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Hands Off Haiti!

Disinformation About Criminal Gangs to Divert Attention from Brutal Interference of "Core Group"

Picket in Ottawa February 29, 2024, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the 2004 coup in Haiti

The claim of the U.S., Canada, France, and others that "criminal gangs" are the problem in Haiti is a pathetic attempt to divert attention from the dirty deeds of the Core Group established by UN Security Council Resolution 1542 (2004) at the instigation of the U.S. The so-called Core Group is chaired by the UN Special Representative to Haiti, and also includes representatives from Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the European Union, the United States and the Organization of American States. This is the real "criminal gang" operating in Haiti.

Haiti was a founding member of the UN in 1945. In 1948, Haiti played a key role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in particular thanks to Haitian Senator Emile Saint-Lot, rapporteur of the Editorial Board of the UDHR. In 1804, it was the first republic to overthrow the French colonial power and declare citizenship rights by virtue of being human, without discrimination as to race, creed or any other discriminatory category. It played a heroic, fraternal role in the independence struggles of the peoples of all the Americas, including the United States. Haiti does not need lessons in democracy. It does not need lessons in how to uphold its right to express its sovereignty in any way it sees fit. This is also true today under conditions of yet another brutal intervention on the part of France, the U.S. and now Canada along with others. It can decide how it wants to be governed for itself. This is what is at stake in Haiti.

The Haitian people are a wise and cultured people with their own thought material which led them to achieve their liberation from the brutal colonial French rule and has guided them to prevail over every single brutal attempt to control them ever since. Contrary to the racist picture the so-called Core Group and their media portray, it is the imperialists who are forced to declare that all their machinations are "Haitian-led" all evidence to the contrary putting their pathetic claim into the garbage.

It is well known that what are called "criminal gangs" in Haiti were installed and serve the purposes of maintaining the dictate of the U.S. and other foreign exploiters over Haiti and prevent the Haitian people exercising their right to control their own affairs and affirm Haiti's sovereignty.

Everyone knows that it was the coup d'etat engineered by the U.S., Canada and France that overthrew the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide 20 years ago because he was not jumping to do their bidding. They are the ones who imposed a military dictatorship over the Haitian people, causing utter chaos and misery. Under its auspices, the oligarchs once again seized control of Haiti's natural and human resources including running the sweat shops and luxury exclusive resorts where the cruise ships also dock. Knowing full well the opposition of the people of Haiti to their direct presence, the U.S., Canada, France and others think they can use the Kenya Police, an institution created by the British empire-builders in the first place, as part of the UN Multinational Security Support Mission. The U.S. has now even engineered the backing of Benin which has "offered" to contribute 2,000 troops to a UN-approved Kenyan-led multinational security force also comprised of 2,000 police. The announcement was made on February 27 during a press briefing held in Georgetown, Guyana, by U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, subsequently confirmed by Benin on March 1.

The official language of Benin is French and the U.S. thus calculates that this will offset the fact that the official language of Kenya is English which might otherwise deem their police force as not fit for duty in Haiti. Benin is comprised of one of the most ancient peoples, colonized first by the Portuguese in 1680 and then by France in 1872, known as French Dahomey until it gained its independence on August 1, 1960 when it was renamed Benin. Under both colonial masters, the country became one of the major countries involved in the trading in enslaved people. To this day, the city of Ouidah, less than a mile from what was once West Africa's biggest slave port, features a statue of the major merchant of enslaved people Francisco Felix de Souza, who worked in the 18th and 19th centuries. The port was the departure point for more than a million people in chains bound for Brazil, Haiti and the United States. The results of the thinking of the imperialists that the descendants of West Africans taken into slavery will fight against the descendants of West Africans held in slavery in Haiti is yet to be seen. They will not be pretty for the modern-day enslavers of the Haitian people.

Any attempt to deploy Kenyan or any other foreign armed force to Haiti will be met with stiff resistance by the Haitian people who are affirming their dignity and right to be. As was the case when they were the first colony to win its freedom and establish a republic in 1804, their slogan today remains the same – Homeland or Death! Victory or Death!

Hands Off Haiti!

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Trudeau's "Inclusive Political Agreement Toward Free and Fair Elections" in Haiti

News reports inform that on March 11 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened his "Incident Response Group" to discuss the situation in Haiti. A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said that Trudeau "emphasized the importance of urgently reaching an inclusive political agreement toward free and fair elections to restore democratic order in Haiti and that any such agreement must be Haitian-led."

It appears that the irony of imposing a "Haitian-led" democratic order in Haiti through foreign intervention escapes the Prime Minister. The statement added that Canada is contributing $80.5 million to the United Nations-authorized Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission and to support the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which is prepared to participate in the interventionist mission.

Later in the day Canadian Ambassador to the UN Bob Rae participated in what was called the "CARICOM-hosted dialogue with Haitian stakeholders including the U.S." Clearly anything but "Haitian-led," a statement from the U.S. Department of State said Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the meeting "to discuss creating a presidential college to help expedite a political transition in Haiti, and to discuss deploying a multinational security support mission to restore order."

Imagine using the image of a "presidential college" at a time the U.S. "presidential college" which has the final say on election results in the United States is so discredited! The U.S. claim that such a college  it will "help expedite a political transition in Haiti" when the U.S. version cannot even "help expedite a political transition" in the U.S. seems to be the best the U.S. can come up with.

Talking to the CBC, Rae insisted that this foreign interference into the internal affairs of Haiti is "Haitian-led." He said Canada is "providing only financial and logistical support," not "putting boots on the ground." "Canada will be a part of any combined effort. It's just we're not sending troops," Rae said. "The reason for that is because [Trudeau] wants to insist that it's the Haitians themselves who have to lead the way."

In a subsequent Radio-Canada interview with journalist Alec Castonguay, Trudeau stressed that the Canadian government is doing everything possible to ensure security in Haiti. He said that Canada "has been engaged with the international community in Haiti for 30 years. He cited examples of police, military and medical interventions carried out in the country," Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported on March 17. "We built prisons, hospitals, we were there with the international community for a long time. Despite all that, we find ourselves after three decades of work in this abominable crisis," Trudeau said.

Never once has Trudeau questioned why after 30 years Haitians reject everything Canada and "the international community" have done. On the contrary, the very machinations to keep Haiti under the bondage of foreign private interests and in the clutches of a corrupt ruling elite are the cause of Haiti's "abominable crisis." They are in the service of the financial gain of the most rotten U.S. elements benefiting from ill-gotten gains, with Canada's full support,

Note on "Incident Response Group"

Who attends the meetings of the "Incident Response Group" is secret. The first time Canadians heard about this "Incident Response Group" was when Trudeau announced its formation on August 28, 2018. It was described as "a dedicated, emergency committee that will convene in the event of a national crisis or during incidents elsewhere that have major implications for Canada." It was presented as similar to what the "Five Eyes" -- the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand -- already have in place within their own governments.

According to reports, foreign intelligence services "typically seek to establish networks of agents whom they can use over a sustained period of time, so that they can obtain a reliable flow of information. Agents operate by exploiting trusted relationships and positions to obtain sensitive information."

The "Five Eyes" is such an intelligence-sharing network involving over 20 different agencies of the five "English-speaking countries." It is both surveillance-based and signals intelligence (SIGINT). This is intelligence "derived from electronic signals and systems used by foreign targets, such as communications systems, radars and weapons systems that provides a vital window for our nation into foreign adversaries' capabilities, actions, and intentions." Examples include: "USB sticks secretly fitted with radio transmitters. iPhone malware used to monitor the communications and activities of users. Portable continuous wave generators that can monitor the keyboard activities of even offline computers through a keyboard vibration attack."

A ministerial level meeting of the "Five Eyes" was held the same day in 2018 as the announcement of the "Incident Response Group" was held.

(With files from CBC, Radio Canada, Le Nouvelliste, Reuters, NSA.)

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Caribbean Community Holds "Stakeholders Meeting" to Meet U.S. Demands

The recent "high-level" meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) convened on March 11 in Kingston, Jamaica revealed the extent of the pressure the United States, Canada and other foreign actors are putting on its member countries. These countries have been cajoled into submitting to the U.S. aim of taking over Haiti. This can only be achieved if they manage to suppress the striving of the Haitian people to get rid of all foreign exploiters, corrupt officials and thieves of various kinds who have plunged their island into anarchy and violence.

The purported purpose of the CARICOM meeting was to "discuss the security situation in Haiti." Far from it, it was to discuss and further the schemes for the takeover of Haiti.

