Legislation & Public Policies

Joint NGO statement in advance of Canada’s examination by UN CERD Committee

Toronto / July 31, 2017 / - Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change (COP-COC) is outraged that a Toronto resident’s attempt to exercise his democratic right to peaceful protest resulted in a charge of trespass, a fine, and ban on entering a public building.

On July 27, community activist Desmond Cole was thrown out of a Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) meeting and charged with trespass, reportedly for bringing up an issue that was not on the meeting agenda.

In June 2017, the Ontario government proposed changes to Ontario employment and labour laws. The government introduced Bill 148 (2017), An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995.

OCASI welcomes Bill 148 and its potential to strengthen existing protections for immigrant, refugee and migrant workers as well as all other Ontario workers who are disadvantaged and excluded from basic protections.

July 2017

Over the past few weeks, my time has been taken up with government relations obligations: consultation with the Federal Minister responsible for immigration; discussions with the Provincial Ministry (of Citizenship and Immigration) and their new Refugee Resettlement Unit; participation on the Global Migration Compact Advisory Committee and my work on the Provincial Working Group charged with developing a roadmap for Income Security Reform.

June 2017

This short month with the longest day in the year is unfolding with a packed legislative and policy agenda at all levels of government. From the City of Toronto (where OCASI’s offices are located) to Queen’s Park to Parliament Hill, announcements from our elected leaders have been raining down from on high: Most of it good.

Earlier this month the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released the report Under Suspicion: Research and Consultation Report on Racial Profiling in Ontario.  It is chockful of personal examples of how racial profiling tears at the soul of those profiled, reinforces the sense of otherness that many who are racialized experience, and undermines the social cohesion we so desperately need if this Canadian political project of diversity and inclusion is to be a success.

OCASI together with Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change submitted a written brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, for its study on The Economic Security of Women in Canada.

The Bill was introduced in the Legislature on March 29, 2017 by Michael Coteau, Minister Responsible for Anti-Racism.  If passed, legislation would embed the Ontario Anti-Racism Directorate in law, creating a framework for continued work to promote equity for racialized groups across the province. The Bill would enable the government to mandate race data collection and an anti-racism impact assessment framework, to apply an anti-racism perspective to public sector policies and programs. 

OCASI and many others across Canada are calling on the Canadian government to suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement with the US. Asylum seekers that enter Canada from the U.S. through regulated border points are subject to the Agreement, and may not be allowed to stay to make a refugee claim. Many Canadians are concerned about the health, safety and well-being of asylum seekers who are crossing the border into Canada at unregulated points, while others mistakenly believe they are breaking the law and should be stopped. 

Act today! Please use this template to send a letter by email to your Member of Parliament, with a copy to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and to OCASI.