Debbie Douglas: Articles In Solidarity...

I invite you to check in this corner every month for information, for what's happening in our sector and for good conversations about us and how we're moving forward as an effective and necessary part of Ontario's social safety net.

Debbie Douglas is the Executive Director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI).

 Follow Debbie on Twitter @ocasi_policy

Changing the national narrative

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Executive Director’s Message - September 2016

This is the front page of Canada’s largest newspaper that greeted me last weekend. I had to read twice to ensure that I did not misread: “67. The percentage of Canadians who agree that immigrants should be screened for anti-Canadian values.” And this: “29. The percentage of Canadians who believe the state has a role in telling women what they can wear”. Excuse me?

In Memoriam

Sometimes symmetry is what you don’t want to happen, even when it benefits one’s cause. This is the situation we find ourselves in as we launch the first phase of the Council’s campaign against racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia. In our very many discussions and debates about the content, analysis, tone and messaging of the campaign we talked about competing isms, about intersectionalities, about social construction of identities and about the very real soul destroying experiences of individuals and communities who are marginalized, excluded and ‘othered’ within our society.

Dancing to the Revolution

We often speak about the success of second and third generation immigrant youth in terms of educational attainment, professional status achieved or public profile received because they have been appointed by one government or another to a public role. Rarely do we pay attention and applaud when they are engaged in political activism on the ground following their gut instincts, that when the most vulnerable amongst us are hurt, abused and even killed, they have a responsibility to speak out to try to right the wrongs - in short to spark a revolution. Hyperbole, maybe, but the young Black women and their allies who have put their bodies on the line in opposition to police violence against primarily Black and Indigenous men and increasingly those with mental health challenges, have been nothing short of awe-inspiring. They have demonstrated in no uncertain terms what it means to ‘walk the talk’.

Executive Director's Message - December 2015

The image of our new Prime Minister, in shirtsleeves greeting the first Syrian refugees airlifted from Beirut to Pearson International airport in Toronto was splashed across various media platforms from coast to coast to coast in Canada and across the globe. Accompanied by Ontario's Premier and Toronto's Mayor, the Prime Minister made a speech rich with the language of diversity and inclusion. The consensus is that his remarks captured the spirit of generosity that we've seen and heard expressed by so many residents here in Ontario and across the country.

Executive Director’s Message January 2016

On the day that I am writing this blog, the 10,000th Syrian refugee landed at Toronto Pearson airport. This fact made a small splash in the media as the conversation about whether the federal government will meet its various deadlines and arrival numbers of Government assisted and privately sponsored or the ‘best of both worlds' (as  a colleague recently said) the blended version (BVOR – Blended Visa Office Referral) continued.

Message from the Executive Director - May 2015

Earlier this year, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister of Education Liz Sandals unveiled the new health and human development (Sex Education) curriculum for our public (including Catholic) elementary and secondary schools. A version of this curriculum was first announced about four years ago but was shelved by then Premier McGuinty after some political push back by some religious and parents groups.

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