According to CARICOM, the meeting, attended by "Haitian stakeholders," followed a series of discussions including those facilitated by the "Eminent Persons Group," a three-person group established by CARICOM Heads of Government in May 2023 "to represent them to extend the Community's Good Offices to the Government of Haiti and Haitian stakeholders." "Stakeholders" were represented in Kingston by delegations from Brazil, Canada – with UN Ambassador Bob Rae present and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau taking part via zoom – France, Mexico, United Nations and the U.S., with no elaboration on what precise "stake" they hold.

Discussions centred on the latest U.S.-led scheme to install a government in Haiti in violation of the right of the Haitian people to govern themselves without foreign interference. The U.S. State Department, represented at the meeting by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, noted that the meeting would "discuss a proposal developed in partnership with CARICOM and Haitian stakeholders to expedite a political transition in Haiti through the creation of a broad-based, independent presidential college as well as the deployment of a Multinational Security Support Mission to address the ongoing security crisis."

The situation in Haiti about which the U.S., Canada and others claim to be so concerned, is the direct result of the decades of foreign interference in Haiti aimed at installing a puppet regime which will favour their interests and deny the Haitian people their rights. Specific measures to formalize this foreign domination of Haiti have been in place since 2004 when the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown in a coup organized by Canada, France and the U.S. At that time the U.S. engineered the creation, via the UN Security Council, of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and a "Core Group" to facilitate the implementation of its mandate.

The "Core Group" is comprised of representatives from Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the European Union, the U.S. and the Organization of American States, and is chaired by the UN Special Representative to Haiti. Ariel Henry, the much despised acting prime minister of Haiti who recently resigned pending a replacement, was installed by the Core Group in 2021 after the assassination of Jovenel Moise, the 43rd President of Haiti who was also installed by the Core Group.

Explicit in the decisions adopted at the "high-Level" meeting of CARICOM is that the U.S.-led foreign powers, including Canada, have given themselves the right to decide who will govern Haiti and will enforce their dictate with military force, with the acquiescence of what they call "Haitian stakeholders." This is fraud of the first order. The Haitian people have repeatedly rejected foreign interference and the deployment of foreign armies which have brought violence, sexual abuse and disease to Haiti in the past. No "agreement" imposed on the Haitian people against their will, on the basis of the modern-day version of the "white man's burden" that the Haitian people are unfit to govern themselves, will ever be accepted.

The Canadian people stand firmly with the people of Haiti and against military and political interference by foreign powers, including Canada. The Canadian government must be held to account for its participation in the ongoing crimes against Haiti and its people.

Final CARICOM Declaration Announces "Transitional Governance Arrangement"

The Final Declaration issued by CARICOM on March 11 says, "We are pleased to announce the commitment to a transitional governance arrangement, which paves the way for a peaceful transition of power, continuity of governance, an action plan for near-term security, and the road to free and fair elections."

Without an iota of shame, enemies of the Haitian people who have brought nothing but anarchy and violence to Haiti, accompanied by starvation, disease, unemployment, homelessness and despair, are speaking in the name of securing Haitian democracy, a "peaceful transition of power" and "continuity of governance, of which there is presently none thanks to the corrupt regimes they have put in place time and time again and their own interventions.

The "stakeholders' meeting" "acknowledged" the resignation of pretend Prime Minister Ariel Henry "upon the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council and the naming of an interim Prime Minister."

The so-called Core Group established a "Transitional Presidential Council" to be comprised of seven voting members with each group who applied to join having one vote, as well as two non-voting observers said to be representatives of "civil society" and "inter-faith" communities.

Criteria for membership would exclude anyone who opposes the UN Security Council Resolution 2699, which authorized the UNSC "to form and deploy a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti" of foreign intervention and occupation against the will of the Haitian people and sovereignty of the Haitian nation.

The CARICOM declaration repeats the shopworn high ideals of the Core Group and its ongoing occupation of Haiti, expressing commitment for "a transition that is based on inclusivity, encourages participation by all stakeholders, and paves the way for elections as soon as possible. This is the only sustainable path to a future of strong democratic institutions, peaceful resolution of conflict, and security and prosperity for all Haitians."

Names Submitted to CARICOM for "Transitional Council"
Bypass Haitian People

Le Nouvelliste reports that "The vast majority of political and societal organizations involved in negotiations with CARICOM heads of government have already submitted the name of their representative to the Transitional Presidential Council." None of these proposals have been submitted or even announced to the Haitian people, only to CARICOM and the Core Group.

The confirmed representatives are: Edgard LeBlanc Fils of the Collective of January 30 Political Parties; Laurent St Cyr, representing the business sector as part of the organization December 21 Agreement; Leslie Voltaire, reportedly put forward as representative for the board of Fanmi Lavalas. The Montana Agreement negotiation support committee is in a quandary whether to participate or not. Professor Dunois Erick Cantave, coordinator of the Montana Agreement, said, "I am still outraged and skeptical about this process" but, he added that "there is a current that thinks that we must be present in all battles despite our reservations [...]" Groups within the reactionary alliance known as the December 21 Agreement have submitted at least three different nominations, with each vying for the favour of the Core Group and its attempt to restructure its governance arrangements over the Haitian people.

Calls for People's Organizations to Take Control of Volatile Situation

On March 10, the National Movement for Liberty and Equality of Haitians for Fraternity (MOLEGHAF) issued a statement calling on the people's organizations to take control of the volatile situation in the country. Amongst other things, the statement said that MOLEGHAF rejects "any proposal aiming for a transition under the dominance of American imperialism" as "a pact with the death of the masses." "All progressive-revolutionary political parties and organizations that embrace imperialism, the CORE GROUP, OAS, United Nations Security Council, under the administration of Biden, declare themselves enemies of the exploited class in the country." The movement went on to say that it rejects any alliance that is not aligned with the people and the masses, that instead of ending neo-liberal policies, will continue sowing discord among the popular masses, as is happening now. "The conspiracy is rising, and it will end in an election to place their satellites in power under the guise of people's democracy."

In a statement released on March 13, the Black Alliance for Peace addresses what lies behind the headlines in Haiti. It points out that the reality is that the crisis in Haiti is a crisis of imperialism. Those countries calling for military intervention – the U.S., France, Canada – have created the conditions making military intervention appear necessary and inevitable. The countries calling for intervention are the same countries that will benefit from intervention, not the Haitian people. For 20 years, those countries that cast Haiti as a failed state actively worked to destroy Haiti's government while imposing foreign colonial rule, the statement points out.

The statement elaborates further: "Haiti is currently under occupation by the U.S./UN and Core Group, a self-appointed cabal of foreign entities who effectively rule this country. [...] Over the past four years, the Haitian masses have mobilized and protested against an illegal government, imperial meddling, the removal of fuel subsidies leading to rising costs of living, and insecurity by elite-funded armed groups. However, these protests have been snuffed out by the U.S.-installed puppet government."

The Black Alliance for Peace points out that the armed groups (the so-called "gangs") mainly in the capital city of Port-au-Prince should be understood as "paramilitary" forces, as they are made up of former and current Haitian police and military elements. These paramilitary forces are known to work for some of Haiti's elite, including, some say, Ariel Henry (Haiti's soon-to-be former de facto prime minister). It should also be noted that Haiti does not manufacture guns – the guns and ammunition come primarily from the U.S. and the Dominican Republic – and the U.S. has consistently rejected calls for an arms embargo. "When we speak of 'gangs,' we must recognize that the real and most powerful gangs in the country are the U.S., the Core Group, and the illegal UN office in Haiti, all of whom helped to create the current crisis," the statement says.

The statement points out that today Haiti is important for U.S. geopolitical and economic viability. It is in a key location in the Caribbean for U.S. military and security strategy in the region. It points out that Haiti's economic importance "stems from what western corporations perceive as a vast pool of cheap labor, and its unexploited land and mineral wealth."

The Black Alliance for Peace denounces CARICOM leaders, especially Barbados' Prime Minister Mia Mottley "for not only supporting U.S. planned armed intervention in Haiti and offering their police and soldiers for the mission, but for also following U.S. and Core Group dictates on the way forward in Haiti. They also denounced the role of Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio "Lula" da Silva "for not only continuing Brazil's role in the Core Group, but for also leading the charge, along with the criminal U.S. government, for foreign armed military invasion of Haiti."

"In solidarity with Haitian groups, the Black Alliance for Peace denounces "the UN approved, U.S.-funded, Kenyan-led foreign armed invasion and occupation of Haiti." "We are adamant that a U.S./UN-led armed foreign intervention in Haiti is not only illegitimate, but illegal. We support Haitian people and civil society organizations who have been consistent in their opposition to foreign armed military intervention," the statement says.

