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 [...]
Building a movement for social change: Filipino Canadians and allies gathered in Toronto for the 3rd Counterspin conference
Conference Communiqué December 9, 2011 With over 120 participants, “Counterspin 3: Building a movement for social change” Ontario-wide conference, once again, heightened, with militancy, the pivotal and crucial role of marginalized communities in Canada, such as the Filipino Canadian community, to intensify the building of a genuine progressive movement that will bring about social change in a country that continues to systemically deny communities of colour their full participation and entitlement. Held at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education on November 19th and the 20th, respectively, “Counterspin 3” is a continuation of the Filipino Canadian community’s assertion to counter their intensifying social and political exclusion as manifested in their struggles against systemic racism, gender oppression, and economic marginalization. Organized by the Magkaisa Centre, and under the auspices of the newly formed Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC), “Counterspin 3” is symbolic of the desire of members of the Filipino Canadian community to create a path towards their just and genuine settlement and integration in Canada. Launched in Montreal on May 2010, and [...]
Once again, Minister Jason Kenney is no Santa Claus to temporary foreign workers in Canada under the LCP
National Statement For immediate release November 28, 2011 Toronto, ON – With the recent announcement by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to slash approvals of over 7,000 permanent residency applications made through the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), progressive Filipino Canadians firmly maintain that under the Conservative government’s policy-imposed age of austerity for all working-class Canadians, no amount of change or “improvement” can be made to the LCP and the endemically exploitative nature of the immigration system itself while it continues to stamp and seal entry to workers to toil under conditions of modern-day slavery. With the passage of two years since Kenney’s holiday announcement of cosmetic changes to the LCP, we have seen no real improvement in the conditions of the Filipino Canadian community. Instead, amidst a worsening healthcare crisis and an ailing global economy, we have only witnessed the continuing marginalization and exploitation of Filipino Canadian women, youth and workers. We refuse to be duped by the blatantly aggressive attacks against our community as the unabated expansion of temporary migration continues to extend our vulnerability and to hold [...]
Countdown to “Counterspin” speeds up as conference fast approaches
Fifth Announcement November 16, 2011 Toronto, ON – In just a few days, Ontario’s Filipino Canadian community will readily advance their struggle for a just and genuine settlement and integration to greater heights as “Counterspin: Building a Movement for Social Change” commences. Only several days remain in the countdown to this historic two-day conference that will counter the community’s cycle of marginalization and impermanence by creating a unified movement that strives for full participation in Canadian society and embraces their pivotal role in creating genuine social change. Organized under the auspices of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC), “Counterspin” will advance the successes from its previous occurrences in Montreal and Vancouver at the University of Toronto’s Claude T. Bissell Building and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. A press conference will be held on November 19th for members of the media. Interviews will be provided by speakers and organizers such as award-winning novelist and internationally-renowned feminist Ninotchka Rosca, long-time community organizer and human rights activist Emmanuel Sayo and the Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine [...]
Filipino Canadians continue to create tools for social change as builders of Canada’s history
Fourth Announcement November 15, 2011 Toronto, ON – The progressive Filipino Canadian community are gearing up to take the next steps toward genuine settlement and integration in Canadian society as the Ontario-wide conference titled “Counterspin: Building a Movement for Social Change" boldly asserts the community's role in helping build Canada's history. It will take place at the University of Toronto campus, Claude T. Bissell Building on November 19th and will continue the next day at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. As “Counterspin” provides the context of globalization, its particular impact is undoubtedly felt most, in the Filipino Canadian community, by the women, workers and youth. However, the issues faced by Filipino women, workers, and youth in Canada under neoliberalism does not mean that as a community, Filipinos are powerless to the various government labour policies and program implementations that relegate Filipinos to low-wage service sector jobs and deskill many members in the community. Against this dominant pattern, community members will affirm their crucial roles as builders and makers of Canadian society who have the tools to [...]
Building a home by building a movement for social change at “Counterspin” conference
Third Announcement November 7, 2011 Toronto, ON – As the deepening crisis of neoliberal globalization is becoming increasingly apparent, the Filipino Canadian community across Ontario is readily countering their marginalization through “Counterspin 3: Building a Movement for Social Change.” Organized under the auspices of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC), this historic gathering will advance the community’s struggle for genuine settlement and integration at the crux of the movement of the working class. Building on the success of the previous “Counterspin” conferences in Montreal and Vancouver, the conference will awaken all to their realities and their potential in building a vibrant and enduring movement for social change that puts the struggle of the transnational working class at its fore. At the first panel, Ninotchka Rosca, an internationally-renowned writer and revolutionary feminist will counter imperialism’s narrative of temporary migration for Filipinos around the world by understanding the right of the transnational working class to take root and create a home wherever we are. Emmanuel Sayo of the Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights will elucidate the concept of [...]
Registration now open for “Counterspin: Building a Movement for Social Change”
Second Announcement Ontario’s growing Filipino Canadian community buzzes with excitement as the Magkaisa Centre prepares to host Toronto’s first ever Counterspin conference. Determined to carry on the successes of previous Counterspin conferences in Montreal and Vancouver, the progressive Filipino Canadian movement towards genuine integration and settlement in Canada will accelerate into high gear on November 19th to 20th less than a month from today. Organized under the auspices of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC), this two-day conference titled “Counterspin: Building a Movement for Social Change” will have five panel lectures featuring a number of local and international academics, community activists and artists. Day one will begin with guest speakers Ninotchka Rosca, the acclaimed international author and feminist; long-time community activist and organizer Emmanuel Sayo, a member of Philippines Canada Task Force on Human Rights; and Professor David McNally of York University. Their panel will focus on creating and nurturing the new path towards social change by introducing the context of transnationalism, globalization and the struggle for genuine settlement and integration. Panelists and community organizers from the [...]