Debbie Douglas: Articles In Solidarity...

Over the past year OCASI and some of its members have been intimately engaged with the debate on the Canada Jobs Grant program and the implications for Ontario's newly arrived immigrant populations and other groups with little or no labour market attachment (which makes them EI ineligible); supported  the campaign to increase the minimum wage to $14/hour; took every opportunity to speak about the need to increase social assistance rates including ODSP (Disability support program) and the need for a boost to the Ontario Child Benefits program. Needless to say there was great anticipation about the 2014 provincial budget. Imagine then the response to the not unexpected decision of the opposition parties to withhold support for the budget, setting the stage for a provincial campaign and an election in mid-June.

December 2012 marked the 22nd anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. In Canada there is much to reflect on: The strides we've made over the past decades in creating a nation that is welcoming, that values the contribution of immigrants and that takes its obligation to protecting those in need of asylum and refuge seriously.

Since September of this year, OCASI has been working with a consulting consortium to overhaul our Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression (ARAO) policies and to undertake a series of training sessions with the Board of Directors, Senior Management, Program Managers and Employees. The Council, after years of looking outward at the sector- implementing the Positive Spaces Initiative; developing and delivering extensive training on issues of (dis)abilities and intersecting identities including immigration status; ensuring opportunities for discussion and training on anti-racism and anti-oppression at our various conferences; vigorously applying an integrated analysis of race, gender, class, age, ability, etc. to our policy work, - believed it time to take an internal look.

The recent OCASI Executive Directors' Forum - 2012, has been talked about by many who attended as ‘one of the best.' When asked why, many responded that the policy plenaries and discussions were timely and informative. Folks liked that there was a common theme running through the plenary: A theme about change. Change in the non-profit sector, change in the immigrant and refugee serving sector, in sector-funder relationships and with relationships between and among governments.

Late last month, I attended a bi-national meeting hosted by the UNHCR in the USA on Alternative to Detentions (ATD). Present were Government, NGO and UNHCR representatives from Canada, USA, Australia and Sweden. In between the very many presentations on new policies and guidelines, good and bad practices, challenges and advocacy strategies for getting governments and communities to buy into ATD, we made side trips to visit service agencies both in the USA and in Canada.

I've always thought of the day after Labour Day as the beginning of a second new year.  As colleagues return to work from vacations and “staycations”, one can sense a renewed focused energy, a ramping up of gears, a new sense of purpose that organizations take on after the long lazy days of summer.  This year more than most I felt that there was a sense of change in the air.

This is usually the time of year when the pace of the work of organizations slows down as leadership and practitioners take time to renew their energies and to regroup. It is the time when the reality of life-work balance seems not too out of reach and when dreams of lazy hours on patios, lake beaches or backyards with family and friends often become reality. For many in our sector, this is not happening this year.

We are living in interesting times. It is beginning to feel like back to the future. The sector has been bombarded with changes over the last couple of years as we experience significant changes at the policy level as well as at the program level.