No One Is Illegal Ottawa

On the Justice of Tearing Down Fences and Dismantling Borders

2011-04-28T11:02:00.000-04:00

A Joint Statement of No One Is Illegal Toronto, No One Is Illegal Vancouver, No One Is Illegal Halifax, No One Is Illegal Montreal and No One Is Illegal Ottawa – April 28, 2011

No One Is Illegal groups continue to struggle on the streets for migrant justice across North America against increasingly repressive and racist immigration controls. We join together once again this year with workers around the world during May Day demonstrations to assert our dignity and affirm international solidarity with those who dare to challenge borders and capitalism. We also take our struggle to the courts where a member of No One Is Illegal, Jaggi Singh, is pleading guilty to counseling to commit mischief and is facing six months in prison, for rightfully asserting that the G20 security fence was illegitimate and courageously calling for it to be torn down!

Close to one year ago, No One is Illegal joined with thousands on the streets of Toronto and dared to dream of a world without borders and fences. We marched with Indigenous people, migrants, poor people, people of colour, queer and trans people, feminists, disabled people, anarchists, anti-poverty activists, rank and file labour activists, anti-capitalists, environmental justice activists, and community organizers to confront the G20 leaders in Toronto.

We dared to challenge the illegitimate fence that separated the rich and powerful elite conspiring to an agreement of global austerity at the G20 from the people on the streets who inevitably are meant to bear the brunt of these policies. We reclaimed power, we shook the fence, and we broke through the police lines. We then went back to our communities and continued building our movements for social, economic, and environmental justice and autonomy.

Today, we unite again in solidarity with our friends and allies who challenged the validity of the G20 security fence and are facing state repression. Those facing charges, including members of No One Is Illegal Toronto and Montreal, have been targeted and persecuted because of their work struggling for self-determination in our communities. The state's attempt to criminalize these individuals is a targeted attempt to silence our movements.   But we have not allowed the courts, the police, or the media to divide our solidarity. We demand the immediate release and dropping of charges of all those still facing criminal charges.

The Crown and the courts are alleging it is a crime to challenge and call for the dismantling of the fence. We collectively stand by the public statements made by various members of No One Is Illegal and our allies at the People's Summit, the press conference at the fence, and our joint release. We asserted then, and we assert now, that the militarized fence - another physical and ideological symbol of global apartheid, corporate greed, and a way to keep the elite separate from the people – should have come down.

We recall that the same things were said of the acts of those who built the Underground Railroad, of those who dared to challenge slavery. We recall that the same things were said of those who tore down the walls of the Woomera detention camp, who dared to challenge racist and xenophobic borders. We recall that the same things were said of those who tore down the fences of Bantustans, who dared to resist Apartheid in South Africa. We reassert that the G20 fence among all other barriers that prevent ordinary people from making meaningful decisions about their lives must be torn down!

And we will tear the fences down. While the security state may have weapons of destruction, we too have weapons: weapons of hope, weapons of unity, weapons of solidarity – and they will overcome these fences!

The type of repression that has followed the G20 is symptomatic of the broader policies of exploitation that are the daily reality for Indigenous, poor and racialized communities. The G8 and G20 leaders and their corporate masters erect borders, manufacture weaponry, pillage the earth with industrial projects, and profit from war. The repression of migrants in Canada has steadily increased – we have seen unprecedented powers transferred to the Immigration Minister and enforcement officers to determine who can come into Canada and who is left out; we have seen major cuts to family reunification programs, to work visas, to avenues for permanent residency. New regulations mean that temporary migrant workers are permanently temporary, exploited and indentured, while thousands of refugees and asylum seekers remain behind bars in detention centres.

Daily, we stand in solidarity with those who are deemed “illegal” by the colonial state and are forced to live under the threat of detention and deportation. And daily, we organize against the racism and xenophobia that defines the history of colonization and displacement in Canada. We are growing and building as movements, and on May 1st thousands will take to the streets to assert that our dreams don’t fit in ballot boxes. That tangible political changes will only happen through the grassroots mobilization of our communities. We call on everyone residing on these occupied Indigenous lands to join us on the streets, in community centres, in schools, in work places, in parks and all other places where we are building resistance everyday.  No One is Illegal unites with all of those around the world who are resisting austerity measures – from Greece to Egypt, from Chiapas to Six Nations, from Haiti to Palestine.

We understand that revolution at its root is driven by people’s dreams and desires. No Fences, No Borders! No One Is Illegal, Canada Is Illegal!

www.nooneisillegal.org

* June 19 Videos, courtesy NOII-Toronto, of No One Is Illegal and allies
at the People's Summit "“Colonialism, Capitalism, and Migration":
http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2870

* June 22 Statement “No One Is Illegal at the G8/G20 Mobilizations in
Toronto”:
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/3703

* June 24th Video of No One Is Illegal and Indigenous Defenders of the
Land at “No Fences, No Borders” press conference at the G20 fence in
Toronto: http://bchannelnews.tv/?p=5690

* July 3rd Statement "No One Is Illegal Solidarity with the anti-G20
Resistance":
http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2108

**NOTE: No one criminally charged with being involved in anti-G20 related actions was involved in drafting or writing this statement.

Rally for Mo Harkat at CBSA Friday January 21st, 2011

2011-01-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

**NOTE: the rally is now at 2pm**

URGENT – SUPPORT NEEDED FOR MOE AND SOPHIE!

Note time change! Now 2 pm

DEPORTATION ORDER TO BE SERVED ON MOHAMED HARKAT

If you can, please be there to show your support--

Date: Friday, January 21, 2011

Time: 2:00 pm
Place: Canada Border Services Agency, 2265 St. Laurent Blvd
Moe and his lawyer, Matthew Webber will be available for questions afterward.
Moe will not be deported immediately. CBSA will conduct an assessment of danger and the security certificate finding is under appeal. In fact, serving the deportation order at this time is harassment. And deportation to torture is always illegal.

Whether or not you can come tomorrow, show your support by signing the new statement of the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee at www.harkatstatement.com

Stop Secret Trials. Abolish Security Certificates . No deportation to torture.

Please forward and post widely !!! We could really use your help. SVP faire circuler.

No One Is Illegal Ottawa Statement on the Deaths in the Christmas Island Boat Crash

2010-12-15T14:08:00.007-05:00

Wednesday December 15th 2010

No One Is Illegal (Ottawa) was saddened to hear the tragic news this morning of the deaths in the Christmas Island boat crash. The roughly 70 asylum seekers aboard the boat were part of the massive worldwide population of people pushed into increasingly dangerous situations in their migration to safer or better places for themselves and their families.

Inhumane immigration laws force desperate people to risk their lives -- and the lives of their loved ones-- in order to flee violent repressive governments, poverty, political persecution, war and environmental destruction. People know their chances are better with human smugglers and rickety boats than western immigration laws.

"According the UN refugee agency, an estimated 848 people died or went missing in 2009 in Italy, Yemen, Spain, and Greece — the main areas worldwide of large-scale migration," reports the Globe and Mail.

"Climbing over razor wire fences, taking to sea in leaking boats or stowing away in airless containers, refugees and migrants around the world risk their lives every day in desperate attempts to find safety or a better life," the UNHCR says on its website.

No One Is Illegal (Ottawa) believes that migrants are pushed into these dangerous situations by increasingly restrictive and xenophobic immigration policies in countries such as Greece, Australia, Canada and the United States. First world countries are making it harder and harder for refugees and immigrants to cross borders. The residents of Christmas Island were throwing life jackets to the refugees, while the Australian government continues dragging its heels on creating a welcoming refugee policy. We firmly believe that these deaths are on the hands of racist politicians who have been viciously attacking the right to migrate, the right to stay and the right to return to one's homeland.

Here in Canada, Jason Kenney, Minister of Censorship and Deportations, has been attacking migrants and refugee claimants who travel by irregular means, such as the Tamils of the MV Sun Sea, labelling them as terrorists and queue-jumpers. Currently the Conservative party is trying to pass bill C-49, a bill that would throw what they call "irregular migrants" and those who help them (often referred to as smugglers) into mandatory detention sentences, with no avenues for appeal. We oppose such racist legislations and will continue to fight by the side of all those who struggle for a better, safer life.

In response to these tragic deaths, we say NO ONE IS ILLEGAL – OPEN ALL BORDERS.

Resources

In defense for human smuggling!http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/507

A Statement on the Ottawa Police

2010-11-29T23:18:00.006-05:00

please forward widely*

statement on the Ottawa Police

endorsed by:

No One Is Illegal (Ottawa)

POWER

Pro-Choice Coalition of Ottawa

Agitate!

Under Pressure

Common Cause Ottawa

Indigenous People's Solidarity Movement Ottawa (IPSMO)

On Saturday November 20th two queer activists were arrested for unfurling a banner as part of the Trans Day of Remembrance events. The banner, which read ''Remember Stonewall?'', was dropped from a highway overpass near the Ottawa Police station on Elgin street, where a flag-raising ceremony for TDOR was about to take place. Many in the queer and trans community were upset that some TDOR organizers would choose to host an event with the police, given how tense the relationship between queer and trans groups and the cops has become. The flag-raising ceremony at the cop shop was supposed to turn into a march to Parliament Hill, but many in the community chose to gather at Minto park, a few blocks away, as an alternate to the police ceremony – making it clear that the police do not have the trust of many in Ottawa's queer and trans community.

Many groups have found it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to work with the police, and so we would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our opposition to the idea that we must always work with the cops.

Many of us come from communities that have long been targeted by police forces, and continue today to be harassed by and experience violence from those same forces. We are queer, poor, non-status, trans, racialized, sex-workers, indigenous, disabled and homeless. We have been victims of violence, wrongful arrests, sexual assaults, intimidation and ridicule by the police.

This has been the case for many many years. But recently, in the last year, the systemic nature of abuses on the part of the Ottawa police has been so exposed that even the most sympathetic can no longer excuse it as 'a few bad apples'.

Earlier this year Ottawa Police released the photograph of a man who didn't disclose his HIV-positive status to partners, using the words "sexual predator” in media communications. The young man is now being charged with aggravated sexual assault for allegedly spreading a sexually transmitted disease. His picture made the front page of Ottawa newspapers. Despite this being widely condemned by HIV activists and community organizations, Police Chief Vern White stood by his decision earlier this year to release the photograph. By flatly rejecting a community proposal to review and develop policy guidelines for prosecution for HIV non-disclosure cases, Chief White showed no interest in collaboration and chose to ignore the expertise of HIV/AIDS community organizations and legal opinions denouncing this intensification of the criminalization of HIV. The outrage over this incident caused deep divisions in the queer community during Ottawa Pride in August, when official Pride organizers invited the Ottawa police to speak at the human rights vigil as part of the week's events, prompting an outcry from community-based HIV/AIDS organizations and activists in which they stated that if the police were not uninvited from the event they would be forced to withdraw and organize independently.

This summer well over a thousand people were arrested at the mass anti-G20 mobilizations in Toronto. Some were beaten, some were dragged from their beds in the early hours of the days of action, some were captured on their way to or from the protests and some were caught in mass arrests. Most of the arrestees have had their charges dropped, though some still face serious Conspiracy charges, draconian bail conditions, while some remain in jail and others face deportation.

On June 18th of this year three local activists were arrested. One was released a few days later under strict conditions, another spent months in jail, and another remains locked up today. Charges have been stayed for two of the arrestees, but the damage to their lives has already been done. In addition, through the court proceedings it was discovered that police had not only had active surveillance on local activist groups, but actually had an undercover agent infiltrating social justice organizations.

Recently, an Ottawa police officer who followed a cab driver to the airport, in a fit of road-rage after being cut off on the road, and broke the cab driver's arm after uttering racial slurs, was acquitted. Despite the obvious racist motivations behind the attack, and the complicity of other officers in the incident, the Police Chief chose to defend his officers and faced sharp criticisms from the taxi driver's union who could not be appeased, and demanded that the entirety of the Ottawa police force be reviewed and that Chief White address the systemic racism of the force.

Recently, a number of women have gone public with charges of harassment and assault against Ottawa police officers, many of them implicating the same officers in a more than one incident of abuse – officers who remain employed by the Ottawa police. We learned about the case of a young woman who was arrested, sexually assaulted – violence which was caught on police video – and held for hours by the Ottawa police after having committed no crime. Walking through the Byward Market late at night she was a victim of social profiling. A judge called her treatment a ''travesty.'' Two weeks later, another woman came forward with a lawsuit against the same officers, among others, for assault while in custody and wrongful arrest. And this past weekend, another Ottawa woman also came forward with charges of sexual assault and mistreatment while in custody after being arrested without cause.

We say that these are not random or unrelated incidents. And they are also just the tip of the iceberg, further proof of a bad system that must be changed immediately.

These are not just a few bad apples – this is a corrupt, illegitimate, and violent institution. More than the high profile cases that we see on the news, it is the institutionalized discrimination and day-to-day abuses of the police that worry us the most: systemic racism and misogyny, the continued arrests of sex workers, the ticketing of panhandlers, the lack of any real action for the hundreds of missing aboriginal women, the harassment and criminalization of drug users and countless other offences. Despite mountains of proof that criminalization does more harm than good, it continues to be the only agenda that this city is willing to put money behind. This dangerous strategy is being implemented by a police force with a long and troubling history of violence, abuse of authority, and impunity. This is not a system that we deem fair and democratic and this is not a system that we will cooperate with.

We applaud the efforts of all those struggling for justice and freedom, and those who have risked or lost their freedoms in this fight. We stand in solidarity with all prisoners and all those struggling to survive in the face of a system that would rather see them dead. We will continue to support all political arrestees and all those subjected to police brutality, and continue to proclaim loudly that the police are not our friends.

For more information and recent articles about our local police force:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Ottawa+woman+files+lawsuit+alleging+mistreatment+hands+Ottawa+police/3902052/story.html

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.html?id=3898089&sponsor

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Chief+fails+defuse+drivers+anger/3875705/story.html

http://www.xtra.ca/public/Ottawa/Ottawa_Police_chief_will_decide_whether_info_is_released_in_future_HIV_cases-9448.aspx

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/11/19/ottawa-hiv-status-police-review.html#ixzz168vhuhbr

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/city+outraged/3852404/story.html

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/882189--are-these-cops-above-the-law

http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2010/11/19/16219531.html

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Two_arrested_at_Trans_Day_of_Remembrance_in_Ottawa-9459.aspx

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Strip+search+police+cell+travesty+judge+rules/3839408/story.html

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=92f9f5ca-cfe5-414c-b6ee-63dd2fbb88e2

http://www.ottawamenscentre.com/news/20040827_ottawa_cop_sentenced.htm

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/02/19/shoplift.html

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101120/OTT_trans_arrests_101120/20101120/?hub=OttawaHome

www.nooneisillegal.org

NOII-Ottawa drops banner on Pinecrest/Greenbank bridge over the 417, at 7am Nov 5, 2010. Protesting Bill C-49.

2010-11-05T11:29:00.002-04:00

On the early morning of Friday November 5th the migrant justice group No One Is Illegal (Ottawa) has unfurled a massive banner on the Pinecrest/Greenbank bridge over the 417 in protest of Bill C-49.

Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney have proposed a new Immigration Act, Bill C-49. It would allow the Minister of Public Safety to declare any group of migrants coming in to Canada, a 'smuggling incident'. There is no definition of a 'smuggler' in this Act.

For the asylum seekers who are declared part of an incident (which could be anyone making a refugee claim in a groups of 2 or more), the Conservative government wants to:

Jail them for a minimum of one year
Deny access to health services
Deny monthly detention reviews, allowing migrants in jail a chance to gain freedom only once every 6 months
Be able to revoke people's refugee status after it has been granted by the refugee determination process
Ban applications for permanent residence for five years after gaining refugee status
Bar people from reuniting with their families for five years after gaining refugee status
Stop people from leaving Canada for five years after gaining refugee status
Deny the right of appeal to a rejected refugee claim
Put in an ex-CSIS director and the man responsible for police brutality during the G20 as a special advisor on human migration

No One Is Illegal (Ottawa), as well as many other migrant rights groups across Canada are outraged by this proposed Bill.

We think it is imperative that people across Canada are aware of this bill and its implications. No One Is Illegal is also co-ordinating a letter writing and fax campaign.

No One Is Illegal (Ottawa) believes that all forms of migration should never be criminalized, specifically refugees often are forced to make the difficult but necessary decision to travel in irregular ways. In doing so they are not breaking any laws, but rather are doing what is necessary for their families and their own safety. Furthermore we oppose border militarization as well as all forms of racism and xenophobia.

We are a coalition of migrants and allies that advocates and fights for the rights, dignity, and respect of immigrants and refugees, as well as those living without status in Canada. we are against capitalism and we believe in abolishing borders. We call for Status For All. We also stand in solidarity with the struggles of indigenous peoples for land, self-determination and sovereignty  for further media enquires contact us at: noiiottawa@gmail.com

Sisters in Spirit Vigil

2010-10-03T23:36:00.001-04:00

October 4th is a day where we honour the lives of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. The violence experienced by Aboriginal women and girls in Canada is a national tragedy. We must take the time to give thanks to the families who have inspired the SIS movement and who are our reason we all continue to demand action.

The SIS Vigil in Ottawa will begin at 12 p.m. on Parliament Hill with a feast to follow at The Church of St. John the Evangelist at 1 p.m. - 3p.m. (154 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2P 0H8)

For more information please visit the following site:

http://www.nwac.ca/2010-sisters-spirit-vigils

NOII-Ottawa and OPIRG-GRIPO present: Individual Casework, Broader Struggles panel discussion Share widely

2010-09-27T00:24:00.002-04:00

NOII-Ottawa and OPIRG-GRIPO present:

Individual Casework, Broader Struggles panel discussion

No One Is Illegal (Ottawa) and OPIRG-GRIPO are excited to invite you to our first ever panel discussion about the role of casework in radical struggles for justice.

On Friday October 1st come listen to speakers from Stella, ASTTeQ, the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre and the Immigrant Workers Center discuss the role of individual casework in broader movements. Our speakers have been involved in decriminalization of sex work, in advocacy for trans people and in defending migrant workers’ rights. They have spent years working to connect the experiences of individuals, especially those from marginalized communities, to the goals of mass movements.

Coming out of the mass mobilizations against the G20, and looking ahead to upcoming campaigns, these discussions are an important part of the strategies we will choose to employ, as movements who strive for both long term revolutionary change as well as immediate results for our communities.

We hope to see you all at the event.

*********************************

Friday, October 1st, 6:30 pm
@ Ecclesiax
2 Monk St.
near Bank St. and Fifth Ave.

Suggested Donation $5-20.
All proceeds to Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal.
(no one turned away)

--- please contact us for specific accessibility requests (such as ASL interpretation), as well as for child-care requests. ---

*********************************

**Anita Schoepp is an intervention worker for Stella and has been doing street intervention work for over 4 years. She also works with Project X, a group working with youth around issues of systemic racism. She envisions crushing oppression while wearing thigh high boots and lingerie.
Stella is a by and for sex workers rights organization that provides everything from street level intervention, sex/health/rights education, advocacy and a big push in the direction of the de-criminalization of sex work. We pride ourselves on being not only sexy, but a force to be reckoned with.

**Nora Butler Burke is a small town kid turned city slicker who has lived in Montreal for the past 10 years, where she has been involved in migrant justice, childcare, and anti-colonial organizing work. She currently coordinates ASTTeQ (Trans Health Action of Quebec), a front line harm reduction project working with low-income trans people in and around Montreal.

**Mostafa Henaway is a Montreal-based community organizer with the Immigrant Workers Centre and a member of Tadamon!, a collective actively engaged in the international movement of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid.

**Julie Lalonde is the coordinator of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre. They have been fighting since 2007 to get a sexual assault centre on Carleton University's campus. Julie is also a support worker with the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa and the project manager of the Feminist Alliance for International Action. She will be discussing the struggle for adequate support services for survivors of sexual violence.

latest update from NOII-Ottawa

2010-09-11T19:43:00.000-04:00

*** End of season update, a look back at the summer, and a look ahead to the fall (of capitalism) ***

No One Is Illegal - Ottawa (NOII-Ottawa) is an anti-capitalist, anti-colonial migrant justice grassroots organization based in Ottawa. We are migrants, indigenous people and allies. We build campaigns of opposition to racist and xenophobic governments and policies. We believe in mass mobilization, direct action, public education and grassroots agitation. We are part of a broad network of NOIIs existing in cities across Canada and allies around the world.

Summer of Rage

This summer, NOII-Ottawa took an active role locally in mobilizing against the G20 summit in Toronto. We opposed the G20 because their anti-people policies have negatively affected migrant communities, among many others. We are opposed to the brutal continuation of rabid capitalist and colonial policies. Along with our allies from disabled communities, the poor and working poor, the labour movement, queer people and anarchists, thousands of us took to the streets to directly confront and disrupt the G20 and business as usual. We made it loud and clear that we are in this struggle together, that we have got each other’s backs, and that we are angry and organized. A full week of inspiring actions took place, and through it all our networks came out of it stronger and more unified. Meeting each other face to face, and seeing the potential that we hold was a boost for NOII-Ottawa and the anti-capitalist movement inside occupied Turtle Island.

* For report backs on the G20 mobilization, check out:

http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2010/06/g20-capitalism-is-attacked-in-streets.html

And http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2010/07/no-one-is-illegal-solidarity-with-anti.html

In August, NOII-Ottawa also joined up with NOIIs from across the country in days of action in support of the MV Sun Sea migrants. A boat carrying nearly 500 Tamil migrants arrived in British Columbia to a welcoming committee of xenophobic news articles, racist hysteria and jail. In response, the NOII network set to work to dispel some of the myths surrounding these Tamil refugees, and in many cities took to the streets to denounce racist ministers Jason Kenney and Vic Towes. In Ottawa, NOII called for a demo at Jason Kenney’s office. While his spokesperson was slandering us in the news, nearly a hundred of us mobilized in support of the Tamil migrants and in support of status for all.

* For more info:

http://noii-ottawa.blogspot.com/2010/08/no-one-is-illegal-noii-ottawa-says-let.html

NOII-Ottawa also organized around Capital Pride, Ottawa’s annual pride week celebrations and LGBT pride march. We hosted a panel called ‘‘Queers in Radical Struggles’’, where speakers addressed the criminalization of HIV, the role of queers in the struggle against Israeli Apartheid and the parallels between the migrant justice movement and the queer movement. During Pride week, NOII-Ottawa also had a contingent in the pride parade where many of our members marched alongside the anti-Israeli Apartheid contingent organized by Queer Faction, a local radical queer group. Our contingent handed out flyers addressing Jason Kenney’s xenophobia and homophobia.

Onwards!

Because of the flurry of activity this summer, NOII-Ottawa is currently in a very exciting phase. The links with individuals and organizations that we have made this summer are very important to us and will surely play a role in our upcoming fall plans.

NOII-Ottawa is attending meetings to support the Indigenous Sovereignty Week events, organized by a loose coalition of unions and activist groups. The Indigenous People’s Solidarity Movement, which is also involved with the planning of the week are long-time allies of ours. We look forward to supporting their work and the demands of ISW.

In late September we will be co-hosting a panel on the role of casework in radical organizations and movements. We are very excited to share a stage with the amazing folks at the Immigrants Workers Center, Stella and ASTTeQ (Trans Health Action of Quebec).

Also in late September, NOII-Ottawa will have a contingent and a speaker at the annual ‘Take Back the Night’ march, where we will address the role of deportations and xenophobia in perpetuating violence against women.

On Saturday November 20^th we are gearing up for a big Status For All march in Ottawa. It has been years since NOII marched on Ottawa, and we feel it is important to have pressure building in Ottawa, the capital of this racist state. The march will be an important part of our ‘Solidarity City’ campaign. With that campaign we are working towards establishing a comprehensive city-wide network of organizations and service providers that will commit themselves publicly to ensuring safe access to basic services and community spaces for non-status people, so that everyone in our city, regardless of immigration status, can live here with dignity and without fear of exclusion or deportation. The November 20^th march will be a way to build excitement about the campaign, as well as a time where we can declare our intentions and mobilize our communities.

It’s going to be a hectic season for NOII-Ottawa, so we appreciate all help we can get. To join NOII, to learn about upcoming meetings and events, or to state your support, please get in touch with us at:

e-mail: noiiottawa@gmail.com

web: http://noii-ottawa.blogspot.com/

http://www.nooneisillegal.org/

NO ONE IS ILLEGAL! STATUS FOR ALL!

NOII-Ottawa statement on Project Samosa and racism

2010-09-09T19:29:00.001-04:00

taking a stand against Islamophobic public discourses

No One is Illegal (NOII) Ottawa is a coalition of migrants and allies that advocates and fights for the rights, dignity, and respect of immigrants and refugees, as well as those living without status in Canada. We also stand in solidarity with the struggles of indigenous peoples for land, self-determination and sovereignty. We challenge the racist ideology inherent to the "War on Terror" that is intrinsically linked to repressive immigration controls. This past week four men were arrested, three in Ottawa, as part of a 2-year investigation entitled “Project Samosa” - an absurd and culturally incompetent name that reveals the racist underpinnings of this so-called security operation.

We believe that the men must be presumed to be innocent, both in the court process and in public consciousness. Media sensationalism, government statements, and public commentaries have revealed that the men are being considered and treated as guilty terrorists. The mainstream corporate media has played a crucial role in stirring public frenzy by uncritically parroting government rhetoric such as “homegrown terrorists” and “Jihad generation” and that the suspects were “inspired by Al Qaeda”, without providing any evidence to substantiate such claims. Such stigmatizing statements will have a permanent damaging effect on the men and their families and their “guilt” will surely continue even if the charges are dropped or the men are acquitted. Much like the stigmatization and media's guilty verdict of the Tamil migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea, or the case of Professor Hassan Diab, or Maher Arar, we believe it is important, in the face of racist stereotypes and xenophobia, to actively challenge such rhetoric.

We remember the disastrous consequences of racism in Canadian society. We remember the SS St-Louis, where a boat carrying Jewish passengers fleeing Nazi persecution was turned away from Canada, and sent to their deaths in concentration camps. We remember Grise, a pregnant 24-year-old Mexican refugee, who was deported from Canada to her death in Mexico, after attempting to gain status as a refugee fleeing death threats. We remember “Operation Thread” in 2003, when over twenty South Asian - predominantly Pakistani - Muslim men were arrested in Toronto for allegedly being an Al-Qaeda sleeper cell. None of the allegations were proven to be true and not one of the men was ever formally charged, let alone convicted. Yet most were deported and their lives destroyed by the unsubstantiated allegations linking them to terrorism. Four years ago, eighteen men and youth were arrested in the Toronto 18 terror plot. Seven subsequently had all charges dropped, while others were convicted or had to plead guilty under excruciating circumstances. These are reasons enough to remain vigilant. As Alex Neve, the secretary general of Amnesty International has said, “the main lesson here is that there can easily be a great deal of hysteria. But there have been previous cases that have collapsed or proved not to be as advertised.”

Despite the fact that the men arrested are all residents and citizens of Canada, the questioning of their “Canadian-ness” reveals a shallow multiculturalism and clear racist tendencies. Stories about their Otherness abound: “the suspect with a full, long beard”; “there was nothing that seemed too out of the ordinary except neighbors noted the women wore a niqab or burqa”; or “she said the couple talked openly about their Muslim beliefs”. Profiling is a hateful double standard by which individual members of communities are judged and held responsible for acts or behaviors based on their culture, race, ethnicity, and/or religion.

In the past few weeks an ugly side of Canadian society has been rearing its head. Across the country known racist neo-nazi organizer Paul Fromm has been hosting xenophobic anti-Tamil protests. Though fairly unsuccessful attendance-wise, these rallies are a frightening reminder of what we are facing if we give up the fight against racism. We must commit ourselves to continuing to defend our communities against demonization. We must continue to struggle for the elimination of all forms of oppressive violence waged against the peoples of the world, particularly the never-ending 'War on Terrorism" which is bringing the greatest degree of so much terror and fear into the lives of the world’s majority.

We place ourselves within the broader movement for global justice struggling against capitalism, homophobia, imperialism, occupation, patriarchy, poverty, racism and other forms of domination because we recognize that these are interconnected systems.

Against racism, xenophobia, scapegoating and all borders, we say NO ONE IS ILLEGAL

No One Is Illegal (NOII) Ottawa says “let them stay"

2010-08-25T17:49:00.003-04:00

Monday August 23^rd

Ottawa, Ontario

Unceded Algonquin Territory

On Monday August 23^rd migrants, Indigenous people and allies rallied outside the Citizenship and Immigration Canada offices in support of the Tamil migrants who have landed in BC aboard the MV Sun Sea.

“From one community of resistance to another, we welcome you” said Pierre Beaulieu-Blais, an Anishnabe member of NOII-Ottawa to the enthusiastic crowd, “as people who have also lost our land and been displaced because of colonialism and racism, we say Open All The Borders! Status For All!”

Monika Thakker, spokesperson for NOII-Ottawa also addressed the crowd, explaining that "Refugees will do whatever they need to do to seek safety for themselves and for their families from violent colonial and military occupations, wars, poverty, and environmental destruction. Borders and immigration controls do not provide security; they make people even more vulnerable to violence." “To those who say that immigrants are a burden, we ask you: Who cleans up after you? Who picks your fruit and vegetables? Who serves you food? Who drives you around? Who builds your houses, your schools, your hospitals? Time and time again, immigrants are scapegoated for the problems of capitalism.”

At its peak, nearly one hundred people gathered to speak up against the racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric that Canadian public officials, such as Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, have spread. The crowd cheered for welcoming immigrants and refugees as people who are deserving of respect, dignity, and freedom of movement.

As Jason Kenney, minister of Citizenship and Immigration, hid in his office under lock down and his spokesperson was lashing out at NOII, the crowd chanted “Jason Kenney Go Away – Tamil Migrants Here to Stay” and “No Borders, No Prisons – Stop the Deportations”. Families, students, Union representatives and other community members distributed hundreds of flyers to onlookers and people walking by, dispelling some of the myths about the Tamil migrants.

No One is Illegal Ottawa is a coalition of migrants and allies that advocates and fights for the rights, dignity, and respect of immigrants and refugees, as well as those living without status in Canada. We are against capitalism and we believe in abolishing borders. We call for Status for All. We also stand in solidarity with the struggles of indigenous peoples for land, self-determination and sovereignty.

www.nooneisillegal.org

Myths and Realities about 490 Tamil Refugees on MV Sun Sea: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2167

more info about anti migrant hysteria: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2173

Queers in Radical Struggles

2010-08-17T12:03:00.002-04:00

On Saturday august 21st at 2pm NO One Is Illegal Ottawa invites you to a panel discussion called “Queers in Radical Struggles”

We have three panelists who will discuss queer involvement in contemporary radical struggles. Jenny Peto will discuss the importance of queers in organizing against Israeli apartheid. Robyn Maynard will speak about migration and border issues and their intersection with queer liberation movements the third panelist, Brent Bauer, will speak on the fight against the criminalization of HIV.

As Ottawa prepares to celebrate pride week, we believe it is important to reiterate the political nature of pride parades and LGBT pride events. We also take this opportunity to invite all supporters in Ottawa to march with NOII and Queer fAction (who will be marching against Israeli Apartheid) in this years Pride Parade, which will take place Sunday august 29th. We will be marching in solidarity with queers actively involved in resisting all form of oppression. Specifically we will be marching in protest against Jason Kenney, minister of Censorship and Deportations. Kenney has a long track record of anti-gay actions, as well as being one of the most racist and xenophobic MP in recent history. To join the NOII and QF contingents meet us at the National Archives (on Wellington) at 12:30pm, Sunday the 29th.

Jenny Peto is an organizer with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid in Toronto. In 2008, she helped launch Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. Her activist and academic work focuses on exposing the 'pinkwashing' of Israeli apartheid and encouraging other radical queer activists to join the global campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

Robyn Maynard is a community organizer, writer, and radio journalist based in Montreal. She is active in the struggle for justice in the face of racial profiling, police violence, and restrictive migration policies. She is a member of No One Is Illegal Montreal and the co-host and co-producer of No One Is Illegal Radio.

Brent H. Bauer has a decade of volunteer experience for GLBT rights and HIV/AIDS activism. In Montreal he served as a member of the Steering Committee of COHORTE OMEGA, a HIV/AIDS prevention study in Montreal, and as Quebec representative on the Board of Directors of EGALE Canada. Since moving to Ottawa, he has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Bruce House, and Co-Chair of the Ottawa-Carleton Coalition on HIV/AIDS. He is currently an advisor to the Ottawa Gay Men’s Wellness Initiative, working on the issue of the criminalization of HIV.
Educated at McGill, Montreal and Cambridge universities, Brent's day job is within the Canadian Public Service, as a Policy Director with experience in the social policy and public health fields.

Panel discussion:
Saturday august 21st
2pm
Ottawa Public Library auditorium (120 metcalfe)

Accessibility note: There is an elevator available for wheelchair accessibility. The washrooms are also accessible.

Pride March:
Sunday August 29th
12:30pm
meet at the National Archives (on wellington)

SUPPORT THE TAMIL MIGRANTS!

2010-08-17T12:00:00.001-04:00

CANADA: STOP JAILING AND DEPORTING REFUGEES, LET THEM STAY!
SUPPORT THE TAMIL MIGRANTS! SAY NO TO RACISM!

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In Ottawa. Monday August 23 @ Noon.
Gather at corner of Kent and Laurier
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada)

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Join No One is Illegal to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers, and an end to racist and restrictive refugee policies. Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!

Surviving a journey, 500 Tamil refugees, including women and children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka. When the ship first neared Equimault Harbour, in the territories of the Songhees First Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services, and RCMP. Families are now being separated, with many children being taken by the Ministry of Child and Family Development. The refugees now face the threat of incarceration and eventual deportation.

Canadian government officials and media outlets are perpetuating false and dehumanizing stereotypes of ‘illegals’, ‘terrorists’, and so-called queue-jumpers. The earlier arrival of 76 Tamil migrants on Ocean Lady was similarly sensationalized. This deliberately created hysteria appeals to prejudices of refugees as undesirable.

This fear-mongering is just another tactic used to disguise the racist policies that define Canada’s immigration and refugee system. The Canadian government was recently forced to apologize for its “keep Canada white” measures, such as the Komagata Maru incident. Yet Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney continues to increase detentions and deportation of refugees and undocumented migrants, while bringing in more temporary exploitable migrant labour. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently declared that Cabinet is drafting new policies to clamp down on migrants and “make this country less welcoming for future shipments of human cargo.”

No One is Illegal-Ottawa asserts the basic human right to safety, mobility, and protection. It is well known that Tamils in Sri Lanka are fleeing military atrocities and mass displacement. The only crime the migrants have committed is transgressing this imposed settler-colonial border. We encourage you to join us in rejecting repressive, racist, and exclusionary ideologies and policies, and instead encourage compassion, solidarity, respect for life, and justice for all refugees. Release Detained Asylum-Seekers! Let the Boat Stay! Status for All!

LET THEM STAY
NO ONE IS ILLEGAL

Uphold the Rights of Tamil Migrants aboard MV Sun Sea :: No One Is Illegal

2010-08-12T15:30:00.000-04:00

NOII-Ottawa endorses the following statement, put out by NOII-Vancouver

Approximately 200-500 Tamils have risked their lives in an extremely long
and dangerous journey on a boat heading for Vancouver Island. We say: LET
THEM STAY!

No One is Illegal - Vancouver calls on all allies, fighters, trouble
makers and social justice activists to organize and fight the racist and
anti-immigrant sentiments and policies of the Canadian government and
society. Stay tuned for more information on how to support.

For now, take a minute to tpost the following image as a your facebook
profile pic, or print it and display it on your window, office, school,
etc:

http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2151

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Uphold the Rights of Tamil Migrants aboard MV Sun Sea

August 11, Vancouver – The immigrant and refugee rights group No One Is
Illegal is demanding that Canadian government officials respect the human
rights of the estimated 200-500 Tamil migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea. The
boat is expected to land by the weekend and the detainees will be
transferred to Fraser Regional Corrections Centre and Alouette
Correctional Centre for Women, who have both prepared for a 3-4 month
incarceration. Based on reports in the media, the group includes up to 100
women and children, and there has been at least one death during the
voyage.

According to Magin Payet Scudalleri, a member of No One Is Illegal,
“Public officials and the media must refrain from stereotyping these
migrants as queue-jumpers or terrorists based on unsubstantiated
speculations. The migrants have survived a long and arduous journey in the
hopes that the Canadian state will fully comply with its international
refugee and human rights law obligations to the right to asylum.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has previously
warned that “The association of irregular migration with criminality
promotes the stigmatization of migrants and encourages a climate of
xenophobia and hostility against them.”

Harsha Walia, member of No One Is Illegal, states “We saw a similar
unfounded hysteria last October with the 76 Tamil migrants. All were
eventually released when Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) was forced
to admit they had no evidence of a LTTE connection. In fact, based on a
lack of evidence, CBSA consented to the release of the last group of 25
detained refugees in January 2010.”

“The Canadian government is relying on fear-mongering and racist
stereotypes to justify their new prison budget and the violent
incarceration of asylum seekers, many of whom are women and children. The
Conservative government throws around the catch-all phrase ‘terrorism’ to
create an atmosphere of paranoia and to prevent any public or media
scrutiny of their actions. This is reflected in a growing trend of
anti-refugee policies and sentiments under Minister Jason Kenney,” further
states Walia.

Rohan Gunaratna, the Canadian’s government’s primary source, has already
been discredited by lawyers as well as an Immigration and Refugee Board
adjudicator. They have questioned his sources as well as his credibility
given his ongoing close relationship with the Sri Lankan government.

In a March 2010 meeting with Kenney, United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees Antonio Guterres warned that refugee claimants from countries
with human rights violations including Sri Lanka are faced with a
“shrinking humanitarian space”. This is evident in the Australian
government’s recent repressive decision to no longer accept refugee claims
from Sri Lanka, despite well-documented human rights violations against
Tamils and mass displacement into refugee camps. UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon has appointed a panel to investigate war crimes committed by the
Sri Lankan military against Tamils last year.

Despite this, Kenney met with the Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Ottawa
this month to discuss greater cooperation with the Sri Lankan government.
“It is clear that the Canadian government is more interested in promoting
a relationship with a government known to commit massive human rights
violations, military atrocities against civilians, and indiscriminate
killings; rather than supporting the victims of such a regime,” further
states Scudalleri.

No One is Illegal (NOII) Ottawa is a coalition of migrants and allies that advocates and fights for the rights, dignity, and respect of immigrants and refugees, as well as those living without status in Canada. we are against capitalism and we believe in abolishing borders. We call for Status For All.
We also stand in solidarity with the struggles of indigenous peoples for land, self-determination and sovereignty

www.nooneisillegal.org

2010-07-27T15:38:00.004-04:00

August 29th 1pm - Wellington st (meet near National Archives)

we invite all supporters to march with No One Is Illegal for queer pride and migrant justice

we will also be marching with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, in support of Palestinian queers and the demands of BDS

QUEERS AND MIGRANT JUSTICE ACTIVISTS VS JASON KENNEY

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why do we oppose Jason Kenney?

minister Jason Kenney appointed Doug Cryer, a known anti-gay activist to the Immigration and Refugee Board, making it harder for queer refugees to get status

queer refugees are forced to "prove" their gayness in order to be granted refugee status by a "board" of one person who gets to decide their fate. if they do not fit the stereotypical idea of gay or lesbian, they are denied refugee status and are ordered to be deported.

Kenney oversaw unprecedented immigration raids in workplaces and women shelters in Ontario. Under the Conservatives, deportations have skyrocketed with 75 people being deported from Canada every day.

his office has removed all references to LGBT rights from a newly revised study guide for immigrants applying for Canadian citizenship.

He Has opposed same-sex marriage, saying queer people could get married...but only to members of the opposite sex

Join No One Is Illegal – Ottawa. We are a group of migrants and allies, fighting for migrant justice, indigenous sovereignty and status for all

NO ONE IS ILLEGAL – STATUS FOR ALL

No One Is Illegal at the G8/G20 mobilizations in Toronto

2010-06-22T10:46:00.007-04:00

No One Is Illegal at the G8/G20 Mobilizations in Toronto

Joint Statement of No One Is Illegal Toronto, No One Is Illegal Vancouver, No One Is Illegal Halifax, No One Is Illegal Montreal, No One Is Illegal Ottawa

No Fences, No Borders!
No One Is Illegal, Canada Is Illegal!

As most of you have heard, from June 25th to 27th the world’s richest countries (the G8 and G20) will send their poli-trickers and banking elite, along with heads of the EU, IMF and World Bank, to meet in Huntsville and then in Toronto. They will be talking bailouts, corporate green-washing, and how to further deepen their own and their friends’ pockets. The G8 and G20 countries and their corporations make most of the weapons on the planet, profit from war, subsidize oil corporations and massive industrial projects and are responsible for pushing millions out of their homes and on to borders and fences each year. Migrants arriving in G20 countries are treated as exploitable labour, fenced in to
precarious work and often live in fear of detention and deportation.

This week, thousands will converge in Toronto to expose and challenge the deadly policies of the G8 and the G20. No One Is Illegal, a grassroots anti-colonial migrant justice group across Kanada with members primarily of racialized/immigrant background, will be there! We will fight to create a world free of the many fences and borders that divide us, and to create communities that all can live with justice and dignity. We invite our friends and allies to join us and particularly for those who are vulnerable (as people of colour, trans folks, non status etc) we encourage you to form affinity groups to support each other and to stay safe.

On June 22nd, we will join our allies in the gender justice and queer liberation movements in their fierce and creative actions grounded in the daily lived experiences of women, queer, and trans folks to overcome marginalization. As part of No One Is Illegal’s Access Without Fear campaign, we will be demanding the right to Shelter, to Sanctuary, and to Status for all migrant women and trans people. On June 23rd, we will
gather with environmental justice activists exposing institutions and corporations responsible for the environmental and social impacts of Canada's extractive industries at home and abroad.

On June 24th, we will stand alongside Indigenous defenders who struggle across Turtle Island against centuries of colonial and genocidal policies that have caused impoverishment, forced assimilation of distinct cultures, and theft of land and resources. As non-native multiracial supporters, we strongly believe that our movement must always be in active solidarity with Indigenous communities.

On June 25th, we will march alongside community groups who daily organize against the indignities and dehumanization of poverty, discrimination, lack of inclusive services, wage-slave working conditions, repressive immigration policies, gentrification, environmental degradation, and police brutality. Joining struggles against homelessness and displacement, we will march towards the fence and will build a Tent City that will
showcase the just communities we wish to live in.

On June 26th, we will rally alongside anti war activists demanding an end to Canadian complicity in imperialist occupations from Afghanistan to Haiti. We will be alongside working people to oppose patriarchy, racism, privatization, cuts to services, and exploitation of (im)migrant workers; to demand living wages, workers control, and status for all; and to make clear that the violence of capitalism cannot be reformed.

On June 26, we will also rise alongside anti-capitalists and radical labour activists who are continuing towards the fence to confront the police state and the billion dollar security apparatus that the G20 finance ministers and corporations hide behind. Just as resistance against the border walls from Palestine to Mexico cannot be contained, our love and rage for liberation cannot be contained. We assert: the militarized fence - another physical and ideological symbol of global apartheid, corporate greed, and a way to keep the elite separate from the people - should come down.

On the evening of June 26th, we will party alongside those reclaiming the streets, while on June 27th we will join prison abolitionists highlighting the growing insecurity and repression of the prison and surveillance industrial complex.

In the coming week, we encourage all our allies to join us on the streets and unite for justice. For a world with self-determination for all Indigenous communities; environmental justice; income equity and community control over resources; migrant justice; gender, queer, disability, and reproductive rights; and freedom for all oppressed peoples; Rise in struggle till all the walls and fences fall!

“Walls turned on their sides, are bridges.”
- Graffiti on US/Mexico border wall

www.nooneisillegal.org

* For further details on these events and information on Accessibility, Legal, Medics, Schedule, and more:
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/

* For G20 and G8 People's Convergence Breaking Updates:
http://2010.mediacoop.ca/
To contribute to this site, please tag youtube, twitter and flickr posts with #g20report.

* Independent media:
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/
http://rabble.ca/
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/altmedia

* Toronto Community Mobilization Network Solidarity and Respect Statement:
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/SolidarityRespect

Resist the G8/G20! Get on the bus with NOII Ottawa!

2010-05-26T23:30:00.005-04:00

On June 26th and 27th the Group of 20 (G20) will be meeting in downtown Toronto

CONFRONT THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM - GET ON THE BUS

http://g20.torontomobilize.org/ottawatranspo

Buses will be leaving from Ottawa to join the Toronto mass protests.

NOII Ottawa is organizing to get people to Toronto for the Friday, June 25 Community Day of Action, organized NOII Toronto, and OCAP.

http://25june.wordpress.com/

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A Call to Resist the 2010 G20/G8 Meetings in Canada

In 2010, the executive board of global capitalism will once again rear its ugly head in locations across Canada. And once again, it will be met with resistance.

Currently engaged in a re-branding exercise, capitalism's ruling elite is shifting power away from the Group of 8 (G8) and towards the G20, the 19 most powerful national economies and the European Union.

But we refuse to be fooled: you can change the label, but inside it's still the same toxic poison.

The Group of 8 last visited Canada in the summer of 2002, and were met with organized resistance by thousands of people across the country, as they are met each and every time they meet anywhere in the world.

Now, almost a decade later, what have the policies of the executive board of global capitalism brought us? More inequality, more environmental destruction, more war and occupation.

The self-serving "war on terror", orchestrated by the leaders of the G8, continues to militarize and brutalize the world, while cynically making appeals to civilization and freedom. The occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan continue, with the US and it's allies, including Canada, content in having reduced them to bombed-out ruins run by complicit client governments.

Around the world, from Honduras to Haiti, from the Philippines to Somalia, the West's drive to dominate and determine the destiny of the global South has done nothing but accelerate.

In addition, throughout North America and Europe, the racist scapegoating and attacks on immigrant and refugee communities has only increased, under the guise of 'security' and so-called 'anti-terror' laws.

The always superficial promises by the G8 to fund 'development' in the global South have led only to a dramatic increase in poverty and disease rates, with the United Nations now reporting that 1 billion people suffer from starvation.

Despite vague words from the G8 to 'do more', the global environmental crisis worsens daily, with entire eco-systems on the verge of collapse. Canada, in particular, has gone out of its way to protect the profits of global corporations by blocking any attempts at the international level to put in place rules aimed lessening the impact of the climate crisis.

The policies of the G8/G20 have always involved the criminalization of indigenous peoples, and the bloody effects of colonialism continue to be felt around the world. But in spite of continual attacks and criminalization, indigenous communities from Palestine to Akwesasne, from Tamil Eelam to Coast Salish and beyond, continue to resist the further exploitation of their lands and resources.

Here at home, the effects of the G8/G20 were made plain by the fallout from the economic collapse, which saw tens of thousands lose their jobs and their homes, while rich elites, the very architects of the collapse, only profited further from the misery.

The fundamental goal of the G8 has always been the transfer of wealth and power to the global elite, and this will change not at all under the G20.

For all these reasons and more, we declare our commitment to organizing effective, clear resistance to the G8/G20 in 2010, wherever they may choose to make an appearance.

This resistance will take many forms, and we declare our support for those actions and events that emphasize mutual solidarity and respect between participants. In particular, we will encourage and organize civil disobedience and direct action to the G8/G20, in the full knowledge that no real negotiation is possible with the lords of global capital.

We encourage all organizations, affinity groups, and individuals to resist the G8/G20. As a first step, we invite groups to endorse this call to action and to join in developing regional resistance to the G8/G20.

In solidarity with all those who continue to resist global capitalism's agenda of exploitation, we say:

NO TO THE G8! NO TO THE G20!

------------------------------

For more information, email: noiiottawa@gmail.com

or visit: http://noii-ottawa.blogspot.com/

or, for more info on the mobilizations in Toronto: http://g20.torontomobilize.org/

---------------------------------------

to book a seat on the buses leaving Ottawa to go to the Toronto protests, visit:

http://g20.torontomobilize.org/ottawatranspo

This Friday! "Connect the Dots: Why you should care about the G8/G20"

2010-05-11T11:43:00.004-04:00

No One Is Illegal Ottawa presents a community dinner & discussion on the upcoming G8/G20 meetings in Toronto!

Friday, May 14, 2010
7pm
Le Patro Community Centre (in Lowertown), Hall #1
40 Cobourg Street (near the corner of St. Patrick Street)

**free meal provided!**

Our speakers - people active in their communities, organizing for social justice and mobilizing for the G8/G20 meetings - will talk about how the G8/G20 affects poor, immigrant, indigenous, and working communities across Canada, and in Ottawa. We'll be serving a free dinner to bring people in Ottawa together, in order to gather ideas and strategies on how to raise awareness of the impacts of global economic policies on our communities and how we can empower ourselves and strengthen our ties as a larger community. And, you can sign up to get on a bus to Toronto to resist the G8!

The featured panelists are:
Syed Hussan
Mélanie Stafford
Shawn Brant
Mostafa henaway

*Syed Hussan is an organizer for migrant justice and in defence of Indigenous Sovereignty. He lives, works, and writes in Toronto and dreams of a world where all people can live with justice and dignity. He thinks that people of color, indigenous people. women, queer and disAbled communities should take to the streets against the G8/G20 and come to Toronto.

*Mélanie Stafford is a poet, lover and a fighter. She is an agitator, facilitator and educator in matters of sexual health. This is a wide issue, and she’s found that writing, singing and listening are powerful forms of activism. She mostly learns from young people, and actively engages against the colonialist and oppressive disturbances in our everyday interactions. Mélanie believes that everyone has something to share, learn and unlearn. She chooses her bike route by the firewood or lilac smells and sees instructions on how to live from the heart all around her.

*Shawn Brant is a citizen of the Mohawk Nation living in the community of Tyendinaga. In 1998, he joined forces with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), mobilizing urban First Nations people into what he calls “a fighting force.”

*Mostafa Henaway is a Montreal-based community organizer with the Immigrant Workers Centre and a member of Tadamon!, a collective actively engaged in the international movement of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid.

Everyone is welcome!
**Child care will be provided on-site.

**ASL translation assistance will be provided (text-based).

If you require English, French, or Spanish translation please let us know by posting on the wall of this event or contacting noiiottawa@gmail.com.

Justice Prorogued for Immigrants and Refugees: Legal experts warn of rights-clawback as Parliament returns

2010-03-02T20:03:00.001-05:00

The following article has been forwarded via No One Is Illegal Toronto by Karin Baqi.

TORONTO: As Parliament returns on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, immigration and human rights lawyers fear an escalation of the Conservative governments attacks on immigrants and refugees.

In the past year, Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism has conducted a xenophobic smear campaign against refugees fleeing certain countries, painting them as bogus system abusers, while evading Canada's international obligations to protect people at risk. The government has announced that its 2010 immigration goals include refusing protection to larger numbers of refugee claimants at our border and introducing legislative changes that will likely deprive claimants from certain countries of a full and fair hearing.

Raoul Boulakia, prominent refugee lawyer and former chair of the Refugee Lawyers Association, states that the creation of a two-tier system threatens to railroad claimants at risk. This, he says, follows years of under-resourcing refugee protection in Canada, and efforts to politically influence what should be an independent and expert tribunal. He adds that when push comes to shove, a government that treats rights and due process arbitrarily will be as likely to shove you as someone else.

The last year has also seen the use of increasingly violent immigration enforcement, including midnight raids at women's shelters and US-style workplace raids carried out at factories.

As Parliament returns from prorogation, we fear increased violence and harassment against already marginalized women and migrant workers with precarious status. We will be monitoring the government and will vigilantly oppose changes made behind closed doors, says Zahra Dhanani, Legal Director of the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC).

These changes have come alongside a historic shift in Canadas immigration policy, which has gutted access to permanent residency while massively increasing temporary, precarious and employer-driven immigration.

Temporary foreign work programs exist for corporate interests to provide them with a cheap and disposable labour force. The reality is that workers who speak out against their substandard working conditions risk both their jobs and deportation, explains Naveen Mehta, Lawyer and National Human Rights Director for the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada.

Arrests, detentions and deportations as a result of unfair immigration decisions are on the rise, tearing apart families and communities. Several thousand people are deported from Canada each year, often to places where they face risk to their lives. The Conservative governments get tough on immigration policy will contribute to the creation of a larger underclass of people with precarious immigration status, few rights and limited access to public services. As Parliament returns, the legal community will be monitoring developments in immigration law and policy and will demand accountability and democratic debate over any proposed changes.

Media Contacts:
Immigration Legal Committee:
The Immigration Legal Committee (ILC) is an autonomous working group of the Law Union of Ontario and is a subcommittee of No One is Illegal Toronto, a migrant justice collective. The ILC is composed of law students, legal workers and lawyers seeking to provide support to migrant justice campaigns and information and resources to organizations serving migrant communities in Toronto.

Karin Baqi
647-402-4048

Katherine Ramsey
416-824-1255

Macdonald Scott
416-999-6885

immigrationlegalcommittee@gmail.com

Jason Kenney talk disrupted in Ottawa!

2010-02-28T08:20:00.004-05:00

On Thursday February 25th, Jason Kenney's evening address to the Carleton Campus Conservatives was thoroughly disrupted by members of No One Is Illegal-Ottawa and other Ottawa activists.

A small group of people made their way into the talk, which started 30 minutes late, and proceeded to disrupt the whole event by confronting Kenney about his racist track record as minister of immigration and multiculturalism. After 15 minutes of being constantly interrupted by questions about recent deportations, racist comments and the anti-immigrant policies of the Immigrant and Refugee Board, Kenney was forced to end his talk early, amidst a loud chorus of "Deport Jason Kenney!"

This comes in the same week as Tadamon announced a compiled list of 500 Montreal based artists in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel movement, and the same night as OCAP disrupted a Liberal party fundraiser.
It was a good week to be on the right side of the struggle.

NOII Ottawa Update: Recent Activities and Upcoming Plans

2010-02-24T17:12:00.003-05:00

After actively deciding to put the group on hiatus for a time, this past November, 2009, No One Is Illegal Ottawa began operating again informally in response to No One Is Illegal Toronto’s call for solidarity in the National Day of Action: Justice for Migrant Workers on December 2, 2009. Existing members and new organizers were able to have a few quick organizing meetings in order to pull off a successful banner drop action on December 2nd. This helped us gain momentum for a re-launching of No One is Illegal Ottawa.

In late December, NOII Ottawa applied for funding and working group status with OPIRG-GRIPO at Ottawa University and continued to meet informally in order to plan a workshop which was presented at the Global Apartheid Conference at Ottawa University this January 2010. The workshop featured Hassan S.K., an organizer with NOII Toronto, who linked the G8/G20 with migrant justice issues, and discussed the organizing that NOII Toronto is doing. A member of NOII Ottawa discussed some of the previous work that NOII Ottawa had done, as well as some of the future interests particularly associated with organizing around the G8/20 meetings in June. A member of Collectif du Chat Noir, the local G8/20 resistance organizing collective in Ottawa, discussed broader plans around G8/20 resistance. The conference gave us the opportunity not only to network with NOII members in Toronto and Montreal, to learn about their current organizing, but also to generate interest and recruit new members, in order to officially re-launch the group.

On Monday, February 1st, NOII Ottawa held a general meeting at McNabb community centre. Many past organizers, as well as some new members, came together to discuss past organizing and potential directions of the group. At this meeting, it was decided that NOII Ottawa would meet regularly. Our meetings will be happening every second Monday at 6:30 pm at the CUPW office, 377 Bank St. (room TBA). Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 1, 2010.

In terms of future organizing plans, NOII Ottawa has decided to continue mobilizing resistance to the G8/20. We had an event on February 12, 2010 at Shanghai restaurant as a way to raise funds for a NOII Ottawa chartered bus, as a way to provide transportation to Toronto to people for whom it would otherwise be inaccessible. Apart from bringing out a lot of old and new faces, and making some great connections, we were able to raise over $800. With this money, we don’t want to just send a bunch of activists from Ottawa to Toronto to riot in the streets. It is the hope that our local organizing will be able to mobilize immigrants and poor communities, people without status, migrant workers, and those engaging in daily community struggles. This will give the opportunity for people in Ottawa to attend the People’s Forum, to engage with other local community struggles locally and to join up with communities in resistance in Toronto for the Community Day of Action on June 25. Ideally, this mobilization will foster sustained community organizing locally in Ottawa, as well as develop strong inter-community networks. There are still more conversations to be had about what type of local actions and organizing NOII Ottawa will be taking on in relation with the G8/20.

Another plan that was decided as a part of local organizing is to hold regular community dinners. Our first one scheduled for Friday, March 12 at 7:00 pm at the Hintonburg Community Centre (1064 Wellington Street West), the idea is that regular dinners rotating around various community spaces in various parts of the city is a way to engage with community members, and particularly migrant communities. Short videos and guest speakers will allow us to raise awareness of issues facing people without status as a way to build support and solidarity. It also creates a community space within which people can share their own struggles.

NOII Ottawa will also be continuing to build on work that had already been started by NOII Ottawa in the past: our “Solidarity City” campaign. This work is similar to that being done by NOII Toronto. We will be continuing to build a network of service providers (including educational, employment, food, health, housing, legal, shelter, settlement, family, and youth services) who will serve people without status, and making this information available to those who need it so that they can access services without fear of detention or deportation. This is also a way to engage with service providers around the rights of non-status people and why it is important to create access without fear to basic services, as a way to build solidarity with the struggles of migrants and create a continuing dialogue of resistance. We have scheduled to meet with various service centre workers from around the city at our next meeting, as a way to learn about their experiences with working with people without status, so we can gain a better idea about how to continue to approach service centres.

Much work is still to be done, and many plans are still to be made. We encourage all interested parties to join us at our meeting on Monday, March 1, 2010, at 6:30 PM, at the CUPW office (room TBA).

Next Meeting

2010-02-22T16:44:00.003-05:00

Our next meeting will not be tonight, and will instead be held next Monday, March 1st at 6:30 pm. Stay tuned for more information confirming the location throughout the week. This will become our regular meeting location, and meetings will be held every second Monday at the same time and place.

2nd Annual "It's Not Too Late For a Date...with No One Is Illegal" on February 12th!!

2010-02-01T22:48:00.003-05:00

Mark your calendars!

It's time for the second annual No One Is Illegal Ottawa Fundraiser! "It's Not Too Late for a Date...with No One Is Illegal"

is taking place on:

Friday, February 12th. at Shanghai Restaurant (651 Somerset, at Bronson).

Doors are at 9 pm,

& the fun happens: 10 pm-2 am.

This event is not to be missed! Tell all your friends!

Featured will be:

-A raffle with sweet prizes (including awesome gift certificates, and even a CD!) -A date auction (Spend all your dollars for a date with No One Is Illegal organizers, and also sexy community members!!) -Sweaty dancing with LIVE music provided by: ***DJ BEAR WITNESS*** ***DJ YALLA! YALLA!*** ***DJ MIKKIPEDIA*** Funds will go towards No One Is Illegal Ottawa's G8/20 organizing efforts.

General Meeting, this Monday

2010-01-29T12:18:00.004-05:00

If you've been interested in organizing with No One Is Illegal Ottawa,

now is your perfect opportunity:

No One Is Illegal Ottawa

will be having a General Meeting on

Monday, February 1st, at 6pm,

at McNabb Community Centre

(Corner of Gladstone Ave. & Percy St.)

in the Boardroom

(use the Percy Street entrance).

Everyone is welcome.

We'll have snacks!

This room is wheelchair accessible.

Come to the meeting to talk about local organizing plans,

our upcoming very fun fundraiser, and G8/G20 plans.

See you there!

------

We encourage you to sign up to our announcements listserve so you can stay up to date on events and meetings we're having. The listserve is a better way for us to be in touch, so please consider adding yourself to the list here:

https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/noiiottawa

Long Overdue Update, NOII Ottawa Reinvigorated

2010-01-22T15:01:00.003-05:00

A lot of great stuff has been happening for NOII Ottawa lately, and we're about due for an update. More specifically, this December, NOII Ottawa had a rapid kickstart in organizing for a day of action. This resulted in a push to obtain funding from OPIRG-GRIPO at the University of Ottawa so that we can continue that effort. We're currently organizing a workshop and a fundraiser. Read on to see what's going on! And, remember that you can get plugged in to events by subscribing at: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/noiiottawa.

On December 2nd, NOII Ottawa participated in the National Day of Action for Justice for Migrant Workers, but making several banners and have successful banner drop activities. The variety of banners had slogans such as: "Migrant Labour is Real Labour"; "Justice for Migrant Workers"; "No One Is Illegal," etc. Our small but growing group was hoping to address the new policy changes of the Conservative government that continue to render migrant labour ever more disposible. We also published a pamphlet addressing some of these issues in more detail, which was endorsed by a number of groups around Ottawa. Stay tuned, as a copy of it will be posted here soon.

More recently, folks from No One Is Illegal have been working to organize a workshop for the Global Apartheid Conference taking place this weekend in Ottawa. Our workshop will be taking place on:

THIS Saturday, January 23
from 2:00 to 3:30 pm
at the University of Ottawa
in Room 250, Morisset Hall (65 University Private).

Entitled, "Global Apartheid, the G8/G20, and Migrant Justice," ours will be a three part workshop about the G8 and G20 and what they mean for the migrant justice movement. Hussan SK from NOII Toronto will talk about the G20 and how it relates to migrant justice organizing, a member of NOII Ottawa will talk about the work being done in Ottawa to link NOII’s work with anti G8/G20 work, and a member of the Collectif du Chat Noir will present the local anti-G8 organizing that is happening in Ottawa and how YOU can get plugged in.

The conference will be a great opportunity for NOII Ottawa to continue growing.

Finally, NOII Ottawa is in the process of organizing a super FUNdraiser to support the renting of a bus to send to the G8/G20 summit this June. Things are still in the planning stage, but feel free to send an e-mail to noiiottawa@gmail.com if you're interested in helping out.

And that's just the beginning of what we've planned so far. We're hoping to continue on with this rapid growth and put on some sweet events in the coming year.

Emergency Meeting! Take action to protest immigration raids in southern ontario!

2009-04-15T20:41:00.002-04:00

what: emergency planning meeting
when: thursday, april 16th, 6pm
where: OPIRG Ottawa U, 631 King Edward Ave

allies in toronto have asked for solidarity actions to take place in several cities across the country, including ottawa. see details below. this meeting will be to plan an action to take place soon, and is open to all. please forward widely.

****
ACT! CALL! WRITE!

This Sunday, 41 workers will be handcuffed, dragged to an airport and placed on a plane to Thailand. Many of them will never have the chance to return to Canada. They were arrested with dozens of others on their way to work or while packing food at Cericola Farms, in southwestern Ontario last week. CBSA then lied to them and tricked them into waiving their legal rights. This is a targeted attack by the Tory government against migrants. Minister Van Loan can stop these deportations; Minister Kenney can grant them status.

YOU can insist that they do so.

1. Take public action against your MP, Immigration or Enforcement Office. (See list of cities below)

2. Spread the word!
(http://rabble.ca/news/2009/04/protests-respond-ontario-immigration-raids)

3. Call Kenney and Van Loan. And call your local MP to pressure the Ministers.

4. Send a letter to Ministers Van Loan and Kenney (sample below). Ask your MP to do the same. Write to your local media outlet.

5. Spread the word. Stop the raids. Stop the deportations. Demand status for all. On 2 May, take to the streets (http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/275)

Further details in sample letter below.

Peter Van Loan, Minister
Constituency Office
T 1-877-738-3748; T: 613-996-7752
F 905-898-4600; F 613-992-8351
E vanlop1@parl.gc.ca
45 Grist Mill Road, Unit 10, Holland Landing, ON L9N1M7
Room 209-S, Centre Block, Ottawa, ON K1A0A6

Jason Kenney, Minister
P. 613-992-2235; F. 613-992-1920
P. 403-225-3480. F. 403-225-3504
E Minister@cic.gc.ca. AND kennej@parl.gc.ca
325 East Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
1168 137 Ave SE. Calgary, AB T2J 6T6

Ministers Van Loan and Kenney,

On April 2nd and 3rd, CBSA raided three food processing factories where they held all workers at gun point. These workers were herded into a cafeteria where citizens and permanent residents were separated from other workers.

These other workers, many of whom possess temporary work permits, were handcuffed and held on a bus for over eight hours. In unprecedented weekend hearings, most of the detained workers were tricked into waiving legal advice or the right to dispute their removal.

These illegal and egregious actions were followed by speedy requests for travel documents, as their original passports are held by unscrupulous, corrupt agents at TNT Recruitment. The Thai consulate has provided these papers and 41 of the arrested are being put on a plane on Sunday April 19th.

Removing workers from Canada in this way is arbitrary and illegal. The recruitment agency and the company which paid these workers $9.00 an hour for 12 hours of back-breaking and brutal work have not been charged.

Minister Van Loan, sign a notice to stop the deportations. Minister Kenney, grant all workers arrested full status. Stop using the economic crisis as an excuse to target migrant workers and their families!

++++++++++++++++++++++
Endorsed by
No One Is Illegal-Toronto
Justicia for Migrant Workers
Migrante Ontario
No One Is Illegal Vancouver
Solidarity Across Borders (Montreal)
Immigrant Workers Center (Montreal)
++++++++++++++++++++++
Actions:

18 April
Toronto
Details to be announced

17 April
Montreal
Meet at downtown CBSA Offices

14 April
Calgary
1130, Calgary Chamber of Commerce
100 - 6 Avenue S.W

9 April
Vancouver
http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=1048

7 April
Edmonton
http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/210247

5 April
Toronto
http://rabble.ca/news/2009/04/protests-respond-ontario-immigration-raids

(Please email nooneisillegal@riseup.net if you're organizing an action)

CALL TO SUPPORT ABOUSFIAN ABDELRAZIK

2009-03-17T19:32:00.005-04:00

Count down to 3 April: Less than three weeks to hold government to its promise

Abousfian Abdelrazik is a Montreal man whose name may take its place among a growing list of victims of a Canadian version of 'extraordinary rendition'.

Internal government memos and other documents released under the Privacy Act reveal that, like Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin - all imprisoned and tortured in Syria on the request of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the RCMP, as confirmed by the federal Iacobucci Inquiry - Mr. Abdelrazik was also jailed on the recommendation of CSIS, while on a visit to Sudan. In prison, he was beaten and tortured. In this horrific context, he was interrogated by CSIS officials complicit in his arrest.

Eventually released and cleared of all suspicion by Sudan, as well as the RCMP and CSIS, his many attempts to return home to Montreal have been blocked rather than aided by Canadian officials. Since the story became public in late April 2008, Mr. Abdelrazik has been living in 'temporary safe haven' in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum. (More background, including media coverage: www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php.)

Project Fly Home

In March 2009, in a mass civil disobedience action, over one hundred people joined together to buy a plane ticket home for Abousfian Abdelrazik, even though the Canadian government made it a federal offence to directly or indirectly finance or collect money to support Mr. Abdelrazik.

The group of contributors to the ticket, now almost 150 people, stretches from Vancouver to Iqaluit to Newfoundland and reflects the groundswell of support for Mr. Abdelrazik and popular outrage and disgust at the treatment of him. Contributors include farmers, law professors, labour union representatives, artists, filmmakers, lawyers, workers, doctors, former Cabinet ministers, grandmothers, students and more. To date, the government has not decided whether or not it will charge the group.

* See list of contributors at www.peoplescommission.org/files/abousfianMedia/FinalList.pdf.
* Video and audio from press conference announcing that the ticket was bought will be posted shortly at www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php.
* Open letter from James Loney (one of the contributors) to the MP in his riding: www.peoplescommission.org/files/abousfianMedia/JamesLoneyLetter.pdf

The plane ticket strips away another excuse the government has used to prevent Abousfian Abdelrazik from returning home. In December, the government stated in a letter to Mr. Abdelrazik's lawyer that he must present a fully-paid-for plane ticket before Passport Canada would agree to issue an emergency passport. Mr. Abdelrazik's passport expired while he was in prison in Sudan. The flight leaves Khartoum on April 3rd. An emergency passport can take less than 24-hours to issue. The government was given three weeks to issue the passport.

How you can help

1. In order to ensure Mr. Abdelrazik's safe return to Canada, Project Fly Home is seeking public endorsements from organizations across Canada. Please send all endorsements to projectflyhome@gmail.com. Endorsers will be listed as "organizations supporting the public campaign to bring Abousfian Abdelrazik home to Canada".

2. Join the list of people who have contributed to the return flight at the risk of being criminally charged for collecting money to support Mr. Abdelrazik. Although the ticket is already purchased, additional contributions are being accepted and names will be added to the list of contributors: the money raised will pay for other campaign expenses and the remainder will be offered to Mr. Abdelrazik when he returns to Canada, as a tiny, symbolic reparation for the crimes and injustices that have been committed against him. To join, email projectflyhome@gmail.com.

3. Please send brief letters of solidarity to Mr. Abdelrazik at projectflyhome@gmail.com. These letters will be read to him in Khartoum.

Project Fly Home
www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php
projectflyhome@gmail.com

Public Lecture: The Politics of Migrant “Illegality” in Canada: Issues in Research and Organizing

2009-03-11T13:09:00.001-04:00

By: Cynthia Wright (York University)

March 18, 5:30 pm
2017 Dunton Tower
Carleton University

Cynthia teaches in the School of Women’s Studies at York University. A long-time activist, she is the author of “Against Illegality: New Directions in Organizing by and with Non-Status People in Canada” (2006) and of “From ‘Managed Migration’ to a Politics of No Borders,” (2008) among other articles and reviews. With Bridget Anderson and Nandita Sharma, she is guest-editing a special issue of Refuge on the politics of no borders.

Co-sponsored by the Human Rights Program, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS), and the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies.

SHIFT IN IMMIGRATION POLICY IS SHORT-SIGHTED, UNFAIR AND RACIST

2009-02-24T10:00:00.008-05:00

New Report Says That Shift in Canadian Immigration Policy based on the Live-in Caregiver Program Will Lead to US-Style System That is Unfair and Racist

See the full report here.

No One is Illegal has just released a report showing that Canada is headed toward a US-style system dependent on temporary migrant workers that is both unfair and racist. The document prepared by independent researcher Salimah Valiani demonstrates that Canada's re-shaped immigration system will not lead to building citizenship and labour supply in Canada.

The report, using Government of Canada data to estimate the retention rate of migrant workers under the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), shows that though Canada brought-in growing numbers of migrant live-in caregivers from 2003-2007, the likelihood of these workers attaining permanent resident status fell each year. The LCP is the longest standing immigration program offering the possibility of permanent residency to temporary migrant workers.

Despite Canada's long-term needs to build citizenship and the labour force, government has moved to a system based on temporary migration instead of permanent residency for internationally-trained workers. "This is alarming for a population-hungry country built on a history of permanent residency and the promise of human rights for all," states Valiani.

Given that recent changes to the Canadian immigration system are modeled on the LCP, No One is Illegal urges opposition parties to press for discussion of the report’s findings in parliament and across the country.

No One is Illegal is a grassroots anti-colonial immigrant and refugee rights collective. No One is Illegal campaigns to attain concrete victories for immigrants and refugees and to develop the communities' own capacity to attain justice and dignity for themselves and their families

Valiani will present her findings at No One is Illegal's International Women's Day event, March 8, 2pm, at Jack Purcell Community Centre, 320 Jack Purcell Lane (wheelchair accessible and daycare available; contact noiiottawa@gmail.com)

For media enquiries please contact Salimah Valiani at 613.314.6667.

The full report is available here.

Register for NOII Training Workshop

2008-10-08T21:35:00.023-04:00

On October 25, 2008, NOII Ottawa will be having its first organizational training. The training will be led by No One is Illegal Toronto. Representatives of NOII Toronto will be speaking about their experiences in organizing for their widely successful 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' campaign in Toronto, as well as giving some training/holding a strategy session on immigration/refugee issues.

No One is Illegal is pleased to invite organizations and individuals who are active in organizing around these issues, or those who want to get more involved, to join us in our organizational training. We would encourage you to register before October 22nd below. We welcome all donations to cover the cost of the training.

Schedule--> October 25th, 2008, Interpares, 221 Laurier Avenue East

10am-10:30am- Intros and Welcome
10:30am-12pm- Don't Ask, Don't Tell session
12pm-1pm- Lunch
1pm-3pm- Strategy session

**
Le 25 octobre, 2008, Personne n'est illégal Ottawa aura sa première formation organisationelle. La formation sera menée par Personne n'est illégal Toronto. Pendant la formation, des représentant-e-s de Personne n'est illégal Toronto parleront de leurs expériences avec l'organisation de la campagne 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' à Toronto, en plus d'offrir une formation sur les enjeux autour de la migration.

Personne n'est illégal Ottawa invite les organisations et individus qui organisent dans le contexte de ces enjeux ou ceux et celles qui veulent être impliqués de nous joindre sur cette journée de formation. Nous vous encourageons de vous inscrire avant le 22 octobre ci-dessous. Nous acceptons toutes les contributions en vue de défrayer les coûts de la formation.

Horaire--> 25 octobre, 2008, Interpares, 221 ave. Laurier est

10h00-10h30 Introductions et Bienvenue
10h30- 12h00 Session I: La campagne 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
12h00-13h00 Dîner
13h00-15h00 Session II: Stratégie

La traduction anglais-français sera disponible à la formation.

Migrant workers fired from B.C. greenhouse as union vote neared

2008-09-18T08:30:00.003-04:00

Migrant workers fired from B.C. greenhouse as union vote neared

Fourteen Mexican farm workers employed at an Abbotsford greenhouse were fired from their jobs and sent back to Mexico days before a union-certification vote, the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada said yesterday.

The workers were terminated late in the day on Sept. 5, a Friday, before being driven to the airport the next day in time to catch an afternoon flight to Mexico, the union said.

On Sept. 4, the UFCW had filed an application to represent 29 employees at the company, Floralia Plant Growers Ltd.

Workers were scheduled to hold a certification vote today.

A woman who answered the phone at the company late yesterday afternoon said in response to questions, "I can't tell you anything" before hanging up.

The union has filed a complaint with the British Columbia Labour Relations Board and asked the board to order the company to rehire the workers and pay for their flights back to Canada, said Local 1518 spokesman Andy Neufeld.

"We are currently before the labour board on this," Mr. Neufeld said, adding that the union believes the workers were sent back to Mexico in retaliation for union activities.

Hearings are scheduled for this week.

The UFCW has spent years trying to unionize migrant farm workers in Canada and last month, successfully signed up migrant workers at Greenway Farms Ltd. in Surrey.

That certification was the first for migrant workers in B.C., which in 2004 began hiring under the federal Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program.

That program, started in the 1970s in Eastern Canada, was introduced to B.C. at the urging of agricultural producers who said they had difficulty finding enough help in the domestic market.

Under the terms of the SAWP, foreign workers are supposed to receive wages commensurate with those of Canadians, employer-paid international transportation, and health and medical benefits, as well as the same labour protection under the law as Canadians.

A June study of B.C. farm workers by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Simon Fraser University found farm workers are routinely exposed to pesticides and other chemicals; immigrant workers are regularly transported by farm labour contractors in vans that violate safety regulations; and health and safety standards are routinely violated, for example, by employers failing to provide adequate washroom facilities or water for hand-washing.

The union said the labour board has issued summonses for Floralia workers to appear before the board and taken steps to help the employees understand their rights.

WENDY STUECK VANCOUVER

Continuous Journey Film Night

2008-09-13T13:47:00.001-04:00

No One Is Illegal - Ottawa is pleased to invite you to the screening of...

Continuous Journey
an award winning documentary feature by Ali Kazimi

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
Doors at 7 pm. Film starts at 7:30 pm.
Umi Cafe
610 Somerset W, at Percy
Suggested Donation $5
(nobody is turned away!)

"In 1914, the Komagata Maru, a ship carrying 376 immigrants from British India, was turned away by Canada. The consequences were felt throughout the British Empire. Continuous Journey is a compelling and eye-opening investigation into the past and present ramifications of this incident. More than history film, Continuous Journey is a provocative, moving, and multilayered essay that interweaves photographs, newsreels, home movies and official documents to unravel a complex and little-known story."

For more information: contact noiiottawa@gmail.com

http://www.noii-ottawa.blogspot.com
http://www.socialdoc.net/kazimi/

No Human Being Is Illegal

2008-08-21T16:50:00.001-04:00

ZNet July, 26 2008

By Peter Rachleff

In April 2006, hundreds of thousands of immigrant rights protestors marched in cities across the United States. They countered prolonged debates about the pros and cons of comprehensive immigration reform with a short but sweet affirmation, scrawled on placards: "No Human Being Is Illegal." Their direct assertion challenged the deeply entrenched practices of our government and a deep wellspring of racism in our culture. Their actions also evoked traditions of protest, organization, and resistance.

Since the days of slavery - well before the establishment of the United States itself - the government, buttressed by popular culture, included some residents as citizens and excluded others as outsiders, as what historian Mae Ngai has called "impossible subjects." Not only were slaves defined as outside the political and social community, but freed slaves and their children were typically excluded from citizenship. The federal constitution counted slaves as three-fifths of a person. The Naturalization Act of 1790 offered citizenship to "free white persons." The Alien Act of 1798 authorized the president to order the deportation of any alien "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" during peacetime. Once the government began to regulate immigration, argues Professor Ngai, it had begun to create the "illegal" alien.

Race was the central criterion by which such decisions would be made, and thinking about race was shaped by popular prejudices, beliefs, and passions. A dual process cast the racially different as "other," while securing a place on the inside for all of those accorded "white" status. The outsiders were vulnerable to the worst forms of economic exploitation, from slavery and servitude to sweatshops, in the most dangerous conditions at the lowest wages. Yet they enriched their employers. Just a step above these outsiders on the economic ladder, from their own position of insecurity, simultaneously threatened by the wealth and power of those above them and the lack of power manifested by those below them on the socio-economic ladder, working class whites struggled to hold on to what status and privilege they had. They practiced discrimination and even mob justice at times, and they sought laws, court orders, and enforcement from the state to shield them from competition with th! e outsiders. And hence a pattern took shape which would be seared into the American body politic. When insecurity spread among working class whites and popular discontent threatened to swell, the elite and the state responded by scapegoating and exorcising "the other," both people of color and immigrants.

This pattern has dominated our society since its founding to the present day. When the industrial revolution undermined the independence of white artisans in the first half of the 19th century, they began to organize unions and independent political parties. But one state after another revised its voting qualifications from property ownership to whiteness and maleness and the discontent subsided. The deep depression of the 1870s and the political turmoil it occasioned led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first law which proscribed a particular race. Amidst the economic and political turbulence after World War I, Congress passed the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, the nation's first comprehensive immigration restriction law. It established numerical quotas on immigration and a racial and national hierarchy that favored northern and western Europeans over southern, central, and eastern Europeans, most of whom at that time were not considered to be "white." An enforcement bu! reaucracy blossomed, attentive not only to borders and ports, but also to cities, fields, factories, and mines throughout the country.

Not only were barriers to immigration constructed, but the members of those banned groups who did live in the U.S. were treated as suspect. Dominant popular attitudes, shaped by and expressed through cartoons, commercial advertisements, newspapers, radio, film and humor, rendered all members of these groups "alien," "other," not-quite American. And the authorities, from the local police to the U.S. Supreme Court, enforced these attitudes through exclusionary laws and punitive actions.

Even those groups who had attained some level of "insider" status would discover how easily it could be revoked. During the 1930s Great Depression and World War II, Mexicans, Filipinos, and Japanese residents were marked as "illegal" immigrants despite having entered the country legally, having become legitimate citizens, or even having been born here. They were stripped of their property and their rights, some to be interned and others to be deported. Even the third generation U.S. citizens in their groups were rendered "illegal."

The Immigration Act of 1965 was supposed to change much of this. Influenced by the civil rights movement, on the one hand, and the Cold War, on the other, the new law was to set aside old prejudices and establish a new day of openness and fairness. Racially-based quotas were dropped, and broad, regional categories were created.

Ironically, the post-1965 era also marked the transformation of the global and American economies into the turbulence generated by neoliberalism and free market economics. Rapid, profound changes swept Central and South America, Southeast and South Asia, and parts of Africa, occasioning unprecedented population movement, from countryside to city, from country to country, even from continent to continent. By the late 1980s a significant part of that population movement headed to the United States. Free trade, the importation of less expensive farm products, the export of capital and the opening of factories, exploration for raw materials, war and the presence of the U.S. military, tied Hmong, Vietnamese, Salvadorans, Mexicans, Liberians, and others to the U.S. Simultaneously, war, discrimination, drought, and political and economic crises pushed Somalis, Eritreans, Oromos, Guatemalans, Indians, Pakistanis, and others to leave their homes and seek peace and security elsewhere,! including the United States. From nursing homes to meatpacking plants, from taxi cabs to cleaning buildings, they provided cheap labor with little ability to stand up for their rights.

The very same economic shifts were sweeping the U.S. domestic economy, destabilizing manufacturing and undermining the economic security of American workers. They feared losing their jobs, while they were becoming increasingly aware of the presence of new non-white immigrants in their communities, many of whom were willing to work for longer hours and less pay than they were. Politicians, demagogues, radio talk show hosts, and the like found this to be fertile ground for the replaying of that historical nativist script. Scapegoating immigrants, especially non-white immigrants, was a path to fame, fortune, and political power.

Recent events have delivered this package to our doors in the Midwest. Two glaring experiences demand our attention, each different in its particulars but similar in its construction. Both grow out of the historical power of racism and its incorporation by the practices of the state.

The Twin Cities has become home to the largest Liberian community in the U.S., even as the federal government denies many of them permanent residency status. Two decades of civil war and disorder, on top of a century of economic neocolonialism, much of it facilitated by U.S. weapons, money, and intervention, have demolished Liberia's infrastructure and left its unemployment rate hovering at 80%. Meanwhile, by their own accounting, Liberians working in Minnesota are sending $8-10 million a month to family members back home. Yet our federal government only proffers "temporary protected status" to tens of thousands of displaced Liberians, with a time-clock ticking away towards expulsion in March 2009. When Sierra Leonean immigrants lost their temporary protected status in May 2004 they were transformed from "refugees" into "undocumented illegals" with one sweep of the bureaucratic hand. To add insult to injury, our government has introduced a DNA testing program in Monrovia, th! e capital of Liberia, requiring applicants for immigration to the U.S. to "prove" their familial relationships with immigrants already here. Liberian immigrants are treated as potential criminals before they have set foot in the U.S. and they live each day here with one eye over their shoulders.

Central American immigrants have not fared any better. In the last decades of the Cold War, dictatorial and military governments in the region, often funded by the U.S., waged virtual warfare against their own populations. Since the rise of free trade and neoliberalism in the last decade, self-sufficient agriculture and artisanal production have been battered by the import of cheap agricultural products and mass-produced commodities. Millions of displaced peasants and village-dwellers have left their homes, seeking jobs which enable them to support their families. Due to immigration restrictions, which persist despite the 1965 law, many of them have entered the U.S. surreptitiously, without legal documents. As economic insecurity for many white workers in the U.S. has worsened and as politicians and demagogues have fanned the flames of fear, these immigrants have been increasingly targeted by authorities.

Once the government assumes the task of separating citizens from "impossible subjects," Professor Ngai points out, "the border" is everywhere, not just between countries. Thus, the border has come to the Midwest. Indeed, in the two years since the immigrant rights marches of spring 2006, there have been federal ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids of workplaces, especially meatpacking plants, in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. Two months ago, 900 ICE agents raided the AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Iowa, the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the country. This was the largest such raid in U.S. history, with the most severe consequences. Nearly 400 undocumented packinghouse workers, mostly indigenous men and women from Guatemala, were rounded up, and charged with the felony of "aggravated identity theft" for having used false social security numbers. They were separated from their children and relatives, chained, interned in tents in the Waterloo cattle grounds! , and pressured to plead guilty. Nearly all of them did. The men are serving five month prison sentences, while the women are under house arrest, wearing electronic ankle bracelets, unable to work or earn any income. When the men complete their sentences, they and their partners will change places for another five months. The women will go to prison and the men will be under house arrest. Then, all will be deported.

Liberians and Guatemalans in these cases, and many other immigrants in other cases, are being rendered illegal by a state bureaucracy which invokes terrorism to justify budget increases for ICE while cutting back on social services. Borders and boundaries are sharply defined, by the logics of the state, with some of us on the inside, others of us on the outside. Men, women, and children fleeing regimes which have wreaked havoc in their communities seek ways to survive. When they get to the U.S., some find dangerous, dirty, and low-paying jobs. Some do better economically but live in fear of deportation and the loss of anything they have built here.

Not all Americans are content with this state of affairs. Informed by the stories of protest, organization, and resistance that are also part of this country's history, American people have consistently challenged both popular racism and the actions of the state. Time and again, those directly hurt by racism and state policies have been joined by ordinary women and men who were moved by conscience to mount movements seeking social justice. Some people organized to free slaves in the Underground Railroad or challenged the very institution of slavery as abolitionists. In the next generations, workers, farmers, and farmworkers of color organized together with their white counterparts in the Knights of Labor, the Populist movement, and the Industrial Workers of World. They sought a democratic and egalitarian America in the face of the rising power of corporate elites and robber barons. Southern and eastern European immigrants joined with African Americans who had migrated from t! he South to lead the industrial union movement of the 1930s. In the midst of the Great Depression, this movement sought economic security, fairness and dignity in the workplace, and a voice for workers in the nation's political life. Sleeping Car Porters, hospital workers, government employees, auto workers, coal miners and many others mobilized their unions to support the civil rights movement, while the United Farm Workers of America brought its values and vision to Latino and Filipino migrant workers. Workplace and community-based organizations, churches, and social justice groups of all sorts have stood up time and again for fairness, equality, and inclusion, even when it wasn't popular.

This history has been as complex and rich in the Midwest as it has been anywhere in the U.S. Currently, in Minnesota, organizations and individuals - religious and/or faith-based, labor, and rights and justice advocates - have formed a network to support permanent residency for Liberians and fair treatment and a path to citizenship for the Postville immigrant workers. Twin Cities-based Jewish Community Action, drawing on its interpretation of the complicated historical narrative of Jews - as "strangers" on the one hand, and as advocates of social justice on the other - has played a leading role in the organization of the Committee for Permanent Residency, "CPR," which has focused on the insecure immigration of Liberians in the U.S., and in the organization of material aid and a support rally in Postville on Sunday, July 27. They have organized through synagogues and temples and Jewish organizations, newspaper, and websites, and they have advocated on behalf of "Hekhsher Tzed! ek," an expansion of the definition of "kosher" to include issues of worker treatment and the right to organize. As partners and advocates on their own behalf, immigrants themselves have been a major part of these efforts, bringing their neighbors, offering contacts and critical information, and acting from deep experiences of coalition and courage. A partial list of participant organizations is suggestive of this widening network: the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network, Centro Campesino, the Advocates for Human Rights, the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789, UNITE-HERE Local 17, the Workers' Interfaith Network, and a number of synagogues and churches.

The stories of exploitation, abuse, and disrespect have disturbed those of us participating in these organizing efforts. We have also found inspiration and hope from history and from each other. Most of all, we cannot stand idle while the state, greedy employers, and racist organizations and individuals act in our name. It's time for all of us to march with those immigrant rights signs: "No Human Being Is Illegal!"

Peter Rachleff July 21, 2008

Peter Rachleff is a Professor of History at Macalester College in St. Paul [Minnesota], and a specialist in labor and immigration history. He has been working on immigrant rights issues with Jewish Community Action, but he alone is responsible for the ideas expressed in this article. If you are interested in participating in these projects, wish to make a contribution to immigrant support, or wish to comment, please email him at rachleff@macalester.edu.

El Contrato film night

2008-08-11T10:31:00.004-04:00

No-One is Illegal Ottawa is pleased to present our first film night!

On Wednesday, August 13, No-One is Illegal will be having our first public event, with a film showing of 'El Contrato'.

The award-winning 'El Contrato' follows Teodoro Bello Martinez, a poverty-stricken father of four living in Central Mexico, and several of his countrymen as they make an annual migration to southern Ontario. For eight months of the year the town's population absorbs 4,000 migrant labourers who pick tomatoes for conditions and wages few local residents would accept. Under a well-meaning government program that allows growers to monitor themselves, the opportunity to exploit workers is as ripe as the fruit they pick. Grievances are deflected by a long line of others "back home" who are willing to take their place. Despite a fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect, as much as for better working conditions. El Contrato ends as winter closes in and the Mexicans pledge, not for the first time and possibly not the last, that it's their final season in the north.

The film night will take place at Umi Café, 610 Somerset Street West, at 7pm-10pm.

This event has a suggested donation of $5 (nobody will be turned away). It is a wheelchair accessible event.

**
No One is Illegal (NOII) Ottawa is a coalition of migrants and allies that advocates and fights for the rights, dignity, and respect of immigrants and refugees, as well as those living without status in Canada. We also stand in solidarity with aboriginal struggles to have their rights to land and free movement respected.

Umi Café is a cooperatively run cafe in the heart of Ottawa's Chinatown. They specialize in Fair Trade organic coffee grown by indigenous peasant cooperatives in the South.

Farm hands deserve respect

2008-07-21T04:18:00.002-04:00

[Article published at The Abbotsford Times.]

It's a litany that reads like a 19th century novel: field workers routinely exposed to pesticides and gases without appropriate gear or training; migrants who won't speak up about poor working and living conditions for fear of reprisals; seniors in the fields up to 20 hours a day during peak harvest with no overtime pay.

And this in British Columbia, where farm gate sales ring in at more than $2.5 billion annually, with a big chunk of that generated in the Fraser Valley.
The study released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is shocking.

It should have us hanging our heads in shame.

The story it tells suggests that we treat our farm workers like indentured servants at worst, as second-class citizens at best.

But this should come as no surprise. For years, farmworkers and their advocates have told us about tough and deteriorating conditions on the farm.

Not all farm operators treat their workers badly, and we recognize that.

However, while farm and migrant workers continue to work under unsafe and degrading conditions, the checks that could be protecting them have eroded.

The CCPA authors note that since 2001, farm inspection reports by WorkSafe BC dropped 62 per cent, prevention orders were down 73 per cent; safety standards are routinely ignored and immigrant workers are regularly transported by farm labour contractors in unsafe vans.

We're familiar with the tragic results of this kind of disregard: the horrific crash in March 2007 killed three local women and injured 14 others. The obvious changes that need to be made include reinstating regulations to protect this group and to give agencies real power to enforce the rules. We need to educate the farm operators, the workers and the public.

The irony is that the Fraser Valley's economy depends heavily on the labour and sweat of the 'lowly' farmhand. The workers are literally the backbone of an agricultural sector that provide us with some of the best and safest foods in the world.

It seems prudent then that we treat them with a little more respect and care.

Protect farm labourers: report
Study blasts conditions endured by workers
[Article published at The Abbotsford Times.]

Marcia Downham, The Times; with files from The Vancouver Sun

Seasonal farmworkers in B.C. are treated unfairly and are poorly protected compared to other workers in the province, according to a study released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The study, focusing on immigrants and temporary migrants in the Fraser Valley, revealed workers have to regularly deal with poor and sometimes dangerous working conditions, industry-wide violations of employment standards, of health and safety regulations, and a lack of enforcement by government agencies.

"They are extremely hard workers and cherished by farmers, yet they face lower standards of working conditions. There are regulations in place, but there is hardly any monitoring or enforcement of those regulations," said Gerardo Otero, a co-author of the report and professor of sociology with Simon Fraser University.
Farmers rely largely on immigrants from the Punjab, and today about 90 per cent of farmworkers in the valley are Indo-Canadian.

In B.C., the number of migrant Mexican workers has grown from 50 in 2004 to about 2,200 in 2007. To cope with a 'continuing shortage' of labour, B.C. berry growers are expecting to hire around 3,000 temporary foreign workers in 2008 - 40 per cent more than in 2007, said the study.

Otero and the study's other authors recommend policy changes be implemented within municipal, provincial, federal and Mexican governments to ensure B.C.'s agricultural workers are protected.

"We want their economic security enhanced and have the bar raised to the level of other workers in B.C.," said Otero, who has also done extensive research in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

"I know there is a big push by the Canadian government right now [for foreign workers] to address the labour shortage, and it is a program that can work if it is effectively managed," said Manpreet Grewal, manager of multicultural and immigrant services with Abbotsford Community Services.

Many workers do become permanent residents and become a large part of our society, said Grewal.

"I totally support any kind of effort to study and to ensure things run the way they are laid out to be," she said.

"These farmworkers need this and this type of study is a step in the right direction. It is important that we should all be treated equal as Canadian workers - hopefully farmworkers will have a strong voice sooner than later," said Ravi Dhindsa, full-time co-ordinator with the Abbotsford Agricultural Workers Alliance Support Centre.

Some of the study's key findings were that farmworkers lack secure income and generally earn an average of $8 per hour with no overtime pay; workers are extremely concerned about their safety and living conditions; they are routinely exposed to pesticides, gases and other chemicals without appropriate gear or training; health and safety standards are routinely violated; since 2001, inspection reports by WorkSafe BC in the agricultural sector dropped by 62 per cent, prevention orders went down by 73 per cent and not one participant interviewed reported being visited by WorkSafe BC; workers fear they will lose their jobs if they complain and immigrant farmworkers are regularly transported by farm labour contractors in vans that violate safety regulations.

B.C. Minister of Labour Olga Ilich finds violations for these workers disturbing, but said she's unsure of the study's accuracy, according to The Vancouver Sun.

She said the ministry is increasing inspections of farms and worker transportation vehicles.

Roberta Ellis, vice-president of WorkSafe BC, also told the Sun the report did not use WorkSafe BC's 2007 inspection report.

The report, part of the Economic Security Project, was done by the CCPA and SFU. It was co-published by Justicia for Migrant Workers, Progressive Intercultural Community Services and the B.C. Federation of Labour. The full report can be found at www.policyalternatives.ca

URGENT ACTION NEEDED!!! CONTACT MINISTERS FINLEY AND DAY!!!

2008-07-17T22:23:00.007-04:00

On Friday, July 4, 2008, Maria Isabel Garcia Rivas lost her appeal for a temporary stay. Her and her family face imminent deportation to a life threatening situation.

The family has been in hiding the last two weeks, while supporters rally to have the deportation order against them removed.

We must act now as every day is crucial! Please see the contact information below and call Minister Stockwell Day on the National Days of Action!

Demand that he let the Garcias stay!

National Thursdays of Action – Phone/Fax/Email/Post
************** July 10, 17, 24, 31 and August 7 ************
**********************************************************************
Demand that the Minister use his discretion under section 25
(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and suspend the removal order against the family, until a decision on both a) their Humanitarian application and b) a decision on the Judicial Review of their Pre Removal Risk Assessment is made.

Also, ask that the Minister look favourably upon their Humanitarian Application and grant them Permanent Status in Canada.
**********************************************************************
To allow us to track petitions to the Minister, visit
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/garcias/ and fill out the form.

Please Cc emails to the Ministers to nooneisillegal@riseup.net and
copy faxes Attn: No One Is illegal at 416 633 9782

To print out a sample letter, visit,
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3865888/Letter-for-Isabel-Garcia-and-Family

**********************************************************************
CONTACT INFORMATION
Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Phone: 613.995.1702
Fax: 613.995.1154
Email: day.s@parl.gc.ca
**********************************************************************
For Further Information
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/448804
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/latest/fighting-to-stay/#clip64490
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080704/deportation_case_080704/20080704/?hub=TorontoNewHome
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/448804
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100646.htm
**********************************************************************
Financial support also needed:

Please also consider supporting this family by making a donation
towards their legal costs. Cheques can be made payable to Workers' Action Centre and sent to the address below. Please note on the bottom of the cheque that the funds are for the "Garcia Rivas" family. Please note that no tax receipts will be issued.

Workers Action Centre
720 Spadina Ave., Suite 223
Toronto, ON M5S 2T9

[Thanks to nahee for forwarding this info]

Justice for Barriere Lake! July 16-18

2008-07-13T00:09:00.000-04:00

1. 3-Day Ottawa/Gatineau Picket
2. Barriere Lake Film Screening and Panel
3. Benefit Poetry Slam

Background

For twenty difficult years, the small Algonquin community of Barriere Lake, 3 hours north of Ottawa, has been struggling to hold the government to their word. In 1991, they signed a landmark resource co-management and sustainable development agreement with Canada and Quebec to protect Algonquin land uses, conserve the forest and wildlife, and give them a share in the resource revenue from the logging and hydro projects on their traditional territories. Corporations extract $100 million a year -- Barriere Lake receives nothing.

The Canadian government walked away from the agreement in 2001. To avoid fulfilling their obligations, the Federal Department of Indian Affairs has ousted the Customary Chief and Council and illegally appointed a minority faction as the leadership, in an attempt to scrap the agreement. Despite knowledge of his government's illegal actions, Minister of Transport Lawrence Cannon, Harper's Quebec lieutenant and MP in Barriere Lake's riding of Pontiac, has not ensured the federal government complies with the law.

Despite several Quebec Hydro dams on their territory, the community is forced to use aging diesel generators to provide power.

The housing crisis in the community has reached tragic proportions, with most living in moldy, often condemned houses. As many as 18 people live in one house.

The Surete du Quebec has been used to forcibly impose and maintain the authority of the government-backed Chief and Council, supported by a community minority.

Children have been prevented from speaking Algonquin in school by teachers hired by Third Party Management — a grim throwback to residential schools.

Join us in Ottawa and Gatineau, and support the community as it demands that the government respect the law and uphold their agreements.

More Background

Arthur Manuel's Submission to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 7th Session, New York, April 21 – May 2, 2008:
http://barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com/2008/04/canada-quebec-condemned-before-un.html

A message from the community of Barriere Lake:
http://barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com/2008/03/mission.html

Photo-essay, Occupying Cannon's office:
http://barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com/search/label/action

MORE INFO: barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com
CONTACT: barrierelakesolidarity@gmail.com

3 DAY OTTAWA/GATINEAU PICKET in Solidarity with the Algonquins of Barriere Lake

NO COUPS D'ETAT in ALGONQUIN TERRITORY
HANDS OFF BARRIERE LAKE
HONOUR SIGNED AGREEMENTS

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
WHERE: Lawrence Cannon's office at the Ministry of Transport
330 Sparks Street, OTTAWA, near the corner of Wellington and Kent
WHEN: Wednesday July 16 12:30pm-5pm and Thursday July 17 10:00am-5pm

WHERE: Department of Indian Affairs, Corner of Wellington and Montcalm in GATINEAU
WHEN: Friday, July 18 11:00am-5pm
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

* This is a peaceful demonstration in support of Barriere Lake community members who are in Ottawa to demand a meeting with their riding MP Lawrence Cannon, a leadership re-selection in accordance with their Customary Governance Code, which has been blatantly violated by the Federal Government, and that the Federal Government respect all signed agreements with the community.

* Bring banners, signs, placards, noise-makers...

AGAINST ALL ODDS: THE STRUGGLE OF THE ALGONQUINS OF BARRIERE LAKE

*** A Film Screening and Panel Discussion *** Fund-raiser for Barriere Lake ***

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Wednesday July 16, 7pm
Club SAW, 67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa
Between Daly Ave and Laurier, in the basement of the Arts Court building
Pay What You Can/Suggested Donation: $5-10
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A Panel Discussion with:

Marylynn Poucachiche: Barriere Lake's Youth Representative to the Algonquin Nation Secretariat, she is involved in community education, as a teaching assistant and member of Barriere Lake's Educational Authority. A mother of five, she acts as a community spokesperson.

Michel Thusky: Band Manager from 1980 to 1996, he assists community members in their dealings with government agencies. He has been heavily involved with the Trilateral Agreement, coordinating land-use consultations and assisting with cultural aspects of the research. He
is a residential school survivor, and a community spokesperson.

Boyce Richardson: journalist, author and filmmaker. Since a visit to a reservation forty years ago, he has traveled through dozens of indigenous communities, written four books – including People of Terra Nullius: Betrayal and Rebirth in Aboriginal Canada and Strangers Devour the Land – and directed a half dozen films on indigenous affairs. He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2002.

Film Screening: Blockade! Algonquins Defend the Forest (1990, 25 min)

Boyce Richardson's film offers a portrait of the Barriere Lake community as they launch a campaign to halt the industrial clear-cut logging that threatens their way of life, and gain a decisive say in the management of their traditional territories.

http://www.nfb.ca/collection/films/fiche/?id=18423

POETRY SLAM!
Competitive spoken word in support of Barriere Lake Algonquins

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
WHERE: Umi Cafe. 610 Somerset Street W at Percy
When: Friday, July 18, 7pm
Entrance: by donation
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

For more information, closer to the date: http://www.umicafe.org/

Homeland Insecurity

2008-07-12T23:38:00.000-04:00

This excellent article provides a lot of background to the ongoing situation involving Katenies. The article appeared in the Cultural Survival Quartery in 2006:

In 1842 the Mohawk community of Akwesasne was bisected by the U.S.-Canadian border, severing their communal lands into two equal Canadian and American sectors. Today Akwesasne is a kaleidoscope of cultural and political elements in layered complexity. Traditional practices and law of the Mohawk nation coexist with the philosophies, policies, and regulations of one state, two provinces, two federal governments, and their respective officials. The result is a shifting design of interactions and tensions. Since the hardening of the U.S. border after September 11, 2001, daily life on the reserve is even more difficult.

It’s a hectic lunch scene, and the steaming corn soup is in demand at the Bear’s Den Trading Post on the United States portion of the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve. The soup is not as substantial as homemade—the ingredients are native; the chef is not—but the trading post’s abundant fare attracts the native peoples who work nearby, along with tourists to the reserve. In the next room fine jewelry by native artisans vies for space with toy plastic papooses and rubber tom toms. It’s a jumble of traditional and modern, authentic and contrived, much like life in Akwesasne.

Akwesasne is the nexus of a dizzying array of borders within borders and cultures within cultures. It is “the fire,” or capital, of the Mohawk Nation, which consists of eight communities spread across Quebec, Ontario, and New York. Akwesasne itself straddles all three. And the Mohawk Nation as a whole is part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, made up of the six nations of Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. So residents of Akwesasne have to contend with regulations and government structures from their community, the Mohawk Nation, the confederacy, three states, and two countries.

Read the full story here.

Hard-working hands are lent a hand

2008-07-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

Agricultural workers. 'This is about respect, dignity and quality of life'

[Original article is from canada.com]

Jan Ravensbergen
Montreal Gazette

Monday, June 23, 2008

Same as in years past, hundreds of Latin American migrants again this summer are working the rich, dark soil of our city's market-garden belt just south of Montreal Island.

Look carefully across the flat fields of produce that line Highways 209, 221 and other area roads. Far in the distance, you may see them, tiny figures silhouetted against the horizon.