Note

The members of CARICOM are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat (a British overseas territory in the Leeward Islands), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

(With files from the CBC, CARICOM, PMO and U.S. State Department)

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Deployment of Kenyan Police to Haiti
Far from Done Deal

On March 1, in Nairobi, Kenya, the acting Prime Minister of Haiti Ariel Henry and the President of Kenya William Ruto, signed a "reciprocal agreement" to give a legal veneer to the U.S.-engineered 1,000-person force of the Kenya Police as part of the UN-led Multinational Security Support Mission to occupy Haiti in the name of securing Haiti against "gang violence."

Those pushing foreign intervention into Haiti considered that once this agreement was signed, it would be smooth sailing. The agreement was required to meet the January 26 requirement of the Kenya High Court that the deployment was unconstitutional and cannot be sanctioned without a signed agreement with Haiti. At the signing on March 1, Ruto said that the deployment was "to reiterate Kenya's commitment to contribute to the success of this multi-national mission. We believe this is a historic duty because peace in Haiti is good for the world as a whole." Henry for his part said that the deployment was not only for Haiti but "for the future of humanity."

But, far from smooth sailing, Henry has been stuck in Puerto Rico after leaving Kenya on March 5 when his plane was unable to land in Haiti. Incited by the U.S., he has since said he will resign as acting Prime Minister and President when there is a "transitional council" in place.

Furthermore, Gazette Haiti reported on March 13 that Kenya's First Secretary of Foreign Affairs Korir Sing'oei said that the absence of a recognized government in Haiti does not provide ground or anchor for the mission and that Kenya would await the installation of a recognized constitutional authority before further decisions on deployment. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official hurried to say that despite the suspension (and, not mentioned, Henry's unfortunate situation), the agreement between Henry and Ruto is still valid.

Kenyan opposition legislators for their part pointed out that the "reciprocal agreement" is illegal and therefore illegitimate because Haiti's government is an unelected one. They accused Ruto of interfering with the independence of the Kenyan judiciary and parliament and urged Kenyans to resist this attack on the country's constitution.

"The government has failed to adhere to the Constitution that they were sworn in to protect," said Kenyan opposition politician Ekuru Aukot, who added that he will file "a case of contempt of court" to challenge the "reciprocal agreement." He further pointed out that Henry has no constitutional or legal powers to commit Haiti to any agreements with Kenya.

Furthermore, while all of the U.S. machinations are going on, U.S. funds for Kenyan-led police/military intervention have yet to be authorized by either the Congress or Senate. Republican Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul and Senator Jim Risch, the Republican leader on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, in a joint statement said, "Given the long history of U.S. engagement in Haiti, with few positive results, the administration owes Congress much more detail and in a more timely manner before securing more funding." They said Biden's administration had only sent them a "rough plan" to address the crisis. They also questioned whether Kenyan courts would authorize the deployment and whether the force could travel to Port-au-Prince.

Time and time again, the machinations of the Core Group are thwarted but still they persist in manipulating outcomes as can be seen with the meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) where especially the U.S. but also Canada dictated what is a good "Haitian-led" democracy.

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Rallies, Marches and Meetings in Defence of the Rights of All

Rally Opposes State and Industry Attacks on Wet'suwet'en and Their Hereditary Rights

Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs and others rallied at the Smithers Court House on March 6 for the sentencing of Chief Dsta'hyl, a Wing Chief of the Likhts'amisyu Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation for criminal contempt and to protest the ongoing corruption of industry-led BC Supreme Court injunctions that lean on illegal trespass by RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) to enforce injunctions on Indigenous traditional territories.

At the rally the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs of the Gitxsan Huwilp Government announced that they are demanding an immediate independent judicial review of how the industry-led BC Supreme Court  injunctions are obtained while ignoring higher court judicial decisions, and how the militarized RCMP C-IRG enforce those injunctions on Indigenous traditional territories.

Gitxsan Hereditary Chief Negotiator Brian Williams (Gwiiyeehl) said: "This reeks of ongoing corruption." He went on to say, "The BC Supreme Court is ignoring higher court judicial notice of ongoing negotiations since 1994. The provincial and federal government have made a debilitating lack of progress at treaty tables for 30 years and BCSC is using that to the advantage of industry seeking these injunctions." The 1997 Supreme Court of Canada Delgamuukw decision found that the Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan had never ceded title to their traditional territory and said that these matters should be settled through negotiations, yet to this day their Aboriginal title claims have not been resolved through negotiation or litigation.

In the case of Chief Dsta'hyl, he was found guilty of criminal contempt on February 20 and his sentencing which began March 6 will continue at a later date. Chief Dsta'hyl was arrested on October 27, 2021 after removing heavy-duty equipment batteries from Coastal GasLink (CGL) construction vehicles. In a video played in court he is seen introducing himself as the Likhts'amisyu enforcement officer, reminding CGL employees of an eviction notice previously issued to CGL by Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership and telling CGL security workers that they are trespassing on Wet'suwet'en territory and asking them to leave, saying he will seize equipment and decommission vehicles used for pipeline construction. Although he was originally charged with mischief and theft over $5,000, those charges were not pursued and instead he was tried for criminal contempt. The prosecution claimed that he violated a 2019 Supreme Court injunction barring anyone from preventing, impeding or restricting CGL's pipeline construction.

The Gitxsan Huwilp Government called for the rally on February 23 after BC Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen, in finding Chief Dsta'hyl guilty, ruled that traditional Wet'suwet'en trespass law cannot "coexist" with injunction orders handed down by the same court. "Justice Michael Tammen used 30 years of Canada/BC inertia at negotiating table to contend the law of trespass cannot coexist with the law of injunctions. The court failed in its role to reconcile the two, weaponizing the law of injunction to extinguish Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan wilaloo (way of life) and connection to the lands," Gitxsan Hereditary Chief Moolaxan explained.

Referring to the role of the C-IRG, Gwiiyeehl said on March 6: "We also know the RCMP's federal watchdog agency opened a probe into the actions of Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) -- the only specialized military unit in Canada set up to squash Indigenous protests against resource extraction on Indigenous lands in British Columbia. ... We also know that C-IRG is stalling that investigation by not providing document requests to The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC), which receives and oversees public grievances against the Mounties. This is not a fulsome investigation."

"When you have $50 million in C-IRG spending from 2017 to 2022 and then add an additional $36 million announced in 2023 for this private industry-friendly militarized force to stop First Nations from protecting their lands against energy resource extraction through industry-led BC Supreme Court injunctions -- you have corruption," Gwiiyeehl said.

Gitxsan Hereditary Chief Norman Moore (Moolaxan) said at the rally that "Tomorrow, we begin the process of demanding an independent review by the Canadian Attorney General and Solicitor General of this collective attempt to destroy the Wet'suwet'en and Gitxsan wilaloo (way of life) and connection to the Laxyip (lands)."

Chief Moolaxan explained, "You must understand that Hereditary laws of the Laxyip and Anaat (waters) require that Chiefs have a fiduciary duty to protect the land and resources for security of food, shelter and humanity of our peoples. ...We can exist together, but the BC Supreme Court and RCMP C-IRG are siding in favour of industry greed rather than our wilaloo, which has been in place since time immemorial. Wilaloo should not be extinguished according to the 1997 Supreme Court of Canada decision Delgamuukw v. British Columbia."

"Imagine if they took that $36 million and put it to MMIWG investigation, stopping the scourge of drugs in the community that kills our people, and keeping our community safe. Instead, they weaponize our wilaloo and give millions to C-IRG to keep our people at the end of the gun or put them in the Wilp ahlee'e (jail/bloodhouse)."

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Militant Action in Toronto Denounces Crimes
of Mining Industry

More than 100 people gathered in front of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto on March 5 to denounce the widespread human rights abuses and environmental degradation caused by Canadian and foreign mining monopolies based in Canada. The occasion was the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)'s annual conference and gala dinner honouring various mining monopolies such as Barrick which have a historical record of carrying out violence against Indigenous land defenders across the globe.

One of the main themes of this year's protest was the close link between the mining industry and imperialist war and aggression. Speakers pointed out that without the mining industry that provides critical minerals for war production, the military would have difficulty prosecuting wars around the world. Production of the weapons and military equipment that is being supplied by the U.S., Canada and others to Israel to carry out its brutal genocide against the Palestinians was highlighted by Rawan Nabil, a representative of the Palestine Youth Movement. She gave the example of the F-35 fighter jets being used to bomb Palestinian civilians. She denounced the genocide against the Palestinian people and called on the Canadian government to stop supplying arms and equipment to the Zionist state of Israel.

