National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
More than 120 participants came together from British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario to attend “Filipino Community and Beyond: Towards Full Participation in a Multicultural and Multi-ethnic Canada.” The community-based and community-led national research conference was held from November 6-9 at the University of Toronto. As part of a three-year project of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) in partnership with Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, the conference showcased the work being done by the Filipino community toward addressing its concerns and developing capacities and initiatives that will lead to the community’s empowerment and full civic participation.
The conference opened on the evening of November 6, 2008 with a reception and art exhibit at University of Toronto‘s Wilson Hall Lounge. Art exhibits included murals depicting narratives of migration painted by youth members of Kabataang Montreal, an art piece on the lack of access to health care for live-in caregivers by SIKLAB Ontario, a video on young women’s issues by UKPC/FCYA Ontario, the “Maleta” family – a family of suitcases depicting the impacts of migration and garments from a fashion show about violence against women by organizations from the Kalayaan Centre in Vancouver.
Photo set 1
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The second day of the conference opened with a General Report on the three-year project by Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of NAPWC. Diocson outlined the project’s four themes, based on issues facing the Filipino community in the course of their settlement and integration in Canada: 1) Overcoming economic marginalization; 2) Enhancing Filipino women’s equality, human rights and genuine development; 3) Making the Filipino youth count in Canada’s future; and 4) Combating systemic racism and social exclusion. Diocson also highlighted the community development activities undertaken during the project by NAPWC and its network organizations. Activities included: community-based research and education; public policy engagement; skills and capacity building; community economic development projects; community organizing; and collaborative work with academics, research agencies and other community organizations.
The first panel, “Overcoming Economic Marginalization,” featured presentations by community organizers and academics. Ning Imperial gave an overview of the socio-economic context of Filipinos in Canada, highlighting the fact that Filipino migrants and immigrants are among the most highly educated but lowest paid in the Canadian labour force. Professor Habiba Zaman, of Simon Fraser University, shared the research she carried out in collaboration with the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC) on economic security issues facing Filipino immigrants. Zaman discussed the impacts of changes to BC’s employment standards on marginalized workers and described the practices of job-hopping (quitting jobs due to poor working conditions rather than raising concerns with employers) and working multiple low-paying jobs because full-time work is unavailable. Leah Diana and Dinah Estigoy of the Filipino Nurses Support Group of BC (FNSG) described the systemic barriers to accreditation imposed by the state and regulatory bodies on Filipino nurses seeking to practice their profession in Canada. They also shared the work of FNSG in advocating for nurses and policy engagement with nursing unions and regulatory bodies. Roderick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB National, highlighted the poor working conditions and workplace health and safety issues facing Filipinos working in the industrial and manufacturing sector in Quebec. He described how the Filipino community is concentrated in the Montreal neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges, where 60% of Filipinos in Quebec reside. He also described the racialized nature of workplaces requiring workers to do dangerous and poorly paid work. He also described how many young workers drop out of school and feel forced to accept poor working conditions because of their economic marginalization and the need to contribute to their family’s survival.
Photo set 2 [flickr album=72157609149696684 num=6]
The second panel of the day focused on “Enhancing Filipino Women’s Equality, Genuine Development and Human Rights.” Professor Bonnie McElhinny, of the University of Toronto, presented her research on how public health policy was used as a tool of US imperialism in the Philippines and how it both obscured pre-colonial understandings of public health and constructed Filipino women as colonial subjects with a defined role in nursing, caregiving and mothering. Marilou Carillo, of the PWC-BC, shared her Ph.D. research on transnational women’s activism in the Philippines, the Netherlands and Canada. She described how the process of organizing is also a process of social transformation whereby women change the conditions of their oppression. Susan Rodriguez and Reyna de Mesa, of the PWC-Manitoba, shared their work, including some of the challenges of organizing the community. They also described the emerging impact of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, which brings increasing numbers of Filipinos to Manitoba each year. Joanne Vasquez, of PWC-Quebec, described the reproduction in Montreal of economic practices from the Philippines due to the community’s economic marginalization. In particular, women are turning to loan sharks and street vending as strategies of survival. Vasquez also shared the accomplishments of PWC-Quebec and the Kapit Bisig Centre in educating, organizing and mobilizing the Filipino community in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal. Joy Sioson shared the work of PWC-Ontario and described the emerging issue of “airport to airport” deportations faced by live-in caregivers. This phenomenon involves Canadian immigration officials demanding to meet a live-in caregiver’s prospective employer before issuing a work permit and allowing the woman to leave the airport upon her arrival in Canada. Many women pay high fees to employment agencies only to discover upon their arrival that no employer actually exists. They are then deported back to the airport of their departure. In her presentation, Monica Urrutia showcased PWC-BC’s 20 years of work on the issue of violence against women. She highlighted a recent example of “Scrap! A Political Fashion Show to Stop Violence Against Filipino Women.” This fashion show dramatized the silencing and process of participants’ empowerment through sharing their stories.