But this summer, things are different.

Sure, those fertile fields are blessed as ever with the black earth on which Montrealers depend for locally grown lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, onions and other fresh, crisp vegetables. And the daily routine of sun, rain and toil for these migrants continues to feature an abundance of sweat and soil.

But now, these labourers have an extra place to turn should they run into any kind of problems - whether over working conditions, the treatment they receive from the big-farm operators that import and house them for five or six months of the year, or anything else.

Beginning at 3 p.m. yesterday, these workers now have a place of their own in St. Rémi de Napierville, about 30 kilometres south of Montreal.

It's a modest office that will also provide French-language lessons and help with income-tax forms.

The first such rural office for migrants established anywhere in Quebec, it replaces an old recreational vehicle that had been periodically driven into the area in recent summers.

Little wonder, then, that for these labourers yesterday was a time for quiet celebration.

Dozens of them, largely but not exclusively from Mexico and Guatemala, packed the sweltering, second-floor walkup next to the Canada Post office in downtown, 5,700-population St. Rémi to inaugurate the Patricia Pérez Migrant Worker Support Centre.

Pérez wasn't there, at least not in the flesh.

The life of the Montreal migrant-rights activist was cut short by cancer last fall, at age 52.

A plaque now hangs in the centre, both to embody her spirit and oversee the expansion of her work.

A modest photo of Pérez is accompanied by the Spanish phrase "Si, se puede!"

In case anyone hasn't been following the campaign of U.S. presidential aspirant Barack Obama, it's a soul-stirring slogan that means, in English, "Yes, we can!"

Several times during the dedication, Mario Delisle, his soul one of many in the room clearly stirred by the occasion, needed an extra few seconds to damp his tears.

"Patricia is the person," Delisle declared, "who taught me the meaning of commitment."

Delisle is a vice-president of Local 501 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which is bankrolling the summer office.

The national union already operates seven similar offices in four other provinces, most notably in the market-garden belt of Southern Ontario .

Quebec "is 'home' to the second-largest temporary migrant population in Canada," Giselle Valarezo said in her detailed, 129-page master's thesis for Queen's University on the migrants of St. Rémi, completed last September.

The situation of migrants in this province "has not received the attention it warrants,"

Valarezo added: "Temporary migrant workers face a double disadvantage because they are employed in sectors that are defined as precarious and lack

access to citizenship rights."

The food-workers' union continues its fight to acquire collective-bargaining rights for these farmworkers, said Pierre Gingras, president of 11,000-member Local 501.

"This is the same as our battle with Wal-Mart," he said.

"This is about respect, dignity and quality of life.

"For everyone."

Binicio Leal Inzunza, 39, for instance.

He first met Pérez four summers ago, during a session where she explained his rights, during his initial sojourn in Canada.

He's been back every year since, between April and October.

"She was not allowed to hold her workshops (explaining migrant rights) at the farms," Leal Inzunza recalled, so instead Pérez chose "the sidewalk in front of Provigo and IGA."

He succinctly explained the economics behind his annual six-month stint at a big lettuce farm in the area, where he said he considers himself well-treated.

At home in Sinaloa, Mexico., he makes $7 a day when he harvests tomatoes or pumpkins. "Here, I make $8.52 an hour."

He is literally exiled into rural Quebec and away from his family half of every year.

How does that make him feel?

"Proud that I am taking care of my family," he responded, explaining that the $8,000 he can clear in an average harvest year goes a long, long way at home.

Although Leal Inzunza left middle school at age 16, he said, that won't be the fate of the five children he shares with his wife, Virginia Rivas Aguirre - Josué, 20, Vianey, 17, Alejandro, 13, Jazmín, 9, and Omar, 6.

They'll get a higher education, he vowed. "Their lives will be different."

"Patricia lives in my heart.

"She was part of our family."

On the Web: Report on the Status of Migrant Farm Workers in Canada, 2006-2007, at http://ufcw.ca/migrantreport

janr@thegazette.canwest.com

Solidarity with Katenies! "Canada" has no jurisdiction over Mohawk land.

2008-07-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

This coming July 14, 2008, Mohawk grandmother and activist Katenies has again been ordered to appear before a judge in the Superior Court of Cornwall, Ontario. And again, Katenies will refuse to recognize the authority of the courts, and demand that Canadian officials prove they have jurisdiction over her as an Indigenous woman.

One month ago, on June 14, 2008, Katenies -- accompanied by Kahentinetha of the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory – was targeted for arrest by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards on an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, and offenses resulting from her refusal to appear in court and validate the colonial justice system.

Katenies has maintained since 2003 that border officials and the Canadian colonial courts have no jurisdiction over Kanion'ke:haka people or land. In January 2007, Katenies served court officials with a Motion to Dismiss, demanding that they establish jurisdiction, if any, over Mohawks and their ability to travel freely between "Canada" and the "United States".

[The Motion to Dismiss is linked here ]

During the CBSA attack, Katenies and Kahentinetha – who are both writers and contributors to Mohawk Nation News (MNN) – were treated brutally by border guards. Both were handcuffed and tackled to the ground. Katenies was jailed for three days. Kahentinetha suffered a heart attack and had to be hospitalized for several days.

[Reports about the CBSA attack, and background information, are linked here ]

As mainly non-native groups and collectives based in settler communities on or near Mohawk lands, we are publicly standing in support of Katenies, and demand all charges against her by the colonial courts be dropped. We also condemn the brutal attacks by the CBSA on both Katenies and Kahentinetha on June 14, 2008 and declare our solidarity with Indigenous struggles for land, freedom and self-determination.

Endorsed by:
Agitate (Ottawa)
Les Apatrides Anonymes (Montreal)
Block the Empire-Montreal
Kingston Indigenous Solidarity Network
No One Is Illegal-Kingston
No One Is Illegal-Montreal
No One Is Illegal-Ottawa
OPIRG-Carleton
OPIRG/GRIPO-Ottawa
La Otra Campaña (Montreal)
People's Global Action Bloc (Ottawa)
Solidarity Across Borders (Montreal)

[To endorse this statement, and to help efforts in support of Katenies, please contact indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com ]

Barriere Lake Algonquins Arrested, Jailed and Released

2008-06-29T11:23:00.000-04:00

After a six hour occupation of MP Lawrence Cannon's Office in Buckingham, QC, Thursday, six Algonquin activists and allies were arrested by Sûreté du Québec police officers.

The arrestees were detained for four hours and were finally released at 9:30 p.m. into the arms of cheering family and friends outside the Gatineau Police Department building.

Among the awaiting crowd was Customary Chief Benjamin Nottaway (seen in video) whom the government attempted to revoke from power in the Barriere Lake reserve by imposing a minority appointed government. The so called Coup D'etat was the latest in a long series of governmental interventions in the impoverished reserve and led to the office occupation which took place yesterday. Previously, the indigenous representatives attempted to raise awareness of neo-Colonial internvention in their community by camping on Parliament Hill one year ago.

More information will follow...

Check out The Dominion story to see a video.

Ottawa XPress on Katenies and Kahentinetha

2008-06-26T14:08:00.000-04:00

Please continue to check back with our blog, as we will continue to post information on this, as well as any solidarity actions that you can be a part of.

Katenies and Kahentinetha
by Sara Falconer for the Ottawa XPress

You'd think it would make national headlines: two grandmothers arrested at a border crossing, one forced to the ground by four armed guards, the other in handcuffs, having a heart attack. But a telling silence surrounds these allegations of brutality against Mohawk women by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).

On June 14, Katenies and Kahentinetha, publishers of Mohawk Nation News (www.mohawknationnews.com), were crossing the border at Cornwall after a visit to family members in the United States. When it was discovered that Katenies had an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, they were forcibly pulled from the car.

Both women say that they were beaten by multiple CBSA guards. Sixty-eight-year old Kahentinetha suffered a heart attack while she was handcuffed. Her brother, a local lawyer who was crossing the border at the same time, intervened and she was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

Akwesasne, where Katenies lives, is a Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) community that stretches across so-called Ontario, Quebec and New York. And therein lies the problem: Many indigenous people do not recognize the jurisdiction of colonial law over their lives and territories. It's not lawlessness, but rather adhesion to a constitution and a law that is thousands of years old.

A CBSA investigator who testified against her at her July 16 bail hearing said that Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial
system." He admitted that it is "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case." The CBSA did not respond to calls for further comment.

But just as this is no isolated incident, there is little to indicate that Katenies is particularly extreme. Since 2003, she has steadfastly challenged the Canadian government to prove that it has any jurisdiction over Mohawk people or land. Despite the fact that she formally filed a motion to dismiss based on this issue in 2007, there has been no response.

"I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward," she said. "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question." Against protests by the Crown, she was released into the custody of her mother, Nancy Davis, who told the court with a smile, "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."

Kahentinetha is now resting at home in Kahnawake. Katenies' next court date is July 14 in Cornwall. Her supporters are encouraging people to pack the courtroom.

"It's this kind of behaviour that motivated criticism of Harper's symbolic apology [for residential schools]," says Karen Cocq of No One Is Illegal Ottawa. "The Canadian state has clearly not relented in its brutal colonial assault on First Nations people in this country. It's a case of their actions speaking louder than words." Visit www.noii-ottawa.blogspot.com for updates.

Racial and Religious Profiling is a Safety and Security Threat to Canadians

2008-06-26T13:08:00.000-04:00

Activist group cries foul on no-fly list anniversary

VANCOUVER -- Civil rights groups are calling on Canadians to share their stories of racial profiling, informer recruitment and other trials of travelling under heightened security rules.

A coalition of groups marked the first anniversary of the so-called no-fly list's introduction in Canada by announcing a study into the impact of the lists in Canada and the U.S.

The groups condemned the watch list Wednesday, saying too many innocent travellers are needlessly caught on the lists.

"The model of militarizing travel, setting up check points at airports and creating secret watch lists is clearly having a disastrous impact on privacy, mobility, equality and security rights of Canadians," Michael Vonn, of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said at a news conference in Vancouver.

...

See the full story at CTV
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080619/nofly_list_080619

ETA: The Watch Lists and Border Controls research project is doing work to expose way travelers are being screened in Canada:

This research project led by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) and its partners, aims to document the nature of the incidents and the number of travellers who believe they have been mistakenly or unfairly targeted by government watch lists on both sides of the border.

The purpose of the research is to investigate and generate better public understanding of the practices, programs and systems used to screen travellers at Canadian airports and at Canada-U.S. border crossings in order to assess the scope and depth of their concrete impacts on civil liberties, privacy rights and mobility rights.

We need to know more in order to inform our work promoting and defending civil liberties and human rights for all.

MOHAWK GRANDMOTHERS ATTACKED AT CANADA-US BORDER ON UNCEDED HAUDENOSAUNEE LAND

2008-06-16T16:12:00.000-04:00

[June 17, 2008 -- Reported by members of No One Is Illegal-Montreal who attended Katenies' court hearing in Cornwall on June 16, 2008; please post and forward widely.]

This past Saturday, June 14, 2008, around 2:30pm, a vehicle with two outspoken Kanion'ke:haka (Mohawk) activists, writers and grandmothers was stopped at Akwesasne while crossing into "Canada" from the "USA". Akwesasne is a Kanion'ke:haka Indigenous community that includes parts of so-called Ontario, Quebec and New York, and community members routinely cross between "states" and "provinces".

Katenies lives in Akwesasne, with her mother and near her daughter and three grandchildren, who reside on both sides of the "border". Kahentinehta, also a grandmother, is from Kahnawake. Katenies and Kahentinehta publish Mohawk Nation News (www.mohawknationnews.com) and were delegates to the Indigenous Peoples Border Summit in San Xavier, Tohono O'odham Nation (Arizona) in November 2007.

Katenies was targeted for arrest by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) guards on an outstanding warrant for allegedly "running the border" in 2003, and offenses resulting from her refusal to appear in court and validate the colonial justice system. Katenies has maintained since 2003 that border officials and the Canadian colonial courts have no jurisdiction over Kanion'ke:haka people or land.

[Background information to Katenies' struggle against border and court officials is linked at: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/03/background-katenies-defies-colonial-us.html ]

This past Saturday, Katenies reiterated that she does not recognize the authority of the CBSA over Kanion'ke:haka land, as she has always done. She was then brutally arrested, with at least four male guards forcing her face down onto the ground, handcuffing her, and taking her into custody, where she remained for three days.

CBSA guards then demanded that Kahentinehta, 68, leave the car she was driving. She refused, and she too was brutally overpowered by at least four male CBSA guards and handcuffed tightly. Kahentinehta suffered a heart attack while handcuffed. However, due to the timely intervention of her brother – a local lawyer who was crossing the border at that time -- she was eventually taken to the local hospital in Cornwall, Ontario by ambulance, where she has spent the last three days in the Critical Care Unit. Her condition is stable and she will be transferred to a hospital in Ottawa for further treatment and possible surgery.

The CBSA had originally indicated that they would charge Kahentinehta with various offenses, but those charges were never brought forward, most likely to help cover-up the brutal way in which she and Katenies were arrested in the first place.

Meanwhile, Katenies was jailed after her brutal arrest, and was only able to have a bail hearing, at the Superior Court in Cornwall this past Monday (June 16, 2008).

Supporters from Six Nations, Sharbot Lake as well as Akwesasne attended court to be witnesses to Katenies' continued defiance of Canada's colonial courts. Several of the elders from the Akwesasne community referenced the bridge blockades undertaken in the 1960s and 70s to assert free movement of Indigenous peoples at the border. They consider Katenies' current stance as part of the same ongoing and long-term struggle for sovereignty.

At the hearing, the federal Crown lawyer objected to Katenies' release on bail. A senior investigator with the CBSA who seems to have launched a vendetta against Katenies since 2003, testified for the Crown. He outlined the various warrants and court dates in the case, and Katenies' continual and consistent refusal to recognize the authority of the colonial court system, or the jurisdiction of the CBSA over the border.

In the words of the CBSA investigator, Katenies "has nothing but contempt for the Canadian judicial system." The investigator, who has lived and worked at the Cornwall border crossing for two decades, was forced to admit that it's "not uncommon" for Mohawks to cite the lack of jurisdiction directly to border officials, although he called Katenies "an extreme case."

Both Katenies and her mother, Nancy Davis, addressed the court. Nancy Davis refused to tell the court whether she lived in the "Ontario" or "Quebec" part of Akwesasne, stating clearly that she "lives on Kanion'ke:haka territory" and is a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She remarked with a smile: "I'm the only one who has authority over my daughter."

Under cross-examination by the Crown lawyer, Nancy Davis stated: "We feel we have the right to travel where we want, to go where we want. [The border] is an imaginary line for Americans and Canadians, not Mohawks."

Asked outright if she recognized the authority of the court, Nancy Davis replied simply: "No."

Katenies also addressed the court, while reiterating from the start that she did not recognize its jurisdiction, and pointedly refused to accept all charges, declining to have them read to her. When the court clerk tried to swear her in, Katenies stated: "I can only tell what I know."

Katenies emphasized that she continues to demand that the courts address the jurisdiction question; that is, under what authority can colonial Canadian courts, agencies or officials claim to have jurisdiction over sovereign Mohawks. She stated forcefully: "I'm a passionate person, I'm a mother and I'm a grandmother. But, I've had no respect. No one has looked at what I've put forward."

Katenies already served the court with a Motion to Dismiss, and invoked the jurisdiction question, back on January 18, 2007, almost one-and-a-half years ago. Her complete motion is linked here: http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/03/katenies-serves-court-with-jurisdiction.html

Under cross-examination, Katenies was asked by the Crown lawyer if she would accept paying a cash bond; she replied: "That would be extortion at this point because jurisdiction has not been dealt with." She added: "I don't see why you should incarcerate me and beat me into submission without answering my question."

She threw the accusation of contempt back at the Crown, stating: "It is [your law] and your constitution that you keep talking about. Why do you continue to ignore me and our people, who have our own land and constitution?"

In his final submissions, the Crown argued that Katenies "has nothing but complete disdain for the laws of these courts." He also made the somewhat obvious point: "Quite frankly, your worship, both mother and daughter don't recognize our jurisdiction."

He asked the court to keep Katenies in custody, adding: "She's not interested in appearing in court and she doesn't recognize us."

Nonetheless, the presiding Justice-of-the-Peace, Ms. Leblanc, decided to release Katenies under some basic conditions: that Katenies reside with her mother and notify the Akwesasne police of any change of address (Katenies has lived with her mother for the past 8 years, since the passing of her father): that her mother post a surety (ie. a $1000 bond without any deposit); and that Katenies appear in court or designate counsel to appear in court for her. Her next court date was set for July 14, 2008 at 9am at Cornwall's Superior Court.

Both Kahentinehta and Katenies, despite the brutal attack on them by CBSA officials, maintain their defiance and vow to continue to challenge the jurisdiction of the courts and border officials.

-- reported by Nazila & Jaggi, members of No One Is Illegal-Montreal
nooneisillegal@gmail.com - 514-848-7583
http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com

No One Is Illegal Strategy Meeting

2008-05-22T11:46:00.000-04:00

(Le français suit; El español sigue)

Location: Jack Purcell Community Centre, Room 101 (Elgin at Jack Purcell Lane, across from Minto Park)
Date: Wednesday, June 4th 2008
Time: 6:30pm
Style: Potluck! (bring something if you can, but come by whether you can or not)

Dear community members,

Several activists have been meeting through the winter months to lay the groundwork for a No One is Illegal-Ottawa collective. Like NOII collectives in other cities (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, etc), we want to challenge racist, neo-imperialist immigrant and refugee policies, as well as linking these to ongoing forms of colonialism.