Nisrin Elamin spoke on behalf of the Sudan Solidarity Collective about the Lundin Group, one of the companies being feted at the PDAC awards gala. She noted that the company is currently on trial in a Swedish court for aiding and abetting war crimes in Sudan between 1999 and 2003, which resulted in the killing of tens of thousands of people, the displacement of countless others and the destruction of homes and crops, which sparked the first phase of the genocide in Darfur. "This company not only has blood on its hands but it co-created the conditions that sparked a genocide in Western Sudan and escalated the civil war in South Sudan. And the Lundin Group is not alone, they are part of a consortium of mining, oil and weapons manufacturing companies that are seeing their stocks rise as civilians in Gaza, Sudan and Congo are being murdered," she said.

Another theme of the action was the devastation caused by mining and resource extraction on Indigenous land in Canada and abroad. Chief Rudy Turtle of the Grassy Narrows First Nation denounced the Canadian government and the Ontario government for refusing to respect a moratorium his community has passed on further mining activity. He observed that Grassy Narrows has suffered and continues to suffer from industrial pollution and that enough is enough. He observed that when mines and other resource extraction companies trespass and carry out activity on Indigenous lands, it is the people and the environment that suffer and that the Indigenous people are left with the damage.

Pauline Moonias of Neskantaga First Nation echoed Chief Turtle's sentiments, pointing out that in her small community in the Nishnawbe Aski Territory north of Thunder Bay, which is in the Ring of Fire, outside mining interests continue to push her people aside with no consideration for them or the land. Consultations are a farce and every effort is made to undermine her people's right to self-determination. However, she vowed, Neskantaga and other First Nations in the north will continue to resist attempts by mining companies and governments to pillage the resources of the land, including the mineral resources.

A youth activist from Brazil working for the organization Amazon Watch noted that more than 50 organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean have mapped 37 Canadian projects in the region including in the Amazon Basin. They have found widespread human rights abuses including forced dislocations, violence against Indigenous leaders and land defenders, and destruction of the environment which sustains the lives of Indigenous Peoples. The vast majority of the projects are on Indigenous lands and most of the mining is for gold.

The destruction of the environment was another theme of the action. As well as denouncing the provision of critical minerals for the U.S. war machine and other militaries, the action addressed the bogus claims of mining companies that providing raw materials for electric cars will "protect" the environment. Chuka Ejeckam of the Black Alliance for Peace pointed out that many of the critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries, such as lithium and coltan, come from Africa. He noted that mining companies are exploiting Africans with horrific working conditions and slave wages to reap maximum profits. He said, "The companies inside this gala are celebrating their ability to generate profit at the expense of all life on this planet. By acting as a global home for these companies, Canada is helping facilitate the crimes these companies commit. This is indefensible."

The action ended on a high note with participants pledging to step up their efforts to hold the mining companies and governments to account for the exploitation and degradation of Mother Earth. They also pledged to step up efforts to protect the natural and human environment and to create a prosperous and sustainable future for all.

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For Your Information

Changes to Mining Laws in Ontario

On May 18, 2023, the Ontario government's Bill 71, the Building More Mines Act, 2023 received Royal Assent.[1] The legislation was tabled, March 2, 2023, a week before the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's (PDAC) conference that took place in Toronto March 7-11, 2023.

In its analysis of the legislation when it was proposed, Mining Watch Canada said, the legislation would "reduce already-inadequate requirements for mining companies to post bonds or other financial securities to cover the costs of cleaning up their operations when they close. It would also relax rehabilitation standards, allow operators to approve their own technical plans, and allow companies to not have comprehensive closure plans in place before starting operations."[2]

The organization provides the following outline of matters of concern with the legislation.

No Technical Review of Closure Plans

"The government plans to eliminate the technical review of mine closure plans by government officials, instead allowing the mining companies' own staff to endorse them as certified 'qualified persons.' This will create a clear conflict of interest. While there already exists a risk of 'capture' of the Ministry of Mines by industry interests, at least ministry officials are not actually employed by the company filing the plans they are reviewing. Regardless of the qualifications of the individuals involved, it is hard to imagine how they would not feel pressured to support their own employers' plans.

"British Columbia provides an unfortunate illustration. BC's over-reliance on qualified professionals (its policy of 'professional reliance') was a significant factor in the Mount Polley disaster, according to BC Auditor General Carol Bellringer's 2016 Audit of Compliance and Enforcement of the Mining Sector. This issue was also identified by the Environmental Law Centre (University of Victoria)'s 2014 submission to the Mount Polley Independent Expert Engineering Investigation and Review Panel, and the BC Chief Inspector of Mines' 2014 Investigation Report into the Mount Polley spill, the largest environmental disaster in Canadian history, which saw 25 million cubic metres of contaminated material pour into Quesnel Lake (where heavy metals are remobilized from the sediment every year) and the Fraser River watershed.

Incomplete Closure Plans

"Ontario also plans to allow the deferral of part of a mine's closure plan, allowing projects to proceed with incomplete closure plans. Premier Ford and Mines Minister George Pirie seem to have forgotten – or maybe they just want us to forget – that these requirements were put in place precisely to avoid situations where important closure and rehabilitation measures were impossible to implement. They promise that this would only be done where these studies/elements can reasonably be deferred without compromising the integrity of the closure plan. But there is no way to do this reliably, precisely because those elements are interdependent. Specific clean-up and monitoring activities can be made possible, or impossible, by the way the mine is built and operated. For example, how and where wastes are placed will change what remediation options are viable. There will be a serious risk of elements being excluded, only to discover later on that they are important – and cannot be implemented due to other factors or actions already taken."

Phased Financial Assurance

"The proposed changes would allow proponents to submit financial assurance in incremental amounts (phases) on a schedule tied to the construction of new mine features. This would make sense if Ontario's existing financial assurances were not frighteningly inadequate to start with. The Auditor General of Ontario's 2015 Annual Report identified a ballooning clean-up liability of some $3.1 billion dollars for 216 closed and abandoned mine sites, with barely half that amount covered by some form of financial assurance, including 'self-assurance' and corporate assets that can easily and almost instantly vaporize under the wrong conditions.

"Based on experience in Ontario and other jurisdictions, we estimated that the real liability is probably closer to $7.6 billion, more than twice the official estimates and more than four times the actual financial assurances. (By way of example, at the Kam Kotia mine site near Timmins, costs ballooned over 225 per cent from their original estimates – $41 million vs. $96 million 15 years later when the work was actually being done). That leaves the province of Ontario – that is, the taxpayers – on the hook for the shortfall, footing the bill for clean up, perpetual water treatment, and so on. The proposed changes through the Build More Mines Act do nothing to close that gap, or to end the absurd practices of self-assurance and accepting assets as assurance. There are no public reports on this since the Auditor General of Ontario's 2017 follow up report. It's also important to note that Ontario's mining royalties are the lowest in Canada, so it's not as if the province is generating enough revenue to justify these liabilities.

"This proposal would make sense for a mature mining jurisdiction that implemented the polluter-pays principle, ensuring that environmental and health liabilities were fully covered by bonds or other cashable financial assurances – and if there were criteria attached that would allow determinations made on the basis of what it would actually take to clean up and rehabilitate the site as it is at a given time."

Looser Standards for Rehabilitation

"Ontario proposes to allow alternate rehabilitation measures and alternate post-closure land uses, for example, to potentially allow land to be rehabilitated to industrial use standards rather than natural habitat. While greater flexibility is a good idea, it should not be used to simply allow more degraded post-closure conditions, and the government has not identified any conditions or criteria to prevent this."

Re-Mining Existing Mine Waste and Tailings

"In 2021 the Mining Act was amended to allow for the re-mining of old mine wastes, but proponents had to ensure that the condition of the land would be improved when they were done. The government now wants to just ensure that the condition of the land will be 'comparable to or better than' it was before. In other words, if the place is a complete horror show, you only have to leave it slightly less messy (or dangerous), not actually clean or safe. This is absurd. Re-mining or recovery operations are an opportunity to serve both private profit and the public interest. They should be allowed only if they can leave the land (and waters) in significantly better condition."

Politicized Decision-Making

"The proposed amendments would transfer the decision-making authority of the Director of Mine Rehabilitation to the Minister, as well as allowing the Minister to make decisions for the Director of Exploration at whim. This straight up politicizes those decisions. It's already bad enough that there is no accountability within these processes, and that there is already extensive regulatory capture, without just turning decisions over to cabinet ministers who are generally not experts in these matters."

