[Wamvan] We did it! One episode of Border Security off the air, the series to go.

[jana g]

Congratulations and Thanks to you, too Harsha!     [?]

and, In much appreciation for your ongoing efforts in these areas.

janajuniper    [?]


On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 7:50 AM, Harsha W. <harsha at resist.ca> wrote:

>
> Congratulations, we did it! CBSA and Force Four Force have confirmed that
> footage from the immigration raid on March 13 won’t be broadcast!
>
> A recent Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) memo cites “negative
> public response.” Thank you to everyone who signed petitions, endorsed
> letters, wrote and called the producers and broadcasters, spread the word
> and took action!
>
> **************************************
>
> Share the news on FB:
>
> https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=368987433218306&set=a.271182039665513.63321.153945524722499&type=1&theater
>
> Or linked here on the web:
> http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=5638
>
> **************************************
>
>
> Diana Thompson, an Indigenous woman whose husband Tulio Renan Hernandez
> was filmed and has since been deported to Honduras, says “We all feel
> extremely relieved by the news and are grateful to everyone who spoke out.
> We want this episode and the whole show cancelled.”
>
> This briefing memo, just released through an access-to-information
> request, also states that CBSA President Luc Portelance has now placed
> limitations on the filming of Inland Enforcement activities to situations
> involving individuals wanted for “serious criminality” or those featured
> on CBSA’s “most wanted” list. CBSA believes that this will “continue to
> highlight inland enforcement work while removing the key issue at play.”
>
> While this new CBSA directive is a result of the strength and momentum of
> our collective pressure, the key issues continue to remain at play:
>
> 1) The series is embedded within CBSA and tells a one-sided narrative.
> The approval by Prime Minister Harper and Minister Toews to fund a private
> commercial production, as well as the fact that this new directive comes
> from CBSA and not the production company, show that the CBSA and Harper
> government have editorial control over this disgusting for-profit reality
> TV series and use it to amplify Tory propaganda. At least $220,000 of
> public funds are being spent on salary and travel expenses for CBSA staff
> to escort Force Four film crews.
>
> 2) This new directive only applies to Inland Enforcement – away from the
> border – yet most episodes are filmed at the border, where hundreds of
> people, including vulnerable migrants, cross daily under varying
> circumstances or are in the process of migration.
>
> 3) Lack of free consent continues to be a broad-based concern. It is
> highly questionable whether anyone filmed for this show – whether at the
> border or inland, whether migrant or citizen, whether Indigenous or
> visitor – is giving free and informed consent to being filmed while under
> the control of CBSA. This is the key issue behind a legal complaint to the
> federal Privacy Commissioner and is a main concern of the Canadian Bar
> Association. This recent memo claims that “all procedures and protocols
> were followed correctly” to obtain consent in the filming of the
> immigration raid, despite the fact that at least one worker who was filmed
> has publicly stated that he felt pressured to give consent because he was
> detained!
>
> 4) This directive to only film migrants inland who “have serious criminal
> records” or “are on the most wanted list” carries serious long-term
> impacts of criminalizing migrant communities. In the context of
> increasingly exclusionary policies at the federal level, including for
> example mandatory detention for many refugees, it perpetuates the racist
> stereotype of migrants and people of colour as those to be suspicious of.
> Furthermore, CBSA’s “most wanted” list is the subject of a federal Privacy
> Complaint and has been condemned by groups including Canadian Council for
> Refugees, Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Amnesty International, and
> Refugee Lawyers Association. When CBSA could not get sufficient numbers of
> cases on this list, they broadened the criteria to include people who
> don’t even have deportation orders against them! To now bring up this list
> is clearly fear-mongering.
>
> CBSA’s memo states that “negative public response may continue,”
> suggesting they know how fundamentally problematic Border Security is and
> that tens of thousands of us will not stop until this series is cancelled.
> The Canadian Bar Association has 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. Over 250 cultural professionals, over 90
> community, advocacy and legal organizations, as well as a petition with
> over 24,000 signatures are all calling for this unethical production’s
> cancellation!
>
> One episode down, a series to go. We can do this, together. This is our
> collective victory and our collective struggle to continue. Deportation is
> not Entertainment, Cancel Border Security!
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wamvan mailing list
> Wamvan at lists.resist.ca
> https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/wamvan
>
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