Filipino Canadian youth intensify political education to expose Canada’s neoliberal agenda
Toronto, Ontario – March 7, 2011 – Members of the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance/Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino Sa Canada–Ontario at York University (UKPC@York) take great pride in the successful launch of its first lecture series, “Exposing Canada’s Neoliberal Agenda: The Context Behind the Commodification and Racialization of Labour in Canada.” Held at York University in Toronto on February 16th, 2011, the public lecture signified that Filipino Canadian youth and students are putting forth the discussion and debate on the impacts of neoliberalism and the need for the just and genuine settlement and integration of racialized communities in Canada. The launch of the lecture series portrayed the unrelenting will of progressive Filipino Canadian youth and students to become future leaders of the movement towards the full participation and entitlement of the Filipino Canadian community. Through an interactive dialogue with students, campus allies and community members, Emmanuel Sayo, from the Philippines Canada Task Force on Human Rights (PCTFHR – a member organization of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians) exposed Canada’s neoliberal agenda by sharing its history from the perspective [...]
Unraveling the hypocrisy of Canada’s family reunification program
Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians National Statement March 3, 2011 The Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC), a national alliance of Filipino Canadian workers, women and youth organizations, is not surprised with the announcement on the increase in immigrant visas approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in 2010, numbering 280,636, as well as with the CIC’s announcement to cut-back on visa approval for family sponsorship and skilled workers categories. The increase in visa approval for one immigration class and the decrease in another has been a regular practice at CIC in order to ensure that the numbers of immigrants coming into the country does not exceed their limit or quota for each year. Indeed, while Canada may appear to open its immigration doors for immigrant applicants in 2010, it simultaneously closes and slams any opportunity for immigrant families in Canada to genuinely settle and integrate by hindering their reunification with other members of their families, particularly with their parents and grandparents. Minister Kenney’s honest admission at the House of Commons that “we need more newcomers working and [...]
Progressive Filipino Canadians challenge all Women to Reclaim the Revolutionary Road towards Genuine Liberation
Toronto, ON—March 1, 2011—In celebration of the 100th year anniversary of International Women’s Day, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON) in collaboration with UKPC@UofT (Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino Sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario at the University of Toronto) will proudly hold “Reclaim the Revolutionary Road towards Women’s Liberation,” a public lecture featuring a fundraising dinner and solidarity performances. It will take place at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Room 5202 on Saturday, March 5th from 6pm to 9pm. As part of UKPC@UofT’s lecture series, the event will challenge all to reclaim the working-class women’s struggle as an integral component of the struggle of the entire working-class. A lecture presented by Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC), will emphasize the need to continue building upon the revolutionary ideas and actions of working-class women that were crucial in propelling the women’s liberation movement in the Global North. Besides celebrating the progress set forth by the resistance of revolutionary women for the last century, the event also poses a [...]
Event Announcement: Reclaim the Revolutionary Road Towards Women’s Liberation
RECLAIM THE REVOLUTIONARY ROAD TOWARDS WOMEN’S LIBERATION Philippine Women Centre of Ontario’s Celebration of the 100th Year Anniversary of International Women’s Day Guest Speaker Cecilia Diocson Executive Director, National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) Saturday, March 5th, 2011, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Doors open at 5:30 PM OISE Room 5250 Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), 252 Bloor St. West Tickets are $10 in advance or at the door Celebration includes a fundraising dinner and cultural performances Part of UKPC@UofT’s lecture series Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance/Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada–Ontario @ University of Toronto) During this 100th year anniversary of International Women’s Day, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON) in collaboration with UKPC@UofT invites everyone to an empowering night featuring a fundraising dinner with a public lecture and cultural performances in celebration of the century-long legacy of revolutionary women’s struggle. Initially wrought a hundred years ago by women garment and factory workers who marched the streets of New York in outright refusal of their severe working conditions, the very existence of International Women’s [...]
“Arrivals/Departures: Women’s Experience of Migration Under Globalization” Art Exhibit by AF3IRM
Event endorsement by the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario
Upcoming lecture to expose the reality behind the commodification and racialization of labour in Canada
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 [...]
Toronto Sun nanny article recycles and reinforces anti-immigrant sentiments
Toronto Sun nanny article recycles and reinforces anti-immigrant sentiments National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) National Statement January 26, 2011 On January 19th, 2010, a Toronto Sun article titled “Nannies abusing sponsorship programs” promoted anti-immigrant and racist sentiments that inconsiderately fail to see the ongoing marginalization and underdevelopment of thousands of Filipino women under the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP). For the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC), a progressive Filipino Canadian women’s organization, this article is yet another irresponsible statement that masks the systemic “loopholes” and weaknesses behind the LCP. The NAPWC strongly contends that anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric cannot be used to disguise the critical issue of childcare. It is clear that despite the urgent need for a genuine national childcare program that addresses the needs of all Canadians, particularly for working-class and racialized communities, the LCP continues to be promoted and expanded, by the Canadian government, as a cheap alternative to satisfy our growing childcare, healthcare and eldercare needs. The expansion of the Temporary Foreign Workers’ Program (TFWP) and the LCP is [...]
Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC) denounces Conservative cutbacks on settlement services as cutting corners on immigration
Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC) denounces Conservative cutbacks on settlement services as cutting corners on immigration National Statement For immediate release January 24, 2011 Once again, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Minister Jason Kenney proves he is no Santa Claus for struggling newcomer immigrant communities with his announcement to cut funding towards settlement services. Immigrant communities now welcome the New Year by bracing for more challenges and structural barriers in their struggle for genuine settlement and immigration. The Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC), a national alliance of Filipino Canadian women, youth and workers organizations, condemns the $53 million cutback as not only a disservice to already vulnerable newcomers, but ultimately as a clear indication that the Conservative government has no political will to secure the full participation entitled to immigrant communities as members of Canadian society. Cutting $53 million from settlement funding —$43 million taken from Ontario alone—is a direct attack against racialized and working-class communities. Heavy criticisms from opposition parties and the general public fall deaf on Minister Kenney’s ears, who stubbornly justifies the cut [...]
Local Filipino Canadian women’s conference redefined feminism towards genuine liberation
Toronto, ON—December 2, 2010—A vibrant and inspiring collective conversation ensued amongst a group of over 80 Filipino Canadian women, workers and youth at a landmark conference this weekend. Celebrated as the grand finale of 10.10.2010, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario’s (PWC-ON) 10th year anniversary, “Creating, Strengthening and Nurturing the Filipino Canadian Women’s Struggle for Genuine Liberation and Empowerment” served as a dynamic summation of an entire decade of redefining feminism from the Filipino Canadian women’s perspective. Organized under the auspices of the recently-formed Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC), the conference illuminated the enduring and fundamental importance of women’s consciousness, history, action and struggles in the realization of our full participation and entitlement as a community and as a people in Canadian society. For an entire weekend, a lively exchange of transformative discussions on the role of women in leading the journey through the community’s unfolding path of settlement and integration ensued. Songs, panel speeches, collective discussions, testimonials, a research report-back, a political fashion show, as well as much laughter, all rung through the hearts and minds [...]
Racism Between the Lines: Exposing and Opposing Racism Behind Toronto Star and Macleans Articles
Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance-Ontario (UKPC/FCYA-ON) National Statement November 23, 2010 On November 10th, 2010, two articles were published by Macleans’ Magazine and the Toronto Star newspaper fuelled anti-immigrant sentiments and racism, titled as “‘Too Asian’?: Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrolment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canada” and “Educators encourage parents of Asian background to let their children study trades and arts,” respectively. The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario (UKPC/FCYA–ON), a progressive organization of Filipino Canadian youth and students, recognize that the articles fuel anti-immigrant sentiments and racism while masking the genuine concerns and issues that plague post secondary education and its students. Without a clear understanding of the social, political and economic situation of racialized communities in Canada, the experiences of Asian Canadian students are then seen within a vacuum devoid of a larger systemic context. The articles are not only examples of irresponsible and bad journalism, but they also represent propaganda that perpetuate racism, irrational anxiety and fear. As the lessons of history have taught [...]
SIKLAB-ON Hosts Dinner & Dance Celebrating 5 Years of Filipino Canadian Workers’ Advancement: Nourishing the Appetite for Change, Dancing in the Rhythm of Resistance
Toronto ON (November 13, 2010)—Over 180 members, supporters and friends of the Magkaisa Centre celebrated the 5th year anniversary of SIKLAB Ontario, a progressive Filipino Canadian workers organization, with a fundraiser dinner and dance party held on November 6, 2010 at a local Filipino restaurant. Paving a distinct progressive culture, it is also a night dedicated to the community members and allies that continually struggle to establish a path that is truly invested and fervidly attuned to the Filipino Canadian community’s lived realities and their deep desire to transform them. Coinciding with the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario’s 10th year anniversary, the occasion also commemorates the group’s advancements in educating, organizing, and mobilizing around the issues faced by Filipinos in Canada on the struggles against systemic racism, economic marginalization and poverty, as well as, violence against women, in order to make the future generations of Filipino Canadian community count. The night is a show of appreciation and admiration for the 8 founding members of SIKLAB-ON, who consistently and unwaveringly support, sustain, and strengthen a politicized Filipino Canadian community. [...]