Following the panel, the audience watched an excerpt of “Scrap! A Political Fashion Show.” Conference delegates heard the stories of three women’s experiences of violence, accompanied by models wearing garments representing aspects of the women’s victimization and empowerment.
Delegates then participated in workshops on “Young Women’s Issues,” “Accreditation of Foreign-educated Professionals,” and “Violence against Women.” In these workshops, participants had an opportunity to share their personal experiences and discuss local victories and challenges of community organizing on these issues.
Photo set 3 [flickr album=72157609180995815 num=6]
The third day of the conference opened with the first panel of the day focusing on “Making the Filipino Youth Count in Canada’s Future.” Professor Geraldine Pratt, of the University of British Columbia, spoke about her long research collaboration with PWC-BC, SIKLAB-BC and UKPC/FCYA-BC. She highlighted the issue of family separation and its impacts, including the significant high-school drop-out rate of Filipino youth. Camille Cendaña shared about the work and growth of UKPC/FCYA-Ontario, which has expanded from 3 to 40 active members since 2007. She also discussed the implementation of recommendations from “Palakasin! Ang Tunay na Ugnayan/Strengthen our Youth, Unite for Freedom,” an Ontario-wide youth consultation held by UKPC/FCYA-Ontario in 2007. Niki Silva shared the advocacy work of UKPC/FCYA-BC, particularly in the areas of youth education and employment. She discussed various ways in which youth are falling through the cracks of the education system. Josie Caro, of Kabataang Montreal, shared the challenges to settlement and integration created by the structure of French language “Welcoming Classes” for immigrants. She also shared some of Kabataang Montreal’s successes, including mobilizing youth to fight for the reinstallation of the Shaad basketball courts, a central site for many Filipino youth in Côte-des-Neiges.
The second panel focused on “Combating Systemic Racism.” Carlo Sayo, of UKPC/FCYA-BC opened with an overview of the context of systemic racism in Canada and the history of the Filipino community’s anti-racism work. Cezar Dalde, of the Kalayaan Centre, shared his testimonial of his family’s mistreatment by the RCMP in the context of his son Charle Dalde’s murder in April 2008. The Dalde family was handcuffed while their home was searched without warrant or explanation. They were then prevented from seeing Charle’s body for two weeks after his death due to the ongoing RCMP investigation. Mr. Dalde shared his family’s continued challenges and struggle for justice and a public apology from the RCMP. May Farrales presented the Kalayaan Centre’s support and advocacy for the Dalde family as part of its ongoing anti-racism work on issues including racial profiling. Neil Castro, of Kabataang Montreal, discussed the case of Luc Cagadoc, a 7-year-old who was reprimanded by his teachers and principal for eating with a fork and spoon, as an example of systemic racism. Castro discussed the challenges faced by Kabataang Montreal in raising this issue with the Filipino and wider communities in Quebec. He also shared the growth of the organization’s work through rallies, media campaigns and community forums. Kim Abis and Bryan Taguba shared the case of Jeffrey Reodica, the 17 year-old Filipino youth who was shot three times in the back and killed by Toronto police officers in May 2004.
