Enough is enough! Progressive Filipino Canadians stand in solidarity with Movement for Black Lives
The Philippine Women Centre (PWC), Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance/Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada (FCYA/UKPC), and SIKLAB Ontario stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives in the wake of the Black lives lost at the hands of police including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and in Toronto, Regis Korchinski-Paquet. We support the demands of Black activists and organizers to defund the police and the immediate re-allocation of funds to pro-people social services such as publicly funded and universally accessible and free health care system, childcare, education, housing, transportation, and investment in arts and culture programs. In the last few days, we have seen and heard the world scream “Enough is enough!” as protests erupt across the U.S., sparking solidarity protests across the world calling for justice in ending police brutality, systemic racism, and more urgently, anti-black racism. As the police force continue to terrorize Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities – the same communities deemed heroes for being frontline and essential workers– the police expose themselves as an institution whose ultimate purpose is “to serve and protect” capital [...]
Hands off Wet’suwet’en!
The Philippine Women Centre of Ontario stands in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en land and water protectors for their ongoing fight against the Canadian government and Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. for their illegal encroachment on their territory. On February 10th, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested seven matriarchs and community leaders at the Unist’ot’en camps while holding ceremony to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. We condemn the Canadian government for deploying the RCMP to protect the interests of private extractive industries while completely disregarding the sovereignty of Indigenous lands. The irony is not lost on us. It is our long-held stance that state violence is also gendered violence, with women bearing the brunt of it. Now is as important a time as any and we must recognize the common enemy to marginalized and oppressed peoples, most especially women of colour. We reject Canada’s incessant capitalist and colonial project and we stand with Indigenous women in their active and open resistance to the state; a state that espouses empty promises of reconciliation while operating on stolen land. [...]
A new decade for progress and development towards women’s liberation
January 21, 2020 We are entering a new decade inspired by the growing hunger for change and transformation we are seeing around the world. We can only move forward by understanding our role and place in history while fearlessly continuing the work that has been previously laid by progressive and revolutionary women towards justice and liberation. It is a pivotal moment for us to assert the historical momentum of women leading socialist calls, ideas, and movements as capitalism continues to be denounced in the broader society. We in the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario, as part of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, continuously assert the social responsibility of reproductive work and for the care of the most vulnerable in our society. We relentlessly denounce anti-woman government programs like Canada’s caregiver program--recently what’s been renamed Canada’s Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker pilot program--that are inherently exploitative for us as Filipino women, and thus for women in Canada as a whole. Under Canada’s caregiver program, women/workers from the global south remain locked in [...]
End Violence Against Women! Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls!
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) National Statement July 11, 2019 The National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) expresses its support and commend the indigenous women and their families in Canada, since the release of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, to resolutely call out Canadian genocide on their people, community and overall toward Indigenous women, girls and the 2SLGBTQQIA. As a country that paints itself as a peace loving and peacekeeping nation, in reality, Canada has historically refused to not only not acknowledge, but also perpetuate the systemic marginalization, oppression and genocide of Indigenous peoples. We have seen continuous political inaction on issues of safe drinking water, youth suicide, and inadequate housing just to name a few. In particular, we see ongoing neglect of the human rights and well being of Indigenous peoples in Canada with the cases of thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The failure of Canada to acknowledge the basic rights, land rights, and livelihood of Indigenous peoples has laid the groundwork to [...]
Bolstering the Call for a Socialist Canada Against Fascism, Racism and Neo-Liberal Cutbacks
May Day 2019 Statement Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians May 4, 2019 Members of the Congress of Progressive Filipino Canadians (CPFC) extend greetings of solidarity to allies, supporters, community organizations and progressives on this 133rd anniversary of International Workers Day! As a commemoration to the 1886 Haymarket Square labour strikes for workers rights, safer and better working and living conditions, economic justice and social stability, for more than a century May Day has come to symbolize the great sacrifices and celebrate important victories of working-class struggles and peoples' movements all over the world. During these times of intensifying western imperialist wars of aggression--, the exploitation of billions of people under capitalism, as well as the environmental catastrophes we face today, May Day becomes a significant moment to reaffirm and strengthen our demands of social change and call for a socialist alternative. It is in this spirit of the culture of resistance that the CPFC continues to uphold and advance the working-class struggle for socialism in Canada. On a global scale, we have observed record breaking spikes in temperatures, [...]
No to Ford. No to cuts, education is a universal right!
January 23, 2019 Toronto,ON--The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance of Ontario and its sister organizations, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario and SIKLAB Ontario, stand in solidarity with youth and students in the fight for the right to free and accessible education. On January 17th 2019, the Ford government announced changes towards tuition fees and loans for post-secondary education, including a reduction of OSAP grants for low-income students and slashing the six-month interest-free grace period in exchange for a 10% tuition cut. While the Ford government claims that such changes would “reduce complexity for students” and help “students keep more money in their pocket”, the accumulation of debt as a result greatly outweighs the tuition cut. The proposed changes will have little effect on alleviating the cost of post-secondary education in Ontario. Across Canada, students in Ontario pay the highest tuition fees and receive the lowest per-student government funding. A reduction of 10% is but a few hundred dollars and students are still left with over $25,000 in tuition fees for a four-year undergraduate degree. These changes will prevent [...]
Proposed changes to Childcare Care Act continue to counter Canadians’ calls for universal childcare
On December 6, 2018, the Conservative government of Ontario proposed new legislation called "Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, 2018". This legislation would be part of the Ontario Open for Business Action Plan which the Ontario Conservative government claims would give businesses more flexibility to create jobs in Ontario. One of the 30 actions under this Act would include the Ministry of Education allowing additional children to be in the care of home-based child care providers. While the provincial government claims that this change would make it easier for parents to find affordable child care, the cost of the labour continues to fall on home-based child care providers that are often underpaid, overworked and abused. These proposed changes to the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, would remove restrictions on home-based child care providers to allow additional children. The impact of such a change would increase the number and ages of children that home-based child care providers care for. This reinforces the historical and ongoing privatization of child care in Ontario and Canada to the individual family/household. Governments have [...]
A Memorial for Qara Clemente
On Sunday November 18th at the Hart House Music Room from 5:30pm-7:30pm, the Magkaisa Centre welcomes all family, friends and fellow activists and organizers to celebrate the life of Qara Clemente. Join us in remembering her life and legacy as a community organizer, activist, writer, artist, and scholar for the people. Location, directions, and parking information can be found here: http://harthouse.ca/maps-directions/ Music Room, Hart House (2nd floor) 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3H3 From 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Panel on activism & organizing in current times of growing fascism is set to take place on November 24th
Toronto, ON–In less than three weeks, the Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance will be hosting a panel discussion on November 24, 2018 entitled “Make the Youth Count: Rise Against Fascism”. This panel will bring together current perspectives of our particular role as youth and progressives in building genuine political movements for social change in a time of growing right-wing ideology and attacks to the working class, and marginalized communities. The event will take place on November 24 at the 12:30PM at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Room 5250. For youth, while there is growing uncertainty of our future, there is also growing denouncement of fascism and right-wing attacks that continue to be implemented both locally and globally. Kebz Nerier of Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance will bring out the question of what is revolutionary culture in our current times, the need for it, and how are youth leading this movement. Activist and organizer, Sadia Khan will bring critical questