Toronto, ON—February 9, 2011 – Packed with fresh content grounded in a community context, a new lecture series by UKPC@York (Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario @ York) is sure to enlighten, empower and entice the minds of youth, students and educators. The 1st lecture, “Exposing Canada’s Neoliberal Agenda: The Context Behind the Commodification and Racialization of Labour in Canada” will take place at York University’s Stong College, Room 302 on Wednesday, February 16th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. A dynamic lecture by Emmanuel Sayo, from the Philippines Canada Task Force on Human Rights (PCTFHR) – a member of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians, will expose the implications of Canada’s neoliberal expansion on racialized communities and the broader Canadian society.

The lecture will explore Canada’s racist history as a white-settler nation, whose process of nation-building has relied on immigration policies and exclusionary laws that have relegated people of colour as permanent sources of cheap labour. From the Chinese head tax to today’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP), the lecture will show how such policies have inhibited the successful settlement and integration of racialized communities.

As the lecture will demonstrate, the perspectives of those omitted from Canadian history actually reveal much about its ongoing reality. “We must not separate the experiences of racialized peoples in Canada from the whole globalpolitical context of neoliberalism. Also, we must not simply put the experiences and realities of people of colour into the box of ‘immigration issues’ without being critical of Canada’s neoliberal policies of privatization, liberalization and deregulation,” Sayo says.

Such an understanding is crucial for racialized youth. “As youth and students, it is important for us to grasp our history in order to make ourselves count in Canada’s future,” says Charie Siddayao, UKPC@York member and undergraduate student.

Delivered with clarity and progress in word and in action, UKPC@York’s upcoming lecture series will be sure to advance the Filipino Canadian community’s role as makers and innovators of their own histories.

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“Exposing Canada’s Neoliberal Agenda:
The Context Behind the Commodification and Racialization of Labour in Canada”
1st part of UKPC@York’s public lecture series
Guest lecturer Emmanuel Sayo, Philippines Canada Task Force on Human Rights (PCFTHR)
Stong College, Room 302, York University
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario
Wednesday, February 16th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Free to the public

For more information, contact:
Aila Comilang
416-519-2553
ukpc-on@magkaisacentre.org
www.magkaisacentre.org
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