Registration now open for upcoming conference “Workers’ Struggles Amidst Neoliberal Globalization”
Toronto, ON—The Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC) and its allies welcome and invite all to participate in “Workers' Struggles Amidst Neoliberal Globalization,” a North American conference which will be held on August 11th – 12th at the United Steel Workers Hall in Toronto. The conference aims to put forth a critical and dynamic dialogue amongst progressive organizations, groups and individuals about our struggles and conditions as workers under the present crisis of capitalism. Throughout history, we have witnessed and felt imperialism’s assaults on the working class. Now more than ever, workers’ lives are becoming more insecure and unstable as the neoliberal agenda of globalization intensifies its attacks on workers’ employment, wages and standard of living. This conference will provide an opportunity for all to discuss and deepen our understanding of workers’ realities and struggles under neoliberal globalization. Through this gathering, we hope to further understand the historic role of the working class in building a movement for social change. “Workers’ Struggles Amidst Neoliberal Globalization” North American Conference August 11 & 12, 2012 United Steelworkers Hall 25 Cecil Street Toronto, ON Canada [...]
Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario to speak at the Diamonds in the Rough youth forum
Objectives: Address the unique struggles and challenges of East and Southeast Asian youths Exchange and develop ideas on youth development between different ethnic groups and community sectors Explore methods and community resources to nurture youth's potential Panel: Youth representatives from Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese community, community leaders from education, economy, sociology, mental health and government sectors Date: April 14, 2012 Venue: Scarborough Civic Center, Council Chamber 150 Borough Drive, Toronto Time: 2:30 to 4:00pm Capacity: 150 Registration: online, by email or in person Target: Youth, parents and people who care about youth Registration Deadline: Apr 9, 2012 (Monday) Admission: Free (First come, first serve)
International Women’s Day forum challenged all women to take the revolutionary road
IWD Forum: Taking the Revolutionary Road, a set on Flickr.For immediate release March 22, 2012 Toronto, ON—In celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day, over 80 participants gathered to heighten their militancy and strengthen their resistance at the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario’s forum, “Taking the Revolutionary Road: Heightening Women’s Resistance Against Neoliberalism.” Organized in collaboration with Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance—Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto (UKPC/FCYA-ON @ York and UofT), the forum engaged participants from both campuses and beyond during each back-to-back session. The forum also set a successful start for the upcoming string of educational events in preparation for the conference titled “Workers Struggles Amidst Neoliberal Globalization,” to be held later in August this year. In outright refusal of the intensifying violence perpetuated against women in light of the current downward economic spiral, the forum challenged all women to reclaim their rightful role in taking the revolutionary road towards building a women’s movement that strives for nothing less than genuine equality and liberation for all women and humanity [...]
PWC-ON chairperson to speak at Violence Against Women fundraiser
Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON) Chairperson to speak on violence against women under Canada's Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) at "Break the Silence: The Purple Ribbon Campaign" fundraiser. The event is organized by the 2012 class of Women's Studies 4502: Violence Against Women. It will be held on March 19th, from 7:00 - 9:00 PM at York University's Founders Assembly Hall.
Opening the way towards genuine women’s liberation: International Women’s Day forum calls on all women to take the revolutionary road
For immediate release March 3, 2012 Toronto, ON—For this year’s International Women’s Day, members of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON) call on everyone to celebrate women's historic role in social change by heightening militancy and gathering at their forum titled “Taking the Revolutionary Road: Heightening Women’s Resistance Against Neoliberalism.” Organized in collaboration with the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance of Ontario (UKPC/FCYA-ON) at York University and at the University of Toronto, the forum is set to take place on Thursday, March 8that York University and on Friday, March 9that University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. The forum also forms part of an educational series in anticipation of “Worker’s Struggles Amidst Neoliberal Globalization,” a worker’s conference to be held in August 2012. In celebration of the working-class women who took to the streets towards the creation of the first-ever International Women’s Day, this forum hopes to advance the pivotal role that women play in creating history and to continue this legacy of resistance by confronting the present challenges that women face under neoliberalism. Through neoliberalism’s [...]
