It seems like we can’t catch a breath, before another unexpected announcement of a legislative, by-law or policy change is announced by one or another level of government. All negative. All curbing individual and group rights. All must and will be challenged- in calls to elected politicians, in the streets and in the courts.
Bill C-2 an omnibus Bill introduced by the federal Minister of Public Safety contains several clauses that effectively shut the Canadian borders to refugee claimants (asylum seekers) in need of a safe refuge and Canada’s protection.
This new Bill under the guise of border safety, lumps refugee claims from those who have crossed the land border with the United States, with criminal elements like drug trafficking and guns smuggling. It adds further restrictions to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) by removing the two-week window for claimants who entered the country had to submit a claim. It doubles down on the one-year window that those who enter through a visa or work permit have to submit a claim which effectively would change their status. This means that international students or migrant workers whose country conditions changes (civil war, environmental disaster, etc) while here studying or working for more than a year, will not be able to petition Canada for protection.
I suspect that these measures are meant to dis- incentivize those in the US who may look to Canada as a haven as the current government to our south doubles down on xenophobic policies steeped in anti-Muslim and anti-Black racisms. The recent release of the list of banned countries is instructive.
It is also the federal government’s attempt to demonstrate to the Trump regime that they are taking seriously the securitization of our borders. We all agree that we must stop the flow of guns from the US to the streets of our cities and towns. And the flow of deadly drugs across the border (less from Canada). Lumping in immigration and protection considerations, especially with rules that harm those who are most vulnerable is wrong. Plain and simply wrong.
Interestingly and egregiously, the tightening of the STCA also means that Trans gender Americans looking to escape the ever-growing systemic discrimination against Trans women, Trans men and non-binary people would not be able to look to Canada for refuge. This in spite of the fact that Trans rights were written in our Constitution not too long ago.
I should not be surprised by this hypocrisy I guess. After all the STCA and its restrictions counteract the spirit and letter of the UN Refugee Convention. Canada is a signatory to this convention and is seen as a global leader and champion on refugee rights and as a place of refuge and protection for those fleeing persecution due to political activity and beliefs and/or membership in a social group.
I suspect that burying these anti-refugee clauses in an omnibus Bill is a way of hiding what the intent of these changes are meant to do. That is an end run around the procedures and processes of the Immigration Refugee Board. It is a way of forbidding for example, international students, many from India, Iran and Nigeria from changing their status from students to refugee claimants, as the government brings in significant changes including a cap on the international student visa regime.
On the face of it, it also appears that it may inadvertently affect Ukrainian people as well who have been here for more than one year and have not submitted a claim for asylum. Some are planning to do so as they run out of options to remain in Canada. They know they can’t return to Ukraine as there appears to be no end in sight of the war being waged by Russia against the State. Unintended consequences?
It was good to see how quickly various sector actors- advocates, activists, frontline practitioners, academics, migrant workers, refugee claimants, international students, progressive media, and even one or two bureaucrats raised the alarm about these changes to our immigration and refugee protection programs.
OCASI in partnership with our coalition partners at Colour of Poverty-Colour of Change released to its members and across our various communication platforms a letter calling on the federal government to withdraw all harmful clauses that references the refugee claimant system contained in Bill C2. Within hours we were receiving requests to make the letter a public document with the ability of others to add their names to the call to government to change course on these critically important issues. We did so. The open letter can be found here. [ La version française ].
A few days before this federal legislation was tabled, the City of Toronto where the Council is headquartered, introduced, debated and adopted a By-Law that will make it almost impossible to peacefully protest in our City. The so-called ‘Bubble Zone’ By-law prohibits all protests close to daycares, places of worship (regardless of what activities are taking place there), schools, etc. It allows organizations or institutions to apply to be a ‘Bubble Zone’ for up to a year with renewals into infinity.
What this means practically is that protests could not happen at places like Toronto City Hall since there is a daycare there – the Hester How Early Learning Center at 100 Queen Street West. This By-law must be rescinded.
We know this is a backdoor attempt to silence the protests against the genocide and ethnic cleansing taking place in Gaza and the growing anti-Palestinian racism we are seeing here in Toronto and across the country. It will limit protests in favour of migrant rights and against the decimation of encampments of unhoused residents. It would curb Black Lives Matter sites of protests against anti-Blackness that we continue to experience here in the City and across the province.
It will also inhibit those protesting the anti-Indigenous rights Bill C5, recently passed by the Ontario legislature in spite of significant opposition from Ontario First Nations Chiefs and their peoples. To add insult to injury the Bill was adopted at the beginning of Indigenous History Month. C5 is in violation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). It is against our own policies and laws which calls for meaningful engagement of Indigenous peoples in decisions having to do with their territories and lands. This Bill will give the provincial government and its proxies the right to ignore and overlook municipal and other By-laws or policies governing land use, etc. This is wrong. It will be challenged. And those of us who are non-Indigenous must be at the ready to lend our voices and political influence where they are most needed as determined by First Nations leadership.
As I’m writing this, I can feel my back tightening up, my emotions close to the surface caused by frustration, anger and fear. In what is feeling like a very short period of time we are seeing so much of what we worked to change, to build towards a fair and just society being unraveled before our eyes.
There is a sense that the attack is coming from every corner, from private sector as they walk back employment equity and other inclusive practices. It is instructive how many private sector businesses have pulled their financial supports from Pride Toronto and other 2SLGBTQI events and initiatives. How school boards here in Canada’s largest and most diverse province are able to pass rules forbidding queer representation in their schools.
It seems that almost daily I am reading about the many companies that have walked back hiring targets of Black and racialized people in positions of leadership or in any position for that matter. From universities to financial institutions we continue to hear about the dismantling of equity and antiracism policies and practices. It can be soul-destroying to watch decades of progress turned back. But we cannot give in to despair. We cannot give up.
My partner often reminds me that this political moment we are in should have been anticipated as it adheres to historical patterns. That reading the current situation through the lens of our people’s histories on these lands of the Americas tells us that whenever great strides are made, there follows significant pushback. We have had this experience from the beginning of the abolition movement, to the end of the enslavement of my peoples, to the push against colonial rule and the independence of many island nations and here in Canada with the creation and then the decimation of Black spaces from Halifax to Vancouver (Africville to Hogan’s Alley). The experiences and historical suffering of Black Americans is better documented and illustrative of this point. As is the herstory of women’s liberation. Remember, Roe vs Wade was rolled back after decades of women’s fight to win the right to have sovereignty over our bodies.
In other words, when fairness and equity and truth and justice are winning, the forces of colonialism and racism and patriarchy and white supremacy pushes back. Hard.
We are in this moment. We cannot stop our collective work of building a city, a province, a country and a world that works for all of us. That ensures that those who are most marginalized are prioritized. That speaks truth to power and have justice as our watch word and our lighthouse. Join me in this walk to our collective liberation.
In solidarity