NOII

NOII press release:

Thursday March 22, 2012

-Toronto-

We visited 7 MP Offices. Will you call one?
No One Is Illegal – Toronto Blitzes MP offices demanding that the Refugee Exclusion Act be axed

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9jkHC5l1gQ

Members of No One Is Illegal Toronto and allies in St. Catherines hand delivered letters to seven of the twelve members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) today in a coordinated blitz demanding that the Refugee Exclusion Act (Bill C-31) be thrown in to the dustbin of history.

Bill C-31 is an omnibus immigration bill that would jail asylum seekers, entrench a two-tier refugee system that would discriminate against many, and give the Immigration Minister the ability to take away people’s permanent residency after they have been granted refugee status. Not only that, it advocates intrusive biometrics data collection on all migrants in the country, and gives increased powers of arrest and detention to border guards that will affect tourists, permanent residents, students and refugees alike.

Full text of the letter delivered today here and below.

Read more about the Refugee Exclusion Acton on rabble here.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Members of Parliament are at their offices today and tomorrow (Thursday & Friday) for March break. Give them a call at their constituency offices and demand that they axe the Refugee Exclusion Act.

Be part of the fight back! Forward this email to 2 friends and then call them to ask them to call their MPs too. You have just one day, Friday, March 23, 2012, to pressure MPs before they vote to send it to committee for further discussion. To get ideas of what to say, see our letter below!

MP contact information: http://bit.ly/mfMkVq

MARK THE DATES!
MORE ANTI-REFUGEE EXCLUSION ACT EVENTS IN TORONTO!

(1) Thursday, APRIL 12, 6pm
60 Lowther Avenue (just 2 blocks from St.George Station).

Panel: What’s BOGUS about the Conservative Immigration System?
How the proposed new Refugee Exclusion Act – Bill C-31 – affects our Communities & How to Stop It.

More details: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/678 & http://on.fb.me/GOgEs4

(2) Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Rally and March: #May1TO: May Day of Action

More details to be announced.

http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER

MP Costas Menegakis (Conservative MP, Richmond Hill), MP Chungsen Leung (Conservative MP, Willowdale), MP Matthew Kellway (NDP MP, Beaches – East York), MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan, (NDP MP, Scarborough – Rouge River), MP Rick Dykstra, (Conservative MP, St. Catharines), MP Roxanne James, (Conservative MP, Scarborough Centre), MP Ted Opitz, (Conservative MP, Etobicoke Centre):

We are hand-delivering this message to some Members of Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM).

In the days to come you will be discussing Bill C-31, first in parliament and then in committee. Bill C-31 is nothing less than a Refugee Exclusion Act. If passed, it will essentially shut out many asylum seekers from gaining permanent refugee status in the country.

This is unacceptable.

Bill C-31 is an omnibus immigration bill that would jail asylum seekers, entrench a two-tier refugee system that would discriminate against many, and give the Citizenship Minister the ability to take away people’s permanent residency after they have been granted refugee status. Not only that, it advocates intrusive biometrics data collection on all migrants in the country, and gives increased powers of arrest and detention to border guards that will effect tourists, permanent residents, students and refugees alike.

Bill C-31 cannot be amended. It must simply be thrown away.

The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 is a dark chapter in Canadian immigration policy, which essentially shut out most forms of Chinese migration. It is remembered today as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Bill C-31, if passed, will be remembered as the Refugee Exclusion Act.

Don’t allow this to happen.

Scrap Bill C-31 and move towards real immigration reform. Ensure full status for all residents in Canada, and status on landing for all migrants coming in to the country. Stop the military, economic, environmental and foreign policy decisions that displace people and force them to move in the first place.

Talk to your colleagues. Tell them to pick the right side of history. Don’t support Bill C-31.
No One Is Illegal – Toronto

#30#

 

Krystalline Kraus

krystalline kraus is an intrepid explorer and reporter from Toronto, Canada. A veteran activist and journalist for rabble.ca, she needs no aviator goggles, gas mask or red cape but proceeds fearlessly...