The theme of the day’s third panel was “Making the Filipino Community Count.” Professor Shauna Butterwick, of the University of British Columbia, presented her external evaluation of the three-year project. She highlighted the project’s successes and stated “essential skills have been developed [from this project] that directly contributed to your capacity-building and sustainability, most particularly in the area of research such as Participatory Action Research but also in relation to leadership…This project should be included as an exemplary case of how to build, within economically and socially marginalized immigrant communities, the capacity for self-determination and democratic participation.” Emmanuel Sayo, of the Kalayaan Resource and Training Centre, discussed the history of community-based research work in the Filipino community since 1984. He recognized the leadership of women in community organizing and framed community-based participatory action research as an important form of knowledge production for empowering communities.
Photo set 4 [flickr album=72157609183346724 num=6]
The Kapit Bisig Centre then presented their premiere performance of “Pinoyville,” a play based on the experiences of their members that dramatized issues of forced migration, family separation, high-school dropouts, drugs, and the role of community organizing.
Delegates then participated in workshops on “Systemic Racism, Discrimination and Social Exclusion,” “Family Reunification and Migration,” and “Youth Drop-outs, Education and Employment.”
Dinner and an evening of cultural performances followed, where conference delegates performed songs, spoken word and hip-hop pieces that engaged many of the issues raised at the conference.
The final day of the conference opened with a synthesis of the conference activities by Denise Valdecantos. Hetty Alcuitas, from PWC-BC then gave a presentation on “Moving Forward Together: Opportunities and Challenges.” This was followed by a demonstration of policy engagement in the form of a mock Parliamentary Hearing. Denise Valdecantos and Dinah Estigoy presented a brief on the Live-in Caregiver Program, originally delivered by NAPWC to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, to three mock parliamentarians. After the presenters fielded a few questions from the politicians, audience members were invited to step in to answer questions from the mock parliamentarians in order to experience answering critical questions about NAPWC’s position to scrap the Live-in Caregiver Program.
The conference closed with an assessment, during which delegates shared their experiences of the conference. Jean Marc Daga, a conference delegate and a member of the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance, stated “I am proud to see the capacity and the organizing of the Filipino community on a national level. It was great to experience the strength of our community and the unity amongst Filipino youth, women and migrant workers. The conference reinforced my conviction for organizing as a proud and strong Filipino.”
“Filipino Community and Beyond: Toward Full Participation in a Multicultural and Multi-ethnic Canada” represents an important step toward the civic engagement of the Filipino community in Canada. Delegates shared many victories and challenges faced in conducting community-based research, capacity building and organizing work on issues facing Filipino migrants and immigrants in the course of their settlement and integration in Canada. The conference highlighted the crucial role of grassroots, community-based initiatives to document and analyze the community?s experiences, identify emerging issues and produce knowledge about Filipinos in Canada in the process of our empowerment toward full participation in Canadian society.
Photo set 5 [flickr album=72157609191843418 num=6]
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The second day of the conference opened with a General Report on the three-year project by Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of NAPWC. Diocson outlined the project’s four themes, based on issues facing the Filipino community in the course of their settlement and integration in Canada: 1) Overcoming economic marginalization; 2) Enhancing Filipino women’s equality, human rights and genuine development; 3) Making the Filipino youth count in Canada’s future; and 4) Combating systemic racism and social exclusion. Diocson also highlighted the community development activities undertaken during the project by NAPWC and its network organizations. Activities included: community-based research and education; public policy engagement; skills and capacity building; community economic development projects; community organizing; and collaborative work with academics, research agencies and other community organizations.
The first panel, “Overcoming Economic Marginalization,” featured presentations by community organizers and academics. Ning Imperial gave an overview of the socio-economic context of Filipinos in Canada, highlighting the fact that Filipino migrants and immigrants are among the most highly educated but lowest paid in the Canadian labour force. Professor Habiba Zaman, of Simon Fraser University, shared the research she carried out in collaboration with the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC) on economic security issues facing Filipino immigrants. Zaman discussed the impacts of changes to BC’s employment standards on marginalized workers and described the practices of job-hopping (quitting jobs due to poor working conditions rather than raising concerns with employers) and working multiple low-paying jobs because full-time work is unavailable. Leah Diana and Dinah Estigoy of the Filipino Nurses Support Group of BC (FNSG) described the systemic barriers to accreditation imposed by the state and regulatory bodies on Filipino nurses seeking to practice their profession in Canada. They also shared the work of FNSG in advocating for nurses and policy engagement with nursing unions and regulatory bodies. Roderick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB National, highlighted the poor working conditions and workplace health and safety issues facing Filipinos working in the industrial and manufacturing sector in Quebec. He described how the Filipino community is concentrated in the Montreal neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges, where 60% of Filipinos in Quebec reside. He also described the racialized nature of workplaces requiring workers to do dangerous and poorly paid work. He also described how many young workers drop out of school and feel forced to accept poor working conditions because of their economic marginalization and the need to contribute to their family’s survival.
Photo set 2 [flickr album=72157609149696684 num=6]
The second panel of the day focused on “Enhancing Filipino Women’s Equality, Genuine Development and Human Rights.” Professor Bonnie McElhinny, of the University of Toronto, presented her research on how public health policy was used as a tool of US imperialism in the Philippines and how it both obscured pre-colonial understandings of public health and constructed Filipino women as colonial subjects with a defined role in nursing, caregiving and mothering. Marilou Carillo, of the PWC-BC, shared her Ph.D. research on transnational women’s activism in the Philippines, the Netherlands and Canada. She described how the process of organizing is also a process of social transformation whereby women change the conditions of their oppression. Susan Rodriguez and Reyna de Mesa, of the PWC-Manitoba, shared their work, including some of the challenges of organizing the community. They also described the emerging impact of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, which brings increasing numbers of Filipinos to Manitoba each year. Joanne Vasquez, of PWC-Quebec, described the reproduction in Montreal of economic practices from the Philippines due to the community’s economic marginalization. In particular, women are turning to loan sharks and street vending as strategies of survival. Vasquez also shared the accomplishments of PWC-Quebec and the Kapit Bisig Centre in educating, organizing and mobilizing the Filipino community in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal. Joy Sioson shared the work of PWC-Ontario and described the emerging issue of “airport to airport” deportations faced by live-in caregivers. This phenomenon involves Canadian immigration officials demanding to meet a live-in caregiver’s prospective employer before issuing a work permit and allowing the woman to leave the airport upon her arrival in Canada. Many women pay high fees to employment agencies only to discover upon their arrival that no employer actually exists. They are then deported back to the airport of their departure. In her presentation, Monica Urrutia showcased PWC-BC’s 20 years of work on the issue of violence against women. She highlighted a recent example of “Scrap! A Political Fashion Show to Stop Violence Against Filipino Women.” This fashion show dramatized the silencing and process of participants’ empowerment through sharing their stories.
Following the panel, the audience watched an excerpt of “Scrap! A Political Fashion Show.” Conference delegates heard the stories of three women’s experiences of violence, accompanied by models wearing garments representing aspects of the women’s victimization and empowerment.
Delegates then participated in workshops on “Young Women’s Issues,” “Accreditation of Foreign-educated Professionals,” and “Violence against Women.” In these workshops, participants had an opportunity to share their personal experiences and discuss local victories and challenges of community organizing on these issues.
Photo set 3 [flickr album=72157609180995815 num=6]
The third day of the conference opened with the first panel of the day focusing on “Making the Filipino Youth Count in Canada’s Future.” Professor Geraldine Pratt, of the University of British Columbia, spoke about her long research collaboration with PWC-BC, SIKLAB-BC and UKPC/FCYA-BC. She highlighted the issue of family separation and its impacts, including the significant high-school drop-out rate of Filipino youth. Camille Cendaña shared about the work and growth of UKPC/FCYA-Ontario, which has expanded from 3 to 40 active members since 2007. She also discussed the implementation of recommendations from “Palakasin! Ang Tunay na Ugnayan/Strengthen our Youth, Unite for Freedom,” an Ontario-wide youth consultation held by UKPC/FCYA-Ontario in 2007. Niki Silva shared the advocacy work of UKPC/FCYA-BC, particularly in the areas of youth education and employment. She discussed various ways in which youth are falling through the cracks of the education system. Josie Caro, of Kabataang Montreal, shared the challenges to settlement and integration created by the structure of French language “Welcoming Classes” for immigrants. She also shared some of Kabataang Montreal’s successes, including mobilizing youth to fight for the reinstallation of the Shaad basketball courts, a central site for many Filipino youth in Côte-des-Neiges.