We invite all community members who share a concern with these local and global struggles to join us for a potluck dinner to strategize what a viable NOII-Ottawa would look like, and how it could connect with and support local issues and needs faced by communities in Ottawa (for example, how these challenges might be rooted in local issues/needs.)
**

Endroit : Centre Communautaire Jack Purcell, Salle 101 (rue Elgin, en face du Parc Minto)
Date : le mercredi, 4 juin 2008
Heure : 18h30
Style : ‘Potluck’ ou souper-partage (amener quelque chose si vous pouvez, mais sinon, venez quand même)

Chers membres de la communauté,

Depuis l’hiver, quelques militant-es se rencontrent pour planifier la formation d’un collectif Personne n’est illégal-Ottawa. Comme dans l’esprit des collectifs dans plusieurs autres villes canadiannes, tels qu’à Montréal, Vancouver et Toronto, le but du collectif à Ottawa serait de militer contre les politiques racistes et néo-impérialistes de l’état canadien en ce qui trait aux réfugiés et aux immigrants, en plus de faire les liens avec ces politiques et les formes de colonialisme qui continuent à nous affecter.

Nous invitons tous ceux et celles qui partagent nos préoccupations avec ces luttes locales et globales de nous joindre pour un souper-partage pendant lequel nous envisageons discuter et planifier quel rôle un collectif Personne n’est illégal-Ottawa pourrait jouer dans ces luttes. Nous voulons particulièrement considérer comment un tel collectif pourrait être basé dans les besoins et enjeux locaux, exprimé par les communautés les plus affectées par ces enjeux.
**

Lugar: Jack Purcell Community Centre, sala 101 (calle Elgin con Jack Purcell Lane, frente al parque Minto)

Fecha: miercoles, 4 de junio del 2008

Hora: 6:30pm

Estilo: Potluck (traiga algo para comer si puede, pero sino es posible, será bienvenid@ de todas formas)

Estimad@s miembr@s de nuestras comunidades,

Un grupo de activistas han estado reuniéndose durante el invierno para preparar el establecimiento de un colectivo No One Is Illegal-Ottawa (Nadie es Ilegal-Ottawa). Tal como colectivos NOII en otras ciudades (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, y otras), queremos resistir políticas canadienses de migración que son racistas y neo-imperialistas, vinculándolas con formas de colonialismo aún vigentes en este país.

Invitamos a tod@s miembr@s de la comunidad que comparten nuestra preocupación con estas luchas locales y globales que nos juntemos a cenar, para desarrollar estrategias y visiones para como funcionaría un colectivo NOII-Ottawa, y cómo este colectivo pueda vincularse y apoyar a las luchas, necesidades, y desafíos que están enfrentando nuestras comunidades en Ottawa.

www.noii-ottawa.blogspot.com

OPP Out of Tyendinaga!

2008-04-28T14:43:00.000-04:00

**URGENT**

Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, 9:30 am Monday morning, April 28th

We have just been informed by the Tyendinaga Mohawk community spokespeople that SWAT teams are amassing now on the Deseronto and Slash Roads, bordering the Tyendinaga quarry reclamation site.

Community spokesperson Jason Maracle has just been told by the OPP to pull people out of the quarry because they are going in.

Tyendinaga Support Committee
support.tmt@gmail.com

For up-to-date information, please visit- http://www.ocap.ca/supporttmt.html

-------------------------------------------------

CALL THE PREMIER! CALL THE PREMIER! CALL THE PREMIER! CALL THE PREMIER!

Please call the premier's office immediately and urge them to:

-Honour Mohawk land, call off the OPP: Do not risk people's lives for a gravel pit the government has already acknowledged is on Mohawk land!

-Release all First Nations political prisoners!

Premier Dalton McGuinty: 416-325-1941 (phone)
416-325-3745 (fax)
daltonmcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca

-------------------------------------------------

Yesterday's Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FROM TYENDINAGA MOHAWK TERRITORY:

Ontario Jails Five More First Nations People Involved in Land Struggles

(Sunday, April 27, 2008 -Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory) Five men from Tyendinaga are in jail today bringing the total number of First Nations people in Ontario jails for defending their land to 12.

Ontario, it appears, has opted for the incarceration of First Nations people over the resolution of outstanding land issues as their status quo.

As for the Ontario Provincial Police, it appears the adoption of Justice Linden's Ipperwash Inquiry recommendations is experiencing some delay. While in custody at the Napanee Detachment several different officers
repeatedly informed Shawn Brant that they were going to "slit his throat" and that he was a "dead man."

This followed a similarly disturbing incident that occurred on Monday, April 22nd during the road closures in Deseronto when an officer on the scene clearly and audibly commented to her colleagues "we should just shoot them (Mohawks) all."

Meanwhile, road closures continue in Tyendinaga and Six Nations until, as one man said, "We finish the job."

Spokesperson: Jay Maracle: 613-243-4993

- 30 -

Abdullah Almalki Speaks

2008-03-04T09:55:00.000-05:00

Canadian Complicity in Torture: Almalki's Struggle

March 6, University of Ottawa

Ottawa resident Abdullah Almalki has been the center of intense media attention over the past years. On a visit to Syria to see his late grandmother, who was extremely ill at the time, Mr. Almalki was detained and severely tortured in Syria. The Arar Commission report gives a detailed account of the horrendous events that Almalki was subject to in Syrian prisons. Additionally, it established that the RCMP sent Syrian intelligence questions to interrogate Abdullah Almalki by proxy.

This lecture will give you the chance to hear Mr. Almalki's story first hand.

What: Canadian Complicity in Torture: Almalki's Struggle

Where: University of Ottawa, Fauteux building, Hall 147

When: Thursday, March 6 at 11:30 AM

For more information contact: muslimlaw@gmail.com

Complicité du gouvernement canadien pour la torture: Les tribulations de Almalki: 6 mars, Université d'Ottawa

Résidant d'Ottawa Abdullah Almalki a été le centre d'attraction des médias durant les dernières années. Pendant son voyage en Syrie pour visiter sa grand-mère décédée qui était extrêmement malade à l'époque, M. Almalki fut détenu et sévèrement torturé en Syrie.

Le rapport de la Commission D'Arar fournit un récit détaillé des évènements horribles que Almalki a subit durant sa détention dans les prisons syriennes. De plus, le rapport dévoile que la GRC a envoyé des questions provenant des intelligences syriennes pour interroger Abdullah Almalki par l'entremise d'un proxy.

Cette séance vous donnera la chance d'entendre l'histoire émouvante directement de Almalki lui-même.

Quoi : La complicité du gouvernement canadien pour la torture : les tribulations de Almalki

Où : Université d'Ottawa, Édifice Fauteux, Local 147

Quand : Jeudi le 6 mars à 11 :30 AM

Response to the Minister of Public Safety

2008-02-20T08:11:00.000-05:00

Here is what Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day said at the Senate anti-terrorism committee to justify Bill C-3 last week.

"As you know, there is an organization whose motto is "nobody is illegal." I disagree with that notion. There are some people who are illegal. Every organization has the right to make their own claims and speak freely, and I appreciate that they are
robust organizations, but some people should be declared illegal."

No One Is Illegal strongly disagrees with Day. He seems to be a bit confused. To say that anybody is inherently illegal is absurdity at its height, since illegality has never been, nor will it ever be, some natural human characteristic. Illegality is constructed by the state through the law, hardly a feature of some individuals and not others. It is no coincidence that racialized people are those most often deemed illegal since Canadian nationalist practices are premised on white supremacy, or the idea of a white nation threatened by racial outsiders. Therefore, No One Is Illegal looks to point to the processes through which illegality is constructed- how the Canadian state makes people illegal through its policies and practices- in order to challenge how illegality is naturalized in the Canadian imagination.

We Support Mohamed Harkat/Nous appuyons Mohamed Harkat

2008-01-30T11:09:00.000-05:00

No One Is Illegal- Ottawa fully supports the following statement originally drafted by the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee (en francais ci-dessous) in relation to the violent arrest of Mohamed Harkat yesterday afternoon.

MOHAMED HARKAT, SECURITY CERTIFICATE DETAINEE UNJUSTLY ARRESTED IN OTTAWA

What happened:

Mohamed Harkat was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Ottawa police accompanied by Canadian Border Services agents at his home in Ottawa. CBSA alleges that Mohamed Harkat breached his bail conditions. In fact, no breach occurred. The crown has 48 hours to bring him before a federal court judge. Mohamed Harkat is also already scheduled to appear in court next week to argue for changes in his bail conditions.

Statement from the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee

1. There was no breach of Mohamed Harkat's bail conditions. This, despite the conditions imposed being the toughest in Canadian history.

2. The arrest's timing was highly questionable given the facts: a) Mohamed Harkat's bail is up for review next week; b) Bill C-3, the new Security Certificates law, is being debated this week in the House of Commons. This arrest could only have happened by order of a cabinet Minister – which was confirmed to Mohamed Harkat by CBSA officials. It also occurred on the eve of Adil Charkaoui's Supreme Court appeal.

3. The arrest constitutes harassment in the context of an unconstitutional law.

4. The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee continues to call for release or a fair trial for the five Security Certificate detainees.
**

Déclaration du Comité Justice pour Mohamed Harkat

1. Il n'y a eu aucun bris des conditions de libération de Mohamed Harkat. Ceci en dépit du fait que les conditions qui lui ont été imposées sont les plus strictes jamais vues au Canada.

2. Le moment de cette arrestation est très douteux étant donné que : a) Ses conditions de « libération » seront l'objet d'une audience la semaine prochaine; b) Le projet de loi C-3, la nouvelle loi sur les Certificats de sécurité, est débatue à la Chambre des communes cette semaine. Cette arrestation ne pouvait survenir que sur ordre d'un Ministre fédéral – ce qui a été confirmé à Mohamed Harkat par des agents de l'ASFC. L'arrestation s'est également produite juste avant l'appel de Adil Charkaoui devant la Cour suprême.

3. Cet arrestation constitue une tactique de harcèlement dans le contexte d'une loi qui a été déclarée inconstitutionnelle.

4. Le Comité Justice pour Mohamed Harkat continue d'appeler à la libération ou à un procès équitable pour les cinq détenus des Certificats de sécurité.

Mohamed Harkat Arrested

2008-01-30T11:04:00.000-05:00

For Immediate Release - January 29, 2008

Harkat supporters react with to shock to unjust arrest

Ottawa – Supporters of Mohamed Harkat reacted with shock to his unexpected and unjustified arrest Tuesday.

"It was just your average day. Moe was in the shower when our house was invaded by members of the Ottawa Police and Canadian Border Services Agency," said Sophie Harkat, wife of Mohamed Harkat.

"They took him away and now our nightmare has returned."

Mohamed and Sophie Harkat and the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee strongly deny that there was a breach of Mr. Harkat's bail conditions as CBSA alleges. The Harkat family has complied to the letter with all the conditions imposed – which are the toughest in Canadian history.

"Mohamed's bail conditions are being reviewed by the federal court next Monday. In addition, MPs are currently debating a new – but likely unconstitutional – Security Certificate law this week," said Kevin Skerrett of the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee.

"It is clear to us that this unjustified arrest was a calculated move by the government. According to statements by CBSA officials, the arrest order was signed by a Cabinet Minister."

The members of the committee agree with Sophie Harkat when she says: "This arrest is harassment – pure and simple!"

For more information:

Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee
Christain Legeais 613-276-9102
Kevin Skerrett 613-864-1590

Legal advisors
Matthew Webber 613-235-9779
Paul Copeland 416-964-8126 ext. 142

Demonstration against CSIS impunity/Manifestation contre l'impunité du SCRS

2008-01-29T14:45:00.000-05:00

DEMONSTRATION against CSIS impunity

No to security certificates, No to C-3! End CSIS criminalization, profiling and harassment of refugees and
immigrants!

Thursday, 31 January, 12:15pm-- Rally in front of the Supreme Court (301 Wellington Street), OTTAWA

Just as it was recently discovered that the CIA destroyed records, it was revealed in 2005 that CSIS destroyed evidence in the file of security certificate detainee Adil Charkaoui. On January 31st, Charkaoui will be challenging the legality of the destruction of evidence in his file by CSIS at the Supreme Court.

The case will expose some of the weakness of the "evidence" CSIS uses in security certificate and similar cases: hearsay, rumours, unproven information from foreign spy agencies, and information obtained under torture. This information can be as tenuous as CSIS assessments of foreign intelligence agencies assessments of informers' unconfirmed allegations.

On the basis of such flimsy - and secret - information, immigrants can and have been refused entry to Canada, kept in legal limbo for decades ("security delayed"), put under surveillance, held under house arrest, imprisoned, deported, and even handed over to torture.

If it passes, Bill C-3, the "new" security certificate law, will continue to allow the government to use such information to justify indefinite detention, house arrest and deportation to torture. This information will still be withheld from the detainee, the detainee's lawyer, and the public, while CSIS will not be obligated to disclose all of its file even to the judge. In other words, C-3 will provide legal cover for CSIS to continue racial profiling and other abusive behaviours with impunity.

Join us on 31 January to denounce the actions of CSIS and its role in the criminalization, racial profiling and harassment of immigrants and targeted communities.

More information on CSIS: www.adilinfo.org/?q=en/node/170. Analysis of C-3: www.adilinfo.org/?q=en/node/232

---------------------------------------
Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui
www.adilinfo.org
justiceforadil@riseup.net
tel. 514 848 7583

Join our mailing list: justiceforadil-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

WWW.ADILINFO.ORG

Manifestation contre l'impunité du SCRS !

Non aux certificats de sécurité, non au C-3 !
Non à la criminalisation, au profilage et au harcèlement des réfugiés et des immigrants par le SCRS !

Tout comme il a été récemment découvert que la CIA avait détruit des preuves, on a découvert en 2005 que le SCRS avait détruit des éléments de preuves dans le dossier d'Adil Charkaoui, détenu en vertu d'un certificat de sécurité. Le 31 janvier, Charkaoui contestera la légalité cette bavure du SCRS devant la Cour suprême.

Cette audience sera l'occasion d'exposer certaines des faiblesses de la "preuve " utilisée par le SCRS : ouï-dire, rumeurs, profilage, information non prouvée obtenue par des agences d'espionnage étrangères, et informations obtenues sous la torture. Cette information peut être aussi ténue que des évaluations par le SCRS des évaluations par des services secrets étrangers d'allégations non confirmées faites par des informateurs.

Sur la base d'information aussi ténue - et secrète - , on refuse l'entrée au pays à des immigrants, on les maintient dans l'incertitude pendant des décennies (retardé pour des raisons de sécurité), on les met sous surveillance, en assignation à résidence, en prison, on les déporte et on les renvoie même vers la torture.

Si la loi C3 est adoptée, le gouvernement pourra continuer de se baser sur de tels renseignements afin de justifier la détention indéfinie ou l'assignation à résidence et la déportation vers la torture. De plus, cette information sera cachée au détenu, à son avocat et au public et le SCRS ne sera pas tenu de dévoiler tout son dossier, et ce, même au juge. En d'autres
mots, C3 fournira au SCRS le cadre légal avec le profilage et d'autres comportements abusifs en toute impunité.

Joignez-vous à nous le 31 janvier pour dénoncer les actions du SCRS et son rôle dans la criminalisation, le profilage racial et le harcèlement des immigrants et des communautés ciblées.

Plus d'information sur le SCRS : www.adilinfo.org/?q=en/node/170
Analyse du Projet C-3 : www.adilinfo.org/?q=fr/node/243

---------------------------------------
Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui
www.adilinfo.org
justiceforadil@riseup.net

International Day of Action- 2 Years Too Many!

2008-01-29T13:37:00.000-05:00

No One Is Illegal-Ottawa supports Kader.

On January 18th, 2008, No One Is Illegal-Ottawa participated in the International Day of Action for Kader (read info below). NOII-Ottawa organized a demo in front of the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) national office in downtown Ottawa.

On January 18th, 2008 hundreds of supporters of Abdelkader Belaouni (Kader) in Montreal, across Canada and internationally joined together in sending a loud and clear message to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley — immediately grant him permanent residence status in Canada. The 40-year old blind Algerian refugee has been living in church sanctuary in the neighborhood of Point St-Charles, Montreal since January 1st, 2006 after his applications to remain in Canada were rejected in a series of unjust decisions and he was threatened with deportation from Canada.

On Friday, as Kader entered his 748th day within the confines of the presbytery of St-Gabriel's Church, over 100 supporters in Montreal marched from Phillips Square through the underground to the offices of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Friends and representatives of numerous organizations demanded that the Immigration Minister act immediately to resolve Mr. Belaouni's case and allow him to live freely amongst his friends in Montreal.

Kader's case has become a rallying point for migrant justice in Canada, and is now becoming known internationally. In Ottawa, Vancouver, Halifax, Simcoe (Ontario, Finley's home riding), Red Deer (Alberta), New York, Tokyo, Beirut, The Hague, Paris, Berlin, Durban (South Africa), Athens (Greece), Wellington (New Zealand) and London (England), people formed delegations and delivered letters to the offices of Canadian representatives, as well as held pickets and demonstrations.

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