[opirgyork] Feb 21: City Hall passes Access Without Fear policy

[OPIRG York]

*City Hall passes Access Without Fear policy
Your mission if you choose to accept it is...*

*Please share this link: **http://bit.ly/YJZ1QQ*

Today (Feb 21st), after a marathon nail-biting debate, Toronto City Hall
strengthened its promise to provide services to residents without full
immigration status or all their immigration documents. Read the exact
motion here.

You called, wrote, met, and pressured your Councillors and they were forced
to listen. The first step is complete, and we have a new mission for you.

We need you to go out and make sure that Toronto services are now actually
accessible. *Sign up here <http://eepurl.com/tzEq9> and we will get in
touch with you on exactly how.* There is a lot of work still to be done,
and together we will make it happen.

City Hall instructed Chris Brillinger, Executive Director, Social
Development, Finance and Administration to put together a report on how to
improve access to services without fear including training, a complaints
protocol and a communications blitz by September 2013.

That means we need to spend the next six months ensuring the right
recommendations get on this report and that these recommendations actually
pass at City Hall after that.

Many services like housing, healthcare, welfare, labour protections, safety
from police brutality childcare, disability services, and immigration
status are managed by the province and the federal government. The City
will be writing to Ontario and Canada to demand that they to step up. Get
in touch with us and help us write up the recommendations that need to go
in to these letters. We are looking for people from other cities in Ontario
to pass similar policies, if you are interested, get in touch. We are at
solidaritycitytoronto at gmail.com

*A short history of Access Without Fear in Toronto*

The fight to City Hall today has been a long time coming. As we prepare for
the work ahead, here is a abbreviated history of what has already happened.

JULY 2004: A 16-year old undocumented woman from Grenada is handed over to
immigration enforcement by Toronto police when she reports an assault
against her. Massive community mobilization at the Toronto Police Services
Board demands a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy

FEBRUARY 2006: Toronto Police Services Board passes a partial Don’t Ask
policy, community advocates insist the policy is not enough. Download our
report on it here<https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CHoQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fihrp.law.utoronto.ca%2Fsites%2Fihrp.law.utoronto.ca%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2FImmigration%2520Legal%2520Committee%2520Report%25202008%2520Spring.doc&ei=uTwkUa-BDdCWqwHopICYAw&usg=AFQjCNEMn5hY9S4QQulu9hyxclbOs0MLJg&sig2=FJzQjbPJWVkYa-ZTsbx2bw>
.

APRIL 2006: Kimberley and Gerald Lizanno-Sossa are arrested from their
school, massive community mobilization demands that the Toronto District
School Board pass a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy at the Toronto District
School Board. See a short documentary on the fight
here<http://vimeo.com/7698225>
.

JULY 2006: The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Coalition is formed led by No One Is
Illegal - Toronto. Over 80 community agencies pass Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
policies across Toronto. The DADT Coalition demands that the City of
Toronto pass a policy ensuring access to services without fear. Read the
Access Without Fear report
here<https://we.riseup.net/noii_toronto/access-not-fear-non-status-immigrants+39800>
.

-- 

-OPIRG York
--
www.opirgyork.ca
416-736-5724
opirg at yorku.ca


*There are many ways to get involved at OPIRG. We currently have 8 OPIRG
York working groups:*
Art For Justice, Justice is Not Colour Blind, Students for a Free Tibet, YU
Free Press, Environmental Justice York, Progressive Filipino Canadians for
Community Empowerment and Development (PFCCED), Students Against Israeli
Apartheid, and the Vanier Prison Support Line working group. You can contact
Victoria Barnett, our volunteer coordinator, about ways to get involved in
these working groups: victoria at opirgyork.ca.

*We also have three different collectives: *PrOPIRGanda Radio, Radical
Reading Room and PrOPIRGanda Zine- see the callouts below. You can contact
us about ways to get involved in these collectives: opirg at yorku.ca.
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