[Wamvan] Ninety Advocacy, Human Rights and Legal Organizations Want Border Security Off the Air

[Harsha W.]

Web link to share:
http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=5628


“CANCEL BORDER SECURITY” SAY 90 LEGAL, ADVOCACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
ORGANIZATIONS

May 2 VANCOUVER, UNCEDED COAST SALISH TERRITORIES – Ninety organizations
are releasing an open letter calling for the cancellation of the TV show
Border Security: Canada’s Front Line.

Prominent international and national human rights organizations, community
groups, legal organizations, agencies and labour unions are urging
Minister Vic Toews, Canadian Border Services Agency, Force Four
Entertainment, and the broadcaster Shaw Media “to cancel, stop
participating in, and end the broadcast of Border Security.”

Signatories include Amnesty International, Anti-Capitalist Convergence of
Montreal, BC Government and Service Employees Union, Canadian Association
of Refugee Lawyers, Canadian Council for Refugees, Canadian Labour
Congress, Chinese Canadian National Council, Coalition of South Asian
Women Against Violence, Council of Canadians, Idle No More, Indigenous Tar
Sands Campaign, International Federation of Iranian Refugees, Justice for
Migrant Workers, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Queer
Migration Collective, Law Union of Ontario, and Simon Fraser University
Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

The letter is linked here in full:
http://www.cancelbordersecurity.ca/#!letter-from-organizations/c39y

Katie Zalazar, member of the migrant health group Sanctuary Health who
initiated the letter says, “The diversity of organizations that have
signed this letter is evidence of how deeply problematic the show is on so
many levels. From university programs and legal offices to grassroots
community groups, we stand together against violation of privacy, racism,
and the exploitation of vulnerable migrants. Deportation is not
entertainment and we will not stop until the show is cancelled.”

According to Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians, “The
Harper government and the production company should not be collaborating
on a disgusting for-profit show that has turned deportation into
entertainment. Is this really where the federal government is spending
tax-payer resources and what broadcasters are choosing as programming?”

Opposition to Border Security continues to gain momentum. Over 250
cultural professionals including award-winning filmmakers, actors,
directors, producers and authors, are calling for an end to the show. The
Canadian Bar Association, representing the country’s jurists and lawyers,
have released an unprecedented letter urging Minister Toews to withdraw
CBSA’s participation in the show, and a legal complaint to the federal
Privacy Commissioner has been filed by the BC Civil Liberties Association.
A petition launched by family members and community groups has gathered
over 24,000 signatures.

According to Mike Leitold, member of the Law Union of Ontario, “This TV
show’s filming and use of images of vulnerable people either crossing the
border or within Canada appears to be an invasion of privacy with
questionable ethics on informed consent. It is ludicrous to suggest that
someone is able to freely give informed consent to being filmed while
under the control of law enforcement without access to legal counsel. The
production company, broadcasters and federal government have an obligation
to uphold privacy rights and not profit from the vulnerability of
migrants.”

Clayton Thomas-Muller, Director of the Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign,
explains the broader political implications of the show: “This TV show has
got to go. It plays off the humiliation of detention, deportation and
family separation of Indigenous and migrant families. Furthermore, the
federal government’s involvement in this show is a clear indication that
it is part of the Harper agenda to criminalize people and exploit our
Mother Earth while supporting productions that profit off misery.”

Six weeks ago this TV show made headlines when their TV crew was embedded
with Canadian Border Services Agency officers during an immigration raid
at a construction work site in Vancouver. A freedom of information request
revealed that the show is approved by Minister Vic Toews and is receiving
support from the federal government, including for operational costs.

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-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork



-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork



-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork