[Sanctuarycity_hamilton] Fwd: INVITATION: SOLIDARITY ONTARIO CONVERGENCE

[Caitlin Craven]

Hi folks,

This email was sent around to the Justice for Farai people.  I'm not sure
why we didn't receive anything about it (unless someone else has seen
something come through). I'm emailing to get more information and  I may be
able to go for the first two hours, but is there anyone else in the group
interested.  It's probably a good idea to go and see what is up, though I
am a little wary of how outside the toronto bubble this is going to be at
this point.

thoughts? folks interested in going?

caitlin


FYI

*From:* Ciaran Breen <ciaran3728 at gmail.com>
*Date:* January 19, 2015 at 5:47:41 PM EST
*To:* yenbchu at yahoo.ca
*Subject:* *INVITATION: SOLIDARITY ONTARIO CONVERGENCE*

Hi Yen,

Hope you're well. Apologies for the lateness of this but i wanted to invite
the justice for farai network to the upcoming organizer convergence to plot
a campaign to make ontario a 'sanctuary province.' Please forward to any
trusted folks you think would be interested.

See full details below. Let me know if you have any questions.

Ciaran


A coalition of organizations is forming right now to build toward having
the Province of Ontario declare itself North America’s first “sanctuary
province”. This would build on recent Sanctuary City victories in the City
of Toronto and the City of Hamilton, and would ensure that all Ontarians,
regardless of immigration status, are able to access all provincial
services without fear of being turned over to Immigration authorities for
detention or deportation, including health care, affordable housing,
post-secondary education, full labour protections, and social assistance,
among other services. This would also prevent provincial law enforcement
bodies and agencies from collaborating with the Canada Border Services
Agency and other federal immigration enforcement bodies in attacking our
communities. We also aim to end all forms of apartheid against migrant
workers, who face their own specific forms of struggles (that a campaign
like this would aim to be in solidarity with).


We’re hoping to bring a wide range of Ontarians together on January 31 in
Toronto, from 11am to 5pm at Ryerson University (Thomas Lounge, Oakham
House (63 Gould Street)) to develop a strategy for this plan and have a
political conversation about these aims. Given the multiple ways
immigration status is becoming more difficult to hold onto - or gain in the
first place - we feel the time is right to finally bring our different
experiences and visions together to fight for this pathbreaking goal. We
think your input would be crucial in making this campaign successful.


Please RSVP and register
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NJkAAUNF0U5YWILndgjubrh7aEWX3CR03YZ12Dh6lBI/viewform?usp=send_form>by
January 20th, and let us know if you’d like to talk about any ongoing
planning initiatives or concerns you might have. We’ve included a list of
proposed hallmarks from some initial (mostly Southern Ontario-based)
conversations the current planning committee has developed - please let us
know what you think!


In solidarity,

The Ontario Access Without Fear Committee

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

PRELIMINARY DRAFT HALLMARK PROPOSAL

We propose the following as a preliminary list of principles guiding the
network’s activities.

Status for All - We support the implementation of a full and inclusive
regularization program for all non-status and precarious status people. All
migrants should receive permanent status on landing, rather than be
threatened with the insecurity that comes with precarious status and which
is overwhelmingly experienced by poor and racialized people.

Access Without Fear - We believe that all people, regardless of immigration
status, should have access to provincial services without fear of debt,
denial of service, detention, or deportation. This requires a fundamental
change of both government policy as well as training for front-line staff
involved in delivery of provincial services.

Non-Cooperation With Federal Immigration Enforcement - We demand that all
provincial agencies and their employees cease all cooperation with federal
immigration enforcement activities. This includes law enforcement bodies
subject to provincial legislation - cooperation in immigration arrests and
raids, and surveillance activities must cease immediately. Persons should
not face “double punishment” by both the immigration and criminal justice
systems, as this is discriminatory and inconsistent with a person’s basic
human right not to be punished twice for the same infraction, especially
given that immigration policy is (ostensibly) not meant to be a punitive.

Solidarity Among All Workers - We call for solidarity to be expressed and
practiced among all workers, both waged and unwaged. We recognize that
migrant labour takes many forms that can not easily be categorized along
the lines of immigration status. We believe that all migrant workers should
not live in apartheid from Canadian workers, should enjoy equity and
justice in their working lives, and should aim to unite their struggles
whenever possible. We aim to end a long and enduring legacy of racism,
xenophobia, and colonialism within and beyond our labour movements, and
address unaccountable power structures so workers’ power can strengthen and
multiply. We recognize that certain industries and types of labour have
been and are overwhelmingly occupied by poor and racialized people, and we
aim to put their struggles at the front of our collective struggle. An
injury to one is an injury to all.

Strengthen Public Services - We support the expansion of public services to
improve conditions for all of the province’s residents. We understand that
years of austerity have grossly enriched a tiny minority, stolen from the
labour of poor and working people. Access to services is a hollow goal if
those services are not democratically designed and properly resourced. We
believe that all people in Ontario deserve high-quality and affordable
housing; universally accessible and equitable health care; free and
well-resourced education; a just and strong social safety net; and a
generally high level of social service provision.

Justice for Migrants! Justice for All! - We recognize that the struggle for
migrant justice is linked to other forms of structural violence, including
but not limited to racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, and
ableism. These struggles are our struggles, both within our movements and
in the world we share - no one is free until all of us are free!




-- 
"...there are no beginnings, not even to stories.  There are only places
where you make an entrance into someone else's life and either stay or turn
and go away." Timothy Findley
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