All Out to Defend the Rights of All
Broad Opposition to Canada's New Immigration and Refugee Cuts
Migrant rights
demonstration in Montreal, November 2, 2024
No sooner had Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced drastic changes to Canada's Immigration and Refugee system on October 24 this year, than his plan was opposed widely across the country. This is the first reduction in immigration and refugee levels since the Trudeau government came to power in 2015.
In trying to justify these drastic cuts that take effect immediately, Minister Miller said, "While it's clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly. These changes will make immigration work for our country so that everyone has access to the quality jobs, homes and supports they need to thrive. We have listened to Canadians, and we will continue to protect the integrity of our system and grow our population responsibly."
Migrant defence organizations, advocacy groups, trade unions and experts denounced the government's bogus argument that the drastic cuts would alleviate "pressures on housing, infrastructure and social services so that over the long term we can grow our economic and social prosperity through immigration," as Minister Miller claimed. They stood as one to oppose these racist policies that falsely target immigrants and refugees for the problems of the anti-social offensive of the rich and their governments against the Canadian people.
Up to 2.3 million people in Canada whose work or study permits will expire by the end of next year will be forced to either leave Canada or become undocumented. Tens of thousands of international students have indebted themselves and their families, having to pay extortionate tuition fees, as well as being exploited by slumlords for substandard housing. Likewise, workers who have spent thousands of dollars in application, transportation and processing fees to come to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are now also thrown under the bus because their plans have been upended. Many people who have applied for asylum in Canada will also be excluded.
Added to this situation is the baseless and racist hysteria from the incoming U.S. Trump administration about "border security" and migration, and threats of mass deportations. This is being taken up by federal and provincial governments and monopoly media as if it has legitimacy, and will be further used to attack rights and integrate Canada into the U.S. war machine, to the detriment of all who study, live and work in Canada.
Syed Hussan, spokesperson for the Migrant Rights Network, a coalition of more than 100 labour, migrant rights and human rights groups, said: "We are witnessing a disgraceful assault on migrant rights in Canada as this government continues to scapegoat migrants for the housing and affordability crisis. The Liberals, desperate to claw back their sinking poll numbers, had already slashed over 775,000 study and work permits ... The government must abandon this dangerous path of using immigrants for political football, focus on rights instead of just numbers, and end the exploitation and abuse of migrants by ensuring permanent resident status for all."
Addressing the false claims that immigrants are to blame for the housing and affordability crisis, Hussan added: "The population grew by just 3.9 per cent over two years, yet rents exploded by 20 per cent -- it is clear that migrants are not the cause. Instead of addressing corporate profiteering and systemic failures, this government is shamefully deflecting blame onto migrants. This is not just dishonest -- it's deeply harmful and reckless."
Novjot Salaria, an organizer with the Najuwan Support Network, a defence organization for international students in Brampton, Ontario which has held a permanent encampment in downtown Brampton since the end of August protesting Canada's exploitation and abuse of international students, noted that reducing permanent resident targets will limit the number of international students who hold the Post Graduate Work Permit from applying through the government's Express Entry System to be permanent residents in Canada. "There is already a backlog with a huge number of people waiting," she said. "Reducing the numbers means there will now be even less chances for people who are already in the permanent residency pool to be approved." It is patently unjust she said and called on the government to reverse its changes.
The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), a Montreal-based umbrella organization defending refugee rights said on October 25: "[I]n a shameful abdication of responsibility, the Canadian government has massively reduced its commitment to offer protection to those fleeing persecution and danger in the world, and all but ensured that refugees in Canada will remain separated from their spouses and children for years to come. The CCR condemns today's announcement and calls on the government to reverse this dangerous course."
Diana Gallego, CCR President, noted: "Behind the numbers slashed from the humanitarian component of the levels today are over 14,000 real people fleeing persecution and seeking safety in Canada or struggling in conflict zones around the world facing violence, starvation, and death. It particularly fails those already here whom we have committed to protect and their family members abroad ...It is not an exaggeration to say that the action taken today will rob children of their futures and destroy families. People will lose their lives."
International Migrants Alliance (IMA) Canada, part of an international network of defence organizations of migrant workers, opposed the immigration and refugee cuts which it says will mean "that many temporary residents, from migrant workers, asylum seekers, refugees and the undocumented will remain with precarious status and consequently open to abuse." They emphasize that the measures being introduced have nothing to do with "too many migrants" but rather with "an economic and political crisis rooted in the imperialist structure of Canada's social system." The organization also notes that Canada contributes to global political and economic conflicts that "massively displace millions of people around the world."
IMA Canada demands that the Canadian government "end the scapegoating of international students, refugees, and migrant workers." It demands that Canada must take responsibility for its role in displacing people globally and stop using migration as a tool of capitalist extraction. IMA Canada underscores that it stands as one with all workers in Canada to oppose a system that exploits all workers, and urges all migrants as part of the working class to hold rallies, forums, and others actions building towards December 18, the UN International Migrants Day, to highlight the contributions of migrant workers and the struggle to defend their rights and the rights of all workers.
A November 25 article critiquing a slick newly released video in which Prime Minister Trudeau "explains" his government's new immigration changes, observes that it "paints an incomplete picture and perpetuates misleading narratives on Canada's immigrant selection, higher education and asylum systems." Academic and immigration expert from the University of British Columbia, Lisa Ruth Brunner, points out that the video aims to shift the blame for the immigration crisis for which the Trudeau government itself is responsible. She notes that in the video "Trudeau's strongest criticism is reserved for 'really bad actors who outright exploit people' and 'target vulnerable immigrants with promises that would never come true."' Dr. Brunner asks rhetorically, "Is he describing his own government?"
Montreal, November 2, 2024
(With files from Migrant Rights Network, Canadian Council for Refugees, IMA Canada, Brampton Guardian, The Conversation. Photos: iwc-cti, M. Henaway )
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 11 - November 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5401111.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca