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June 2, 2020 - No. 38
Uphold the Rights of
Temporary Foreign Workers and Asylum Seekers
All Out to Demand Rights and
Full Status for All Workers!
Montreal
Mobile Demonstration
Permanent
Residence
for
Migrants
and Asylum Seekers Now
Saturday, June 6 -- 11:00
am-1:00 pm
Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau's
Constituency Office
1100 Crémazie
East
Join in by car, bicycle and
on foot with social
distancing
Organized
by Debout pour la dignité
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• Militant Action Demands
Permanent Residency for Migrants and Asylum
Seekers
• Demands for
Special Program to Regularize the Status of
Asylum Seekers Working to Fight COVID-19
• House of Commons
Rejects Motions Calling for Regularization of
Status for Frontline Essential Workers
• Unity in Action
Gives Rise to Partial About-Face on
Immigration Policy
Rights and Full Status for All
Workers
 
On Saturday, May 23, activists staged a
protest outside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's
constituency office to demand permanent
residency for migrants and refugee claimants.
More than 100 protesters were on the scene in
accordance with physical distancing measures,
others participated on bicycles, while still
others joined a caravan of 200 vehicles
that circled, honking their horns.
 The action was
organized by Stand Up for Dignity. It followed
an open letter to the Prime Minister, May 7,
calling for the regularization of the precarious
status of migrants and asylum seekers. These
people, protesters noted, have been working in
residential and long-term care centres (CHSLDs)
and retirement homes since the beginning of the
pandemic crisis. They work as patient
attendants, security guards, etc. If asylum
seekers are good enough to work in essential
services, they are also good enough to stay as
permanent residents in Canada, the protesters
emphasized.
Frantz André, from the Action Committee on
Non-Status Persons (CAPSS), explained: "We have
a mobile demonstration right now asking Justin
Trudeau's government for a regularization
program leading to permanent residency for those
who continue to go out into the street and take
care of our seniors. These people are taking the
risk of having themselves and their
families infected and contaminated. They are
recognized as guardian angels. They are human
beings before being guardian angels, and we
hope that in being guardian angels, they do
not die.
"Mr. Trudeau and the other Members of
Parliament have a duty to provide this
regularization program. We know that this has
been done in the past and that it can
be done again. Show your solidarity with
the Haitian community and others who also
have people going into seniors' centres, CHSLDs
and private residences. We had Mr. François
Marcelin, one of our compatriots, working two
jobs to take care of his family, his wife
and three children, who in the span of
a few days contracted COVID-19. He died in the
arms of his wife on April 16. His spouse now
wants to return to Haiti because she feels that
Canada abandoned him, did not give him permanent
residence and did not take care of her husband."
Many people spoke out during the action,
including Dr. Wilner Cayo, the representative of
Stand Up for Dignity, who said: "You are on the
front lines, you are being exploited by
predatory agencies. You are being forgotten by a
government swimming in surpluses. But you
continue to show up to take care of our seniors.
In no time at all you have become our guardian
angels. You have been loudly and widely
acclaimed by provincial and federal governments
which, although they praise you, refuse to treat
you as human beings. We have come to tell you
that you are full-fledged human beings. We are
proud of your dedication.
"You are hauled around from centre to centre,
where your life is placed at risk so that the
lives of others can be saved. Yet, many amongst
yourselves who care for our elders are denied
the care that every normal citizen is entitled
to. Your children, even those born here in
Quebec, are not eligible for subsidized child
care. Governments are taking extraordinary
measures in these extraordinary times, but not
for you. You fear that afterwards you will be
sacrificed and deported. With good reason.
Anything is possible when petty politics takes
precedence over humanist values.
 "You're exploited
by agencies and you feel you're being used by
governments. You fear that once the pandemic is
over, you will have been considered nothing more
than cannon fodder within this system that takes
advantage of you. Your work is exemplary, you
even pay for it with your life. Several of your
colleagues have died an anonymous death, like
Marcelin François, a patient attendant who died
in combat. Were fate to strike, you would be
left without any savings to leave behind because
at minimum wage you cannot afford decent
housing. Your socio-economic context is more
than precarious. Why should you have to continue
to endure the fear of deportation?
"Gentlemen First Ministers, stop passing the
buck. Actually recognize the guardian angels;
not in word but in deed. You've taken many
exceptional measures, extraordinary decisions.
Granting permanent residency to these migrants
would be a sensible and coherent thanks to these
people. Quebec needs them and they need Quebec,
so let's show solidarity. This is not charity;
they deserve it.
"François Legault said that Quebec was lucky to
have them, but are they the unlucky ones in
having this kind of leader in power? Thank them
by doing the right thing, by supporting this
initiative and granting permanent residency to
these brave men and women. It's a matter of
dignity."
Organizers are planning other actions in
defence of migrant workers and asylum seekers,
many of whom are of Haitian origin, who live in
Montreal North, considered one of the boroughs
the most affected by COVID-19 in Montreal.
Note
For a video of the intervention at the May 23
action by Frantz André of CAPSS, click
here.
As part of the effort to uphold the rights of
asylum seekers and temporary foreign workers who
are on the front line of fighting COVID-19, the
just demand that the Quebec and federal
governments create a special program that would
regularize the status of these workers in this
country deserves everyone's support.
House of Commons e-petition e-2600 (Citizenship
and Immigration), initiated by Arcelle Appolon
from Montreal, opened for signature on May 12.
It was sponsored by NDP Member of Parliament
Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont--La
Petite-Patrie). As of May 28, it has been signed
by 2,643 Canadian citizens and permanent
residents. Those interested in signing it have
until June 11 to do so. To sign the petition, click
here.
Petition to the Prime Minister
Whereas:
 - The COVID-19
pandemic is an unprecedented situation for all
residents of Canada and requires a war-level
effort to face down this merciless enemy;
- We are fighting to protect ourselves and,
above all, the most vulnerable, namely, seniors,
people with a chronic illness and less fortunate
neighbourhoods;
- Despite the chronic insecurity of their
precarious status in Canada, asylum seekers play
a key role in essential services and, more
specifically, in Quebec's Long Term Care Homes
(CHSLD) and seniors' homes hit hard by COVID-19;
- In exceptional circumstances, these
individuals are contributing their skills,
dedication and dignity to help us fight this
pandemic while risking their own health and that
of their family; and
- Expelling these guardian angels from the
country as soon as the battle is won would run
counter to our values as Quebeckers and
Canadians.
We, the undersigned, Citizens of Canada and
members of the Concertation haïtienne pour les
migrantes, call upon the Prime Minister to
show leadership by implementing a special
program to regularize the status of asylum
seekers working to fight COVID-19, and therefore
supporting the health and safety of all
Canadians, for humanitarian reasons.
On May 25 following debate in the House of
Commons, NDP MP for Rosemont--La-Petite-Patrie
Alexandre Boulerice rose on a point of order and
made the following statement: "Mr. Speaker, if
you seek it I believe you will find unanimous
consent of the House to adopt the following
motion: that this House recognize the
contribution of hundreds of essential workers,
particularly in the health care sector, in
Quebec and elsewhere in Canada, who are asylum
seekers, and call on the government to work with
the Government of Quebec in order to quickly
regularize their immigration status as well as
that of their family in recognition of the work
done during the current health crisis."
Speaker of the House Anthony Rota, Liberal MP
for Nipissing--Timiskaming, then asked if
Boulerice had the unanimous consent of the House
to move the motion, to which some of the members
responded "no," thereby rejecting his motion.
Christine Normandin, Bloc Québécois MP for the
riding of Saint-Jean, then rose on a point of
order and made the following statement: "Mr.
Speaker, I seek the consent of the House to move
the following motion: that this House recognize
the contribution of hundreds of essential
workers, particularly in the health care sector,
in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada, who are
asylum seekers, and call on the government to
work with the Government of Quebec and the rest
of Canada in order to prioritize and fast-track
their file as well as that of their family in
recognition of the work done during the current
health crisis."
After House Speaker Rota noted that this was
essentially the same motion, he asked if the
Bloc member had the unanimous consent of the
House, to which some Conservative Party members
responded "no," thereby defeating her motion.
As a result of the efforts of the many
organizations across Quebec and Canada to uphold
the rights of asylum seekers and temporary
foreign workers on the front line of fighting
COVID-19, both the Quebec and federal
governments have been forced into a partial
retreat on their abhorrent treatment of asylum
seekers and migrant workers.
The following is an update on what has
transpired over the past week or so.
Enter the Premier of Quebec
On May 21, a journalist commented to Premier
Legault that there are increasing calls "for
asylum seekers who are also front line workers,
to be able to stay in Canada." The journalist
continued, "My question to you would be why are
you not pushing for this yourself and what do
you make of those calls?"
"These are two different issues," Legault
responded, "I want to be clear. I am very, very
happy about the work that is done by some of
them in our residences. We need them, we are
lucky to have them, so it's very fine." The
Premier then pointed out that it is the federal
government that determines whether or not
someone is accepted as an immigrant.
"We have to be careful," Legault continued.
Specifically referring to those going through
Roxham Road or other irregular crossings, he
said: "We cannot open the door to say [that] if
you come illegally, if you find a job, that's
okay, I will accept you as an immigrant. That's
not the way it works. There are some rules [...]
for the people who would like to become
immigrants and there are some rules regarding
the asylum seekers regarding their rights in the
country where they are coming from." He
concluded, "I think it's important to respect
the rules."
Four days later during his press briefing on May
25, Legault made the following statement: "I
want to tell you how grateful we are to all
those who have gone to work in the CHSLDs
[residential and long-term care centres] over
the past two-and-a-half months, including asylum
seekers." He said: "What must be understood is
that asylum seekers are people who entered
Canada and the criteria as to whether or not
they will be accepted as refugees is to
determine if their physical safety is in danger
in their country. [Of course the Premier conveniently
bypasses the fact that specifically with
regard to their work in the CHSLDs, because of
government irresponsibility at all levels here
in Canada, their lives are also at risk here
-- WF Ed. Note] It has always been
that. [...] However, I have specifically
requested that Immigration Minister Simon
Jolin-Barrette look into this on a case-by-case
basis, to see if we are able to have them
recognized as immigrants and welcome them here,
not as refugees but as immigrants. We will
therefore be analyzing this on a case-by-case
basis. Of course, this is a way of saying thank
you to them."
Questioned on why he had changed his mind, the
Premier responded: "I haven't changed my mind.
What I say is that we have two different
matters. [Regarding] asylum seekers, I want to
be careful, I don't want to send the message
that in the future we will accept everybody if
they find a job in Quebec. That's the situation.
But we also have another situation where it's
really critical to get more people working in
our CHSLD[s]. So those people [...] are already
working in CHSLDs, so how can we bring them via
the normal immigration process. That's what I'm
looking [into]. Of course we'll have to have
discussion also with the federal government. But
it won't be as asylum seekers, because [...] in
order [for asylum seekers] to be accepted, they
have to prove that their physical situation is
in danger in their country. That's a different
story."
Enter the Prime Minister of Canada
The following day, Prime Minister Trudeau was
questioned by a journalist as to whether his
government was ready to commit to dealing with
the applications of Haitian asylum seekers
working in CHSLDs. His response was that for
weeks now, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino
has been hard at work on the issue. "We know
that there are extraordinary people who are
doing heroic work in our long-term care centres
and that we must look into how we can assist
them and we are in the process of looking into
that situation closely."
Questioned as to whether he agreed with the
principle of either regularizing the status of
certain persons, accelerating the processing of
their applications or shifting them over to
immigration status applications to thank them as
Quebec appeared to be asking, Trudeau answered:
"For a long time now we've recognized to what
point people coming into the country contribute
to our safety and our success as a country. Our
government has always been open to immigration
and has always valued people who come here. With
regard to asylum seekers who have arrived
irregularly but who work in our CHSLDs, who
carry out heroic work in protecting Canadians,
we are in the process of looking into how we can
recognize that work and maybe speed up the
process [...]."
The journalist commented, "I sense that there
has been a change in position. Around a week or
so ago, your Deputy Prime Minister, Ms.
Freeland, told us that we are a rule of law
country and that the procedure had to be
respected, so I understand that you may now be
ready to circumvent the present procedure in
order to thank them."
"We are in a particular and exceptional
situation," Trudeau replied. "The COVID-19
crisis demands that we revisit certain things.
Of course our immigration system is anchored in
respecting procedures and fairness and equality
for everyone. It's important that procedures are
followed but within this exceptional situation,
we can of course consider exceptions."
Another journalist asked Trudeau what his
evaluation was, in terms of the number of
irregular asylum seekers whose status could be
recognized. The Prime Minister responded, "I
think that people recognize that the heroes who
are doing exceptional work within an extremely
difficult situation should receive certain
recognition. However, we have an immigration
system that is robust and rigorous and
complex, therefore the Minister of Immigration
is carefully looking into it. As to the
details regarding such an approach, we
understand that there is a willingness on the
part of the population to recognize and thank
these people, however, we must ensure that this
is done in the proper manner and in due form."
Enter the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was
asked later that day to further clarify her
government's newly adopted position on
regularizing the situation of certain refugee
claimants working in CHSLDs.
"As the Prime Minister said today, Canada is a
country built on immigration and our government
is very open towards and welcoming of
immigrants. We understand that there is a very
specific situation right now where many people
in Canada and in Quebec are particularly
grateful to the refugee claimants who are doing
such important work taking care of our elders.
People are grateful, people want to express that
gratitude and we really understand that. We know
also that it's very important in all issues,
very much including immigration, to do things
properly and carefully [...]
"The specific issue which we feel that people
are most concerned with at the moment is the
asylum seekers who are doing absolutely
essential and extraordinary work right now. That
being said," Freeland concluded, "this is a
major issue and Immigration Minister Marco
Mendicino, as the Prime Minister said, is in the
process of looking into the issue. And as I
said, we must, we will do it in close
collaboration with Quebec."
(To access articles
individually click on the black headline.)
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