitist, authoritarian, militaristic, sexist, racist, and xenophobic ideologies.

We strongly oppose the policies of the Conservative government and their racist minister of Citizenship, Anti-Immigration and Deportations, Jason Kenney, who will be present at the conference on Saturday. These
anti-immigrant policies and unjust laws, such as the recent bill to reject refugees (Bill-C31), make up their vile plans to:

• Increase the criminalization of migrants: mandatory detention, including their children, no access to appeals or permanent residency, fast-tracked deportations, increased double punishment and the revocations of status of people who lived here for decades, an aggressive media-campaign to hunt down the ‘foreign dangerous and illegal criminal’;

• Restrict family reunification (with parents and spouses) and limit access to permanent residency, breaking up homes and shattering families;

• Conditional refugee status and revocable permanent residence if countries are deemed safe by the minister ;

• Expand temporary worker programs: which leave migrants -brought here like virtual slaves in order to respond to the needs of local employers- extremely exploitable, disposable, and defenseless in the face of severe exploitation with no access to labor standards or permanent status.

The Conservatives are promoting the Low Skilled Pilot Project as the only means to enter Fortress Canada. In 2010, Canada brought in 18, 2322 temporary foreign workers, as thousands of people are forced to live underground in constant fear of deportation and detention, while suffering complete social exclusion. They are denied dignity, a decent living and permanent status. Yet, they are the invisible ones who make the economy run.

For these reasons, we oppose the anti-migrant hatred and violence that the Conservatives engender with their laws and discourse.

** A call for action organized by **
-Dignidad Migrante: http://es-la.facebook.com/dignidadmigrante
-Immigrant Workers Center: http://iwc-cti.ca/?lang=fr

- No One Is Illegal-Montreal: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/?z
-Solidarity Across Borders: www.solidarityacrossborders.org