The second panel focused on “Combating Systemic Racism.” Carlo Sayo, of UKPC/FCYA-BC opened with an overview of the context of systemic racism in Canada and the history of the Filipino community’s anti-racism work. Cezar Dalde, of the Kalayaan Centre, shared his testimonial of his family’s mistreatment by the RCMP in the context of his son Charle Dalde’s murder in April 2008. The Dalde family was handcuffed while their home was searched without warrant or explanation. They were then prevented from seeing Charle’s body for two weeks after his death due to the ongoing RCMP investigation. Mr. Dalde shared his family’s continued challenges and struggle for justice and a public apology from the RCMP. May Farrales presented the Kalayaan Centre’s support and advocacy for the Dalde family as part of its ongoing anti-racism work on issues including racial profiling. Neil Castro, of Kabataang Montreal, discussed the case of Luc Cagadoc, a 7-year-old who was reprimanded by his teachers and principal for eating with a fork and spoon, as an example of systemic racism. Castro discussed the challenges faced by Kabataang Montreal in raising this issue with the Filipino and wider communities in Quebec. He also shared the growth of the organization’s work through rallies, media campaigns and community forums. Kim Abis and Bryan Taguba shared the case of Jeffrey Reodica, the 17 year-old Filipino youth who was shot three times in the back and killed by Toronto police officers in May 2004.
The theme of the day’s third panel was “Making the Filipino Community Count.” Professor Shauna Butterwick, of the University of British Columbia, presented her external evaluation of the three-year project. She highlighted the project’s successes and stated “essential skills have been developed [from this project] that directly contributed to your capacity-building and sustainability, most particularly in the area of research such as Participatory Action Research but also in relation to leadership…This project should be included as an exemplary case of how to build, within economically and socially marginalized immigrant communities, the capacity for self-determination and democratic participation.” Emmanuel Sayo, of the Kalayaan Resource and Training Centre, discussed the history of community-based research work in the Filipino community since 1984. He recognized the leadership of women in community organizing and framed community-based participatory action research as an important form of knowledge production for empowering communities.
Photo set 4 [flickr album=72157609183346724 num=6]
The Kapit Bisig Centre then presented their premiere performance of “Pinoyville,” a play based on the experiences of their members that dramatized issues of forced migration, family separation, high-school dropouts, drugs, and the role of community organizing.
Delegates then participated in workshops on “Systemic Racism, Discrimination and Social Exclusion,” “Family Reunification and Migration,” and “Youth Drop-outs, Education and Employment.”
Dinner and an evening of cultural performances followed, where conference delegates performed songs, spoken word and hip-hop pieces that engaged many of the issues raised at the conference.
The final day of the conference opened with a synthesis of the conference activities by Denise Valdecantos. Hetty Alcuitas, from PWC-BC then gave a presentation on “Moving Forward Together: Opportunities and Challenges.” This was followed by a demonstration of policy engagement in the form of a mock Parliamentary Hearing. Denise Valdecantos and Dinah Estigoy presented a brief on the Live-in Caregiver Program, originally delivered by NAPWC to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, to three mock parliamentarians. After the presenters fielded a few questions from the politicians, audience members were invited to step in to answer questions from the mock parliamentarians in order to experience answering critical questions about NAPWC’s position to scrap the Live-in Caregiver Program.
The conference closed with an assessment, during which delegates shared their experiences of the conference. Jean Marc Daga, a conference delegate and a member of the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance, stated “I am proud to see the capacity and the organizing of the Filipino community on a national level. It was great to experience the strength of our community and the unity amongst Filipino youth, women and migrant workers. The conference reinforced my conviction for organizing as a proud and strong Filipino.”
“Filipino Community and Beyond: Toward Full Participation in a Multicultural and Multi-ethnic Canada” represents an important step toward the civic engagement of the Filipino community in Canada. Delegates shared many victories and challenges faced in conducting community-based research, capacity building and organizing work on issues facing Filipino migrants and immigrants in the course of their settlement and integration in Canada. The conference highlighted the crucial role of grassroots, community-based initiatives to document and analyze the community?s experiences, identify emerging issues and produce knowledge about Filipinos in Canada in the process of our empowerment toward full participation in Canadian society.
Photo set 5 [flickr album=72157609191843418 num=6]
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