Taking the Revolutionary Road: Heightening Women’s Resistance Against Neoliberalism
TAKING THE REVOLUTIONARY ROAD: HEIGHTENING WOMEN’S RESISTANCE AGAINST NEOLIBERALISM A forum by the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario to celebrate International Women’s Day GUEST SPEAKERS: Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada Rachel Gorman, Professor at York University Tania Das Gupta, Professor at York University Evelyn Encalada, Researcher and community organizer THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 6 to 8pm York University, 313 Student Centre FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 7 to 9pm University of Toronto, OISE 5250 CO-ORGANIZED BY UKPC@YORK AND UofT Ugnayan ng Kabtaang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance at York University and the University of Toronto Part of the “Worker’s Struggles Amidst Neoliberal Globalization” Conference Educational Series […]
Progressive Filipino Canadian women once again heighten its call to end modern-day slavery in Canada
National statement February 15, 2012 Toronto, ON – Progressive Filipino Canadian women are once again indignant as another mainstream article from the Toronto Star titled “Shortage of live-in caregivers leads to ‘nanny poaching’” induced dehumanizing, anti-worker, and racist sentiments that normalize the idea that thousands of Filipino women under the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP) are cheap and disposable commodities that could easily be acquired and traded. By touting the myth that a shortage of available live-in caregivers are leaving employers and nanny agencies helpless, the mainstream media once again, masks the reality of marginalization, deskilling, and underdevelopment of women from the Global South who are recruited under this program. The National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) demands that in lieu of misleading and irresponsible statements, the media must challenge all Canadians to question and unmask the real agenda behind the Canadian government’s failure to provide a genuine solution to implementing a national strategy for childcare and healthcare as requisite to Canada’s genuine development and the successful settlement, integration and full participation of its immigrant communities. Amidst [...]
All-out against Canada’s neoliberal agenda: progressive Filipino Canadian youth march in unison for universal education
For immediate release February 1, 2012 Toronto, ON — On this National Day of Action to Drop Tuition Fees, members of the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance—Ontario (UKPC/FCYA-ON) stand in solidarity with the Canadian Federation of Students and all students as we demand to drop tuition fees and student debt and to advance our entitlement towards universally accessible post-secondary education in Canada. As students who come from a marginalised community, the high cost and unabated increase of tuition fees not only denies us our right to education, but also presents a major barrier that prevents us from genuinely settling, integrating and successfully participating in Canadian society. With the onslaught of Canada’s neoliberal agenda, as seen through the rabid implementation of austerity measures and cutbacks on public and social services, public funding for universities are unabashedly slashed in favour of the deregulation of higher education, all for the sake of corporate interests and profitability. As these measures intensify the privatization and corporatization of public education, it is not a coincidence that tuition fees have skyrocketed to almost 10% on average [...]
Filipino Canadians condemn racist acts of neo-Nazi group: Taking it to the streets during hearing
Vancouver Statement For immediate release January 27,2012 The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance, Philippine Women Centre of BC and SIKLAB for Migrant Workers condemn the racist acts of neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour for setting a young Filipino man on fire while sleeping on a couch on Commercial Drive in 2009. We hold Canada's legal and policing system accountable for not acting fast enough to penalize and dissolve the white supremacist group. On Feb. 13, during the hearing of the men charged with burning the Filipino man, Filipino Canadians will take to the streets in protest of the racist acts. Despite being the third largest minority group in Canada, Filipino youth are faced with racist systemic barriers and limited access to resources in Canada. Education obtained in the Philippines is often not recognized, pushing college kids back to high school upon arriving in Canada. There are few public services that integrate Filipinos successfully while being culturally-sensitive to the realities and struggles of migration. In the case children of Filipino nannies entering Canada through the Live-in Caregiver Program, reunification with [...]
10,000 open work permits to live-in caregivers: just another game of CIC
National Statement For immediate release January 4, 2011 Toronto, ON – Progressive Filipino Canadians refuse to be deceived by the Conservative government’s latest attempt to mask the abuse, violence and exploitation perpetrated against live-in caregivers, of whom 81% are Filipino women that are under Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). The issuing of 10,000 open work permits to live-in caregivers, recently announced by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, is yet another tactic to appease the growing awareness and dissatisfaction of the widespread exploitation, human rights abuses and violation of women’s rights occurring under a program that is based on the modern-day slavery of women. Irrespective of Jason Kenney’s recent ploy, members of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC) have not wavered in their longstanding and resolute position to scrap the LCP, asserting that the program itself creates the conditions for the systemic violence, exploitation and abuse faced by Filipino women in Canada. Since its inception in the 1980s, more than 100,000 Filipino Canadian women have come into Canada through the program, a situation which has created the Filipino Canadian [...]
Minister Jason Kenney unveils the true colour of multiculturalism: burqa ban during citizenship oath an act of racism and abuse of power
National Statement For immediate release December 21, 2011 Toronto, ON – The Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC) denounces Minister Jason Kenney’s blatantly racist and repressive ban on wearing any type of face covering while taking the oath during the citizenship ceremony, a policy that represents a direct attack of hatred and Islamophobia towards Muslim women who choose to wear the burqa or niqab. This ban against Muslim women represents the latest abuse of power from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, whose recent string of announcements and policy changes have all been directed towards denying the successful settlement and integration of immigrant communities in Canada on all fronts—whether cultural, economic, social and political—while upholding the economy’s continued reliance on racialized and marginalized communities. While Kenney’s burqa ban is nothing more than a racist denial of an entire people’s cultural practices, he has otherwise justified this ban as a “straightforward” matter of practice, saying that “I have received complaints from members of Parliament, from citizens, from judges of the citizenship court that it is hard to ensure that individuals, whose [...]