Reassurances

"The Environmental Registry entry states that the proposed changes 'align with the purpose of the Act which includes encouraging prospecting, registration of mining claims and exploration for the development of mineral resources, in a manner consistent with the recognition and affirmation of existing Aboriginal and treaty rights (including the duty to consult) and to minimize the impact of these activities on public health and safety and the environment.' It goes on to state that 'There are no anticipated environmental impacts as a result of these proposed changes to the Mining Act.' In the absence of any specific commitments towards that promise, and coming from a government that has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for both Indigenous rights and the environment, these are truly empty reassurances."

Reality Check

"In his reasons for the proposed changes, Minister Pirie laments that mines can take upwards of 15 years between prospecting and operations. But it only takes that long if market conditions and finances are not looking good for that particular project (i.e. the project is economically marginal) or if there are really serious technical or environmental problems with it. It still does take several years to get through various licensing processes (not including environmental assessment, since mining projects are not subject to the provincial assessment process), but much of that time is needed to do and review the necessary engineering, also not something that can be safely streamlined."

"The current exploration boom will take a while to lead to any actual mining projects, so they won't be meeting current and emerging market demand, and no one knows what global markets will look like in five or 10 years' time. Without a government commitment to supporting such projects, for example through guaranteed purchasing and processing, all they are doing is boosting exploration activity (a standard vote-buying strategy), rewarding exploration and service companies (and investors), with no lasting benefit either to Northerners or the province as a whole, but with a lasting impact on communities and sensitive Northern ecosystems."

Mining Watch points out that "Ontario does not require mining projects to undergo environmental assessments. This means that there is no mechanism to ensure that closure plans, for example, are subject to review by Indigenous Peoples -- whose consent is required by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples -- or by affected communities, public interest groups, or independent experts."

Speaking to how the legislation will make matters worse in Northern Ontario, Mining Watch cites the example of developments in the Ring of Fire:

"The northern First Nations of Webequie and Marten Falls have both endorsed the Northern Road Link to allow mining access to the Ring of Fire – a cluster of mineral deposits in the far north of Ontario – in addition to access roads to their own communities. However, Neskantaga First Nation has opposed opening up the region to mining without the opportunity to exercise their free, prior, and informed consent, and both First Nations and environmental groups have raised serious concerns about the effects of such development on the region's extensive and sensitive peatlands. Neskantaga First Nation Chief Wayne Moonias spoke passionately at PDAC [2023] against the latest approvals, while Indigenous law specialist Kate Kempton, who represents the northern Ontario First Nations of Attawapiskat, Ginoogaming, Constance Lake and Aroland, told CBC that the government's actions will only lead to further confrontations, saying, 'Doug Ford is basically setting himself and his government up for a bunch of injunctions and blockades. He's paved the road for court action and possibly direct action as well.'"

Notes

1. Building More Mines Act, 2023, Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 

2. "Editor Message: More, Worse Mining: Ontario's Proposed Building More Mines Act," Mining Watch Canada, March 7, 2023.

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Ontario Government's Self-Serving Changes
to Mining Laws

In its scramble to serve the mining monopolies and tech companies involved in electric battery production, the Ford government in Ontario, like the Trudeau federal government, has been making all kinds of legislative and regulatory changes without any discussion permitted by the people of Ontario, not even the communities and Indigenous Peoples directly affected. The federal law, which is supposed to enshrine the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), does not recognize the right to Free Prior Informed Consent which is integral to UNDRIP. Its only duty is to consult Indigenous Peoples and ignore their need for Free Prior Informed Consent. By ignoring hereditary rights, they then partner with business interests and band councils which claim to represent the interests of Indigenous Peoples. The government makes deals with one band or business while conniving to dispossess them all.

On March 2, 2023, Minister of Mines George Pirie -- also Timmins MPP and a mining executive -- introduced Bill 71, the Building More Mines Act, 2023 in the Ontario Legislature. In putting it forward he stated, "[T]he Mining Act will create the conditions for companies to build more mines while maintaining Ontario's environmental standards and duty to consult. These updates will also ensure we have the critical minerals in Ontario necessary to build the supply chain for electric vehicles." (TML emphasis.)

Nowhere in the introductory remarks did Minister Pirie address the workers or Indigenous Peoples who are on the front lines affirming their rights in the face of unscrupulous mining cartels and governments in their service who treat them as inconsequential things in their pursuit of making a killing from public subsidies for mineral investment and development. The Minister stuck to repeatedly salivating over the richness of the deposits and need for mining monopolies to access them. He said:

"Ontario has some of the world's most mineral-rich deposits, including the Ring of Fire, that house critical minerals used in manufacturing electric vehicles, smart phones, pharmaceuticals and other technologies." He added, "These changes would make Ontario more competitive, attract new investment to the province, and pave the way for Ontario to become the number one jurisdiction in the world for mineral investment and development."

In this way, the government speaks about "more" mines when the experience of the workers and Indigenous Peoples with existing mining monopolies is that they do as they please. In many cases, these monopolies have taken over government decision-making to get laws passed which serve them, while getting paid through tax incentives and handouts. It is all presented under the veneer of green energy by saying that the aim is to make electric vehicles, making it appear to be about being "green." This hides the actual aims and prevents any discussion about how to have mining developed in a manner that favours the working class and people, and the environment.

An example of how the people of Ontario are sidelined and deliberately eliminated from the discussion, comes from the Ontario legislature. Speaking to Bill 71 at Third Reading on May 8, 2023, Anthony Leardi, Essex MPP and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Mines, said: "I'm from southern Ontario. I'm from the county of Essex. We have a nice mixed economy in Essex county. We have farming, we have industry, we have tourism, so that when one area of the economy is flagging, other areas of the economy have made up for that. We've always had opportunity in the riding of Essex, and we want to share that. We want to share that with all of Ontario. We want people in northern Ontario to have that too. People in northern Ontario, to a great extent, are dependent on mining. We want to share our kind of economic thriving with northern Ontario, and we can do that through this legislation."

In speaking about the area's "nice mixed economy," Leardi failed to mention that his riding has a very important salt mine. Why did the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Mines fail to mention this? At that time, workers at this mine -- many of whom are Leardi's constituents -- had been on strike for 14 weeks. They were facing unacceptable demands from a U.S. holding company that would destroy their union through contracting out. The U.S. company had established a monopoly on salt production in North America, in part financed by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

Leardi, a former Ontario teacher turned lawyer, was hiding what is taking place in his riding in order to maintain a fiction about a prosperity in which private interests are emboldened by governments to do as they please against the workers, Indigenous Peoples, northern communities and the natural environment. This is not what the people of Ontario are demanding and government clearly speaks for interests other than theirs.

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Status for All!

Cross Country Actions Demand Permanent Resident Status for All Undocumented Persons

Toronto, March 16, 2024

On March 16 and 17, from coast to coast, working people held militant actions in eight cities to affirm the rights of all, and to demand that the federal government fulfil its commitment to regularize the status of all undocumented persons, who meet a basic residency requirement, by granting them permanent residency. The actions called by the Migrant Rights Network were the country-wide launch of Migrant Spring, a series of protests, educational activities and actions.

The actions highlighted the commitment of Immigration Minister Marc Miller, made on December 14, 2023, that in the spring of 2024, he would bring to cabinet a proposal for a "broad and comprehensive" regularization program for those in Canada without documentation. A prior December 2021 commitment for a regularization program indicates the ongoing prevarication of the Trudeau government on this important matter. Since then, tens of thousands of people have been uprooted and deported, despite many of these being workers who provided essential services during the pandemic. These actions affirmed that people cannot be deemed illegal and workers cannot be treated as disposable. They rejected workers being pitted against each other, and that immigration status and citizenship is defined on an archaic basis in which the people have no say. Participants in these actions also highlighted Canada's role in U.S.-led aggression and war abroad, that contributes to displacement and migration.

This situation underscores that working people can only rely on their own stands and actions to defend the rights of all and for working people to lay their claims on society. It is a matter of what is needed to bring into being pro-social arrangements that meet people's needs, not the considerations of the ruling elite and private interests, who decide life and death matters of asylum and immigration on self-serving and pragmatic calculations, while the people are supposed to beg for mercy.

Montreal

At the action in Montreal on March 16, Solidarity Across Borders and the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC) organized an event outside Parc metro station. Approximately 150 determined people, with their placards and banners, participated in the event, including national minorities hailing from India, the Philippines, Africa, the Americas and elsewhere.

"We have been waiting almost three years for a regularization program that has been promised by the Trudeau government," said one woman representing IWC. However, she continued, "it's not coming in the terms that we have been demanding [...] a regularization program that is accessible and [...] without exclusions, for everyone. We also ask Quebec to accept and to be a partner in such a regularization program.

She also demanded that the Canadian government "stop supporting imperialism and colonialism [around] the globe. We can think about Mexico and other countries in Latin America where Canadian mining conglomerates are exploiting the people [...] the workers [and] the land. [...] And of course, those mining companies also cause displacement of populations that cause people to migrate.

"Today, as we march for a regularization program, we also think of Congo, [...] Yemen, and [...] Palestine." She called for "a free Palestine" which "means an end to apartheid [...] an immediate ceasefire" and an end to the Canadian government sending arms to Israel.

A young organizer with PINAY Quebec -- an association of domestic workers from the Philippines -- and a member of Migrante Quebec, said, "We speak today for those running from imperialist plunder and aggression [...] on behalf of those who face abuse in their workplaces and discrimination in this society [...] who face detention and deportation. Today, on this Migrant Spring day, we say, no more running, no more hiding. Today we call out 'Stop the Abuse! Stop the Discrimination! Stop the Detentions and Deportations!'" She added: "We Are People! We Are Not Illegal!

"I come from a migrant family. My mother came here as a live-in caregiver. And after years of separation, our whole family finally joined her. I know how my mother faced hardships as a migrant worker in Quebec.

"We know workers running from abusive employers who end up losing their status [...] about migrant workers in our community suffering from massive debt due to labour trafficking, exploitation of illegal recruiters, unscrupulous consultants, and bourgeois lawyers. Many migrants with precarious status in my community face physical, mental, and sexual abuse, have no recourse. Many who fall ill or become pregnant lack access to adequate health care. And yet we remain scapegoats to the ills of this society. Scapegoats for lack of housing [...] joblessness and a broken immigration system [...] to the loss of culture and language. How convenient after plundering our economy and propping up dictators in our country!"

She also recounted how those who immigrate to Canada are also destabilized by being denied support or recognition of their culture. She recounted her experience that Canada takes advantage of the semi-feudal and semi-colonial arrangements in the Philippines to exploit those seeking a brighter future by coming to Canada.

"I stand here today to give justice to that future. It isn't enough to work hard [...]. We must stand and fight for that future. It is a vision where working people like us have dignity and justice. It must be a future where capitalist exploitation no longer exists, where imperialist plunder and war are no more, where climate justice saves the world from capitalist greed and destruction of the environment. Fight for a world where a massive displacement of people due to these factors ends. Fight for a future where working people are no longer disposable. Our call for regularization is not merely a plea for Canada to take us in. It is a call for working class justice. It is a call to fight back," she said.

Shortly thereafter, the crowd took to the street to raise awareness in the neighbourhood about the situation facing migrants in Quebec and the immediate need for a regularization program for Status for All!

March 16, 2024

Toronto

In Toronto, more than 1,000 people from various migrant rights organizations and their allies gathered at Christie Pits where they heard speakers, some without status, demand that the Trudeau government make good on its promise to regularize the status of migrant workers in Canada. It was pointed out that far from keeping this pledge made in December 2021, the Trudeau government has stepped up deportations by more than 104 per cent in the last year.

The protesters marched from Christie Pits along Bloor Street to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland's constituency office chanting Status for All!, We Want Justice!, Stop the Deportations and other slogans. 

At the midpoint, Syed Hussan, Executive Director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, spoke about the ongoing political fight to achieve status for all despite the subterfuge of the Trudeau Liberals. They continue to apply a racist immigration policy aimed at recruiting temporary foreign workers for the rich and their enterprises to be exploited and abused and then simply sent back home after their contracts are completed. In the meantime, those workers who remain in Canada without status because their families back home continue to need financial support face the daily threat of deportation despite being called "essential." 

Hussan also highlighted the treatment of the Palestinian people. He noted that the Temporary Visa Program (TVP) announced by Canada on January 9 to expedite the processing of applications from up to 1,000 Palestinians living in Gaza who have family ties in Canada, has only processed 23 applications to date and that not one Gazan has yet arrived in Canada. He compared the treatment of the Palestinian people with that of the Ukrainian refugees, a million of whose applications were expedited and who received state subsidies to help them settle in Canada, calling that a blatant example of racism.

A young Palestinian named Saleem, who has lost 43 members of his family in the genocide, spoke about the immense hardships faced by the besieged people of Gaza. He noted that the application process for those wishing to come to Canada through the TVP process was made extremely complicated with applicants required to provide information unheard of in the past. Saleem pointed out that the solidarity of the Canadian people in support of the just cause of the Palestinian people has been of great importance in the struggle for their homeland.

The march ended at Freeland's office where participants occupied the nearby Bloor/Spadina intersection. There more speeches were made demanding justice and protection for all migrant workers and refugees and status for all so that everyone can live with dignity and security.

March 16, 2024

Fredericton

March 17, 2024

Victoria

March 17, 2024

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For Your Information

Migrant Care Workers Saddled with Endemic Immigration Backlogs

In the December 2023 Report of the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM), entitled "In Demand Yet Unprocessed: Endemic Immigration Backlog", the section 'Caregivers' highlights issues that witnesses brought to its attention.

"Caregivers with active applications have applied under several iterations of the caregiver program," the document reads. The Home Child Care Provider (HCCP) Pilot and the Home Support Worker Pilot (HSWP) programs "allow qualified caregivers and their family members to come to Canada to work with the goal of becoming permanent residents. Those who meet the requirements are given an open work permit for a specific occupation but must acquire 12 months of work experience to be eligible for permanent residence. These pilot programs replaced the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), which ended November 2014, the Caring for People with High Medical Needs and the Caring for Children programs, which ended June 2019, and the transition program, named the Interim Pathway for Caregivers, which ran intermittently from March to June, and then July to October, 2019."

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continues to process applications that were submitted before each program ended, the report goes on to inform. "In the case of the LCP, applicants can also make new applications if they have two years of related work experience, and are already working in Canada under an LCP work permit or were approved for their first LCP work permit based on a labour market impact assessment submitted on or before November 30, 2014.

The document notes that, "As of 31 December 2021, some applications remained to be finalized under all six caregiver programs."

The report then quotes one witness about the backlogs faced by the various cohorts of caregivers. She said "I have clients who have been under the [Live-in Caregiver program] since 2015 and are still waiting for the approval of PR [permanent residence]. Some of those who applied in 2017 and 2018 applied under humanitarian and compassionate grounds because they could not find any way to achieve PR. ... I still have clients who applied in 2018 and 2019 during the introduction of the interim or new program. They still don't have an AOR [acknowledgement of receipt] at this time.

"She explained that the delays have eliminated the chance for these applicants who have applied for PR to obtain it since the program requires 24 months of work in a 36-month period, and the delays exceed this period."

Caregiver Stream

The report continues: "[A]nother stream that has been significantly impacted by backlogs throughout the pandemic is the caregiver stream, whose processing has been left practically dormant." One witness, an immigration lawyer, "testified that the applications for caregivers have not been processed since the program opened in 2019", while a second witness "noted that the processing time for the two caregiver pilot programs has never been updated."

Recommendations offered by witnesses who spoke to the Committee included:

- "regularization for all migrant workers and caregivers. Create a unique humanitarian scheme where caregivers or migrant workers who might not be eligible can apply for permanent residency. Reduce the demands and create an amnesty program for them;

- "that IRCC remove the cap per program for the home support and home child care programs, or at least increase the number of PR applications for caregivers within the immigration levels."

This type of regularization, one witness suggested, is not without precedent, saying that "if there are caregivers who are sitting in the system for a long time, then one thing the government should at least consider is whether to just push them through. Maybe relax the eligibility a little bit. Maybe relax the checking a little bit. Make sure they're admissible and just push them through.

"It would be pretty easy. All they would have to do is use section 25 of the act [Immigration and Refugee Protection Act], the [humanitarian and compassionate] provision, to make a policy and just say we're going to waive certain things for a specific period of time; we're going to give them a bit of a pass on certain requirements.

"It's not hard to do. They don't even have to change the law. They just have to make the policy.""

Based on this testimony, the CIMM made the following three recommendations in its report:

Temporary Public Policy on Regularization

– "That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada create a temporary public policy to regularize undocumented people and temporary foreign workers in Canada, including caregivers who have worked in Canada to obtain permanent residence, and where the backlog has directly impacted their lives and livelihood."

Creation of Permanent Residence Portal for Caregivers

- "That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada create a specific permanent residence portal for the caregiver programs."

Removing Barriers for Home Support Workers, Home Child Care Providers and Caregivers

- "That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada remove the cap per program for the Home Support and Home Child Care Provider Pilots, and remove the two year work experience requirement for the Live-in Caregiver Program."

(Source: In Demand Yet Unprocessed: Endemic Immigration Backlogs, Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immmigration, December 2023)

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Overhauling the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker Pilot Programs

– Migrant Rights Network – Landed Status Now
Working Group Submission, July 2023 –

Introduction

The Home Child Care Providers and Home Support Worker Pilot Programs HCCP and HSWP were created in 2019 by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada IRCC and are set to expire in June 2024. As a result of the program design, there are four groups of care workers affected:

1. Care workers excluded from PR based on unfair IRCC criteria: Potentially thousands of care workers in Canada cannot apply for permanent residency because of unnecessary education accreditation and language testing scores.

2. Care workers in backlog: Those in Canada who have applied for permanent residency but have not received permanent residence (some applicants do not even have open work permits).

3. Care workers that meet IRCC criteria: Those who came to Canada with one-year post-secondary education accreditation and, having received the required level 5 in the Canadian Language Benchmark, are waiting to complete their 12 months of service.

4. Care workers outside Canada/Future of HCCP and HSWP: Those who have applied to come to Canada, but are awaiting final processing; and those that may arrive in the future.

These groups of workers have different experiences and levels of vulnerability and exclusions.

Different policy solutions need to be advanced for each of them as outlined below.

Guiding Principles

We recommend that the following principles must determine the evaluation and replacement of the HCCP and HSWP Pilot:

1. Immigration policy must be created by and for migrants, with a focus on ensuring rights, dignity and self-determination for migrants and immigrants.

2. All migrants – regardless of income or work – should have the right to be with our families as we choose to define them and have them visit or stay permanently alongside us.

3. Employers must not have the ability to exploit migrants or determine our future. That means there must be no tied or sectoral work permits; no hours of limit on work permits; no restrictions on work based on industry of work; no requirement for job offer letter or employer documents or minimum work experience requirements for any permanent residency application.

4. Working class migrants must be able to come to Canada with equal rights, which is only possible through permanent residency.

5. Canadian education accreditation, and official language test scoring should not determine access to permanent residency.

Recommendations

1. Solutions for care workers excluded based on unfair IRCC criteria

Recommendation: Create an Interim Program without time limits for care workers in Canada without education accreditation and language requirements. Increase the dependent age limit to allow families to reunite.

Many migrant care workers arrived in Canada prior to 2019 before the launch of the HCCP and HSWP, and others have been allowed to come in since without the one-year post-secondary education accreditation or language benchmark requirements. We have members in Canada who have been here since 2017, caring for children, sick and the elderly, that are separated from their families. They have continued to renew their employer-dependent work permits as they have struggled to meet the requirements without success. Many came to Canada via third countries, such as Hong Kong, where they worked for years as care workers. They have crucial skills and many years of experience as healthcare providers and childcare workers – both essential jobs in Canada today. Having lived here for years, they are well-integrated, and have proven their ability to succeed despite immense hardships. Many are unable to leave, and some have already become undocumented. Many of these care workers have dependent children who have aged out past 22 as they have struggled to meet the requirements – there must be special consideration for these families that have been kept apart for so long.

For those who are in Canada without these required IRCC criteria, it is incredibly difficult to meet them:

- Post-Secondary Education Accreditation: Despite the announcement in June 2023 allowing migrant temporary foreign workers to study, the high costs of education as an international student, the requirements for admissions (many schools require CLB Level 6 and above), and the need to earn money and support their families means that many care workers are not able to return to school to get accredited. Many care workers came to Canada believing that they would meet the required credentials, having studied for two or even three years (of a three or four year program) in a post-secondary institution, now their credentials are not acknowledged because they did not graduate.

- Language requirements: Many migrant care workers are able to communicate, work and live in Canada but are unable to pass the language tests. Many of our members have taken the test multiple times, and are stressed and anxious to the point of a mental health crisis because of them. The intense pressure of the test means that many are failing despite being able to communicate well in English. Some are unable to succeed because of their lack of experiences with online testing systems. Others have scored the required CLB Level in each of the four required areas: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening but just not in the same test. They are not allowed to combine the outcomes from the tests.

2. Solutions for care workers in backlog and those that meet IRCC criteria

Recommendation: Issue open work permits within 30 days of application to all care workers who apply for permanent residency from inside Canada (including for the Interim program).

Recommendation: Remove the processing cap of 2,750, and process PR applications of all care workers in Canada immediately.

Recommendation: Immediately grant open work and study permits to family members of care worker applicants for permanent residency (including for the Interim program).

In a recent survey of 71 care workers that had applied for permanent residency over 24 months ago, only 4 had received open work permits, the rest were still waiting. Despite fulfilling all the

requirements, and having applied for permanent residency, they remain in limbo, still needing to find employers willing to apply for Labour Market Impact Assessments to maintain their immigration status. Many are stuck in abusive employment situations they cannot leave for fear of losing their immigration status. Some have even become undocumented. The majority of workers had been in Canada for over five years, and had not visited their families in this time period. This is a travesty that pre-dates inventory issues caused by COVID19. These racialized migrant women have done everything Canada has asked them to do and the delays are causing an immense crisis.

3. Care workers outside Canada/Future of HCCP and HSWP

Recommendation: The HCCP and HSWP should be replaced with a migrant care worker program that allows racialized working class women to come to Canada with permanent resident status.

HCCP and HSWP programs have a number of crucial facets that must be maintained, and be further implemented across the Temporary Foreign Worker Program streams including:

- Recognizing that working class people (otherwise termed 'low-wage' or 'low-skilled') should be given access to PR
- Migrants should be assessed for permanent residency prior to their arrival
- Migrants should be allowed to come to Canada with their families
- Migrants should be able to secure jobs prior to their arrival
- Migrants should be allowed to come to come to Canada without an employer-dependent work permit

Elements that need to be corrected are:

- The work experience requirement continues to give extraordinary power to employers. Migrant women in low-wage, in-home work are forced to accept unfair or abusive conditions to meet the 12 month work experience requirement.

- The long processing times prior to arrival means that workers and employers are waiting for years to come to Canada

- The long processing times after completion of 12 months of service means that workers struggle to maintain status, are living in limbo and are separated from their families.

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International Women's Day 2024

Women Coast to Coast Lay Their Claims on Society and Celebrate Their Collective Efforts for Justice

On the occasion of International Women's Day across Canada and Quebec women organized rallies, marches and gatherings of all kinds to advance their struggle for their rights and the rights of all, celebrate their achievements and discuss the battles ahead.

As part of the day's events, Search the Landfill actions were organized in a number of cities across the country. The actions demanded an immediate search of the Prairie Green landfill in Winnipeg where the remains of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, an unidentified Indigenous woman are believed to be buried. The families of Morgan and Marcedes have been fighting since 2022 for the landfill to be searched so their loved ones can be given a respectful burial -- demanding that Indigenous women be respected and treated like human beings with dignity, not disposed of like trash. The actions are part of the fight to end the violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people.

Many of the actions gave expression to the stand of the Canadian people as one with the heroic fight of the Palestinian people for their right to be in the face of Israel's genocidal assault as well as for an end to the use of force in relations between countries and nations.

QUEBEC

Across Quebec women reaffirmed that they do not accept the degrading notion that they are disposable, like common refuse, as the Legault government has demonstrated it considers them to be in the health care, education and social services sectors. Confronted every day with the Legault government's anti-social direction in the economy in the service of private interests, in the name of a so-called strong economy, women workers oppose it by defending their demands in their own name. They are rightly demanding that human, social, financial, technological and other resources be put in the service of society, to humanize the natural and social environment, which means the well-being of all, nothing less.

In their actions they made sure to declare loud and clear that no one is illegal, supporting the courageous struggle of migrant workers. Everyone has a place in building a modern Quebec, period. They also united in action with their Indigenous sisters who are demanding justice for missing and murdered women, against their criminalization, in defence of their ancestral rights -- in short, to put an end to Canada's colonial legacy.

Health, education and social services workers across the province declared that their working conditions are the conditions of care, education and service for all those who live in Quebec, as they have done since last fall.

Montreal

Quebec City

Fermont et Sept-Iles

Rimouski et Gaspé

Abitibi

ONTARIO
Ottawa

In Ottawa as part of the Search the Landfill Day of Action, a ceremony was held by Sisters-in-Spirit on Parliament Hill on March 8.

Toronto

A vigorous International Women's Day rally and march took place in Toronto on March 2 under the banner No One Is Free Until We Are All Free! The event was organized by Women Working with Immigrant Women together with other organizations.

The rally began with a land acknowledgment and a performance by the Red Bird Singers, a group of Indigenous women who are survivors of the residential and day schools and the '60s Scoop.

Following this, pride of place was given to the resistance of the Palestinian people to Israeli occupation and genocide and to the leading role of Palestinian women in that struggle since it began. The first speaker was from the Palestinian Youth Movement and affirmed that there can be no liberation of women in Palestine without an end to the Israeli occupation and this liberation will only be achieved with women's full participation. She denounced the brutal genocide taking place in Palestine where 70 per cent of those killed are women and children. She spoke to the arbitrary detention of hundreds of Palestinian women and their subjection to sexual assault and degrading treatment. She called out the western colonial notion that Palestinian women needed to be liberated from Palestinian men. She spoke of Palestinian mothers as mothers of the resistance in a situation where every Palestinian child is considered by Israel as a "demographic threat."

A second speaker, from Independent Jewish Voices, condemned the Israeli genocide being conducted in the name of Judaism and declared, Not in My Name! She stated that Palestinian liberation is a feminist issue, that the Israeli war is on mothers and their children and is wiping out entire family lineages and she hailed the leading role of the Palestinian women in the resistance.

South Asian Women's and Immigrant Services presented a skit dealing with the many problems faced by immigrant women in a situation where social programs are being slashed, and the voices of those who are dealing with the problems every day and putting forward solutions are silenced. The government continues to provide funding for war and for Israel's genocide in Palestine, while cutting services required by the Canadian people, they said.

One speaker spoke out in opposition to anti-Palestinian racism and Islamaphobia being promoted by the mainstream media, another in support of the rights of Trans people. A representative of health care workers addressed the cuts and privatization taking place in the health care system and the need to fund and strengthen public health care. A tenant organizer in York South Weston gave an update on a rent strike taking place in four buildings in the area and the dire situation facing tenants with the shortage of housing, increasing rents and the fact that many buildings are not covered by rent control.

A march through the streets of downtown Toronto followed the rally, with a large contingent joining in with placards and Palestinian flags, honouring the contribution of Palestinian women in the front ranks of the heroic Palestinian resistance.

On March 8 Indigenous women activists organized an action in the heart of Toronto at Yonge and Dundas Square which they call Landback Square. Several speakers told their personal stories and brought news of the actions in Manitoba to pressure NDP Premier Wab Kinew to keep his election promise to search the landfill.

Examples of the ongoing violence of the police and courts against Indigenous people and in particular Indigenous women were given, as well as the over-representation of Indigenous women, men and youth in Canadian prisons. In contrast, one speaker after another pointed out, was the indomitable determination of Indigenous women to overcome and lead the fight for dignity and for the rights of all. The spirited event concluded with a round dance in which everyone participated.

Scarborough

On March 8, some 70 women celebrated International Women's Day with a forum "Strengthening Community Voices" and cultural program. The women from South Asian Women's and Immigrant Services showed through their presentations, a video and skits the problems they face in accessing health care, housing and other services. They also presented their proposals on the changes needed to end their marginalization. They celebrated their successes in fighting to defend the rights of all.

MANITOBA
Winnipeg

Some 300 people held a round dance and marched through the streets of Winnipeg to the Manitoba legislature on March 8 demanding "Search the Landfill." Chants of "Bring Out Wab" rang out across the grounds as participants demanded the Manitoba Premier come out and account for the government's lack of action on the search. Speaking at the rally Cambria Harris, Morgan's daughter, said, "I don't understand how these governments can celebrate our women and our diversity when our women are still laying in landfills, in garbage dumps that remain gravesites to this day."

ALBERTA
Edmonton

International Women's Day events began early on March 8 in Edmonton with a rally as part of the National Day of Action to Search the Landfills. Knowledge-keeper Earth read the names of 93 women missing and murdered from the Edmonton area, which represents only those she has been able to document, since the police do not make comprehensive information available.

Later that day Women for Rights and Empowerment organized a highly successful dinner and discussion attended by more than 130 women. Women fighting on many fronts came together to inform each other, celebrate their work and achievements, and strengthen their unity and support for each other. The evening was a powerful affirmation that we are one humanity, engaged in one struggle for the rights of all and for the decision-making power needed to bring into being a world where women, children and all human beings can thrive.

Many women union activists attended, including workers from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Canadian Union of Public Employees, United Food and Commercial Workers, United Nurses of Alberta, CSU Local 52 representing city hall and library workers, and Edmonton and District Labour Council. A large delegation from Migrante Alberta and Familia Latino Migrante attended, as well as women from the Canada-Palestine Cultural Association, Bear Claw and other Indigenous activists, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) cultural workers, disability rights activists, as well as other activists.

After a delicious dinner, knowledge-keeper Earth brought everyone together through the singing of the Grandmothers song and the four directions ceremony. Merryn Edwards welcomed everyone on behalf of Women for Rights and Empowerment, and provided a short history of IWD.

Discussion began with women activists Dale Shekooley from Civic Service Union (CSU) Local 52, Rachel Sheffelmier, United Nurses of Alberta; and Kathleen Mpulubisi, Canadian Union of Postal Workers speaking. All spoke about the battles they are waging against unsustainable working conditions and the assault on their wages and living conditions. CSU Local 52 was preparing to serve strike notice the next day, while the nurses and postal workers are in negotiations and are determined to achieve a settlement which provides wages and working conditions acceptable to them. A clear message from all was that unless the workers are looked after and have the working and living conditions they need, they cannot provide the services which society needs. Everyone has a stake in opposing the privatization of public services to serve private interests, they said. Everyone enthusiastically responded that they will be there if and when the picket lines go up. CSU 52 achieved a tentative agreement on March 14.

Randa Alhijawi, President of the Canada Palestine Cultural Association spoke of the intense pain of the community and of the determination to achieve a Free Palestine. The vast majority of Palestinians in Edmonton come from Gaza, and all are suffering the loss of family, of friends, of everything to the Israeli genocide, but they remain steadfast. When she finished speaking, all the Indigenous women present came on stage and wrapped her in the Mohawk Woman Warrior flag. With this loving act, they expressed for everyone the spirit that pervaded the evening and will remain with all who attended, of our social love and responsibility for each other and that we are truly one in the fight for a world fit for human beings and to put an end to all forms of marginalization, oppression, humiliation, and criminalization.

Artist Mary Joyce then presented her work "Defending the Hospital" which shows a Palestinian mother in action during the First Intifada to keep the Israeli forces away from the hospital so the children who had been injured could be treated.

Judith Ann Gale from Bear Claw spoke passionately about her own life experience and why she has organized to defend the unhoused people of Edmonton, many of whom are Indigenous people. As well as organizing actions to oppose the violent tear down of encampments, and contributing to the defeat of a bylaw to further criminalize the unhoused and people speaking in their own name, Bear Claw organizes food distribution. Randa and Judith were presented with the traditional loaf of Bread and bouquet of Roses from the song written in 1912 at the time of the textile workers' strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Cynthia Palmaria from Migrante spoke of the fight being waged for Status for All and regularization of undocumented workers. She informed of the fight to uphold the right of every child to an education and that schools have begun to demand production of documents without which the kids will not be able to attend school. Jan Ness spoke of the poverty and marginalization imposed on people with disabilities who are dependent on the AISH program, and the fight for dignity and security.

The last speaker was Peggy Morton from CPC(M-L) who summed up the common threads emerging from the discussion, that women know what is needed for women, for their families, for the workers, for society, for the world. What is missing is the decision-making power, political power in the hands of the people. The ruling circles do everything to destroy political discussion and control the agenda. Our forums and discussions are very important at this time, a place where everyone can speak freely and together we can work out what stands favour the people and how to proceed. It is not Genocide Joe or the global oligarchs but the people of the world who are decisive.

On March 10, the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny as women gathered once more for the annual IWD march which W4RE has organized since 2011, for more speakers and a lively march down Whyte Avenue from the University of Alberta campus to Gazebo Park. Many of those participating proceeded to Tipton Park a few blocks away to join in the weekly March for Gaza, in which close to 1,000 people participated.

Calgary

BRITISH COLOMBIA
Vancouver

(Photos: TML, CSN, FIQ, Comité 8 mars, Regroupement des femmes de la Capitale nationale, Centre Entraide Amitié Senneterre, Maison d'aide et d'hébergement Fermont, Centre de la formation de la Côte Gaspé, Centre des femmes aux 4 vents)

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