Announcement

Joint Statement in solidarity with Indigenous families mourning the murder of four Indigenous women

[Veuillez trouver la version française ci-dessous]

We call for an end to the systemic gendered state violence in Iran and stand in solidarity with protesters seeking women’s rights to bodily integrity and autonomy, and freedom of speech and assembly.

“Happy Mother’s Day to the moms separated by violent borders and imperialism”* was a tweet that crossed my screen early on Mother’s Day as I prepared to visit my own mother, ever thankful that my own separation from the woman who birthed me was a short three years, though as a child it felt like a lifetime. The tweet was from a feminist, anti-racist Black mother of a Black son whose community has experienced war, displacement and migration.

The reported atrocities across Ukraine have added to the urgency to respond felt by Ukrainian and other concerned communities here in Canada. Since the federal government rolled out the special Temporary Resident pathway- CUAET (Canada Ukrainian Authorization for Emergency Travel) about three weeks ago, over ninety-thousand applications have been received with more than fifty thousand of these applicants applying for the three-year open work permit. Others have applied for student visas. The balance are the children and the elderly.

Date limite pour la soumission de propositions : mercredi, le 15 juin 2022 à 24h00 heure avancée de l'Est

Le Forum des Leaders d'OCASI accueillera les leaders de longue date et émergeants au sein des organismes membres d'OCASI et des organismes au service des immigrants et des réfugiés de l'Ontario.

Ce Forum constituera le premier grand événement d'OCASI en mode présentiel depuis plus de deux ans. Au cours d'une telle période, il y a eu un nombre important de changements dans le domaine de l'immigration et de la protection des réfugiés.

OCASI Leaders' Forum
October 26-28, 2022
In-person at Pan Pacific Toronto, 900 York Mills Road, Toronto ON

• When? October 26-28, 2022
• Where? Pan Pacific Toronto, 900 York Mills Road, Toronto, Ontario (More details)

REGISTER

Dear friends,

April 4 is Refugee Rights Day. We use this day as a chance to urge the Government of Canada to respect the rights of refugees. 

We will be holding a virtual event on April 4 from 1 PM to 2 PM Eastern Time. As part of the event, we will be featuring the stories of people who have come to Canada as refugees. 

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them”. This quote, often attributed to celebrated and well-loved African-American poet and author, Maya Angelou, appeared time and again on my various social media platforms as primarily Black, Asian and Arab people found themselves gaslighted, contradicted and called out, for raising concerns about the treatment of Black and racialized people, primarily international students attempting to flee the devastating war in Ukraine.

Afro-futurism/African-Canadian Liberation/Black histories/ month- all contested and complex concepts. Not surprising given our people’s four hundred plus year presence on these Indigenous lands colonized and settled by the colonizers. Our place in the meta-narratives of what we now call Canada, diminished when not completely erased. Still. 2022.

“Mitho Makosi Kesikansi, Bonne année, Happy New Year, Heri ya Mwaka Mpya - regardless of the language, the message is the same, best wishes/hopes/joy and happiness for the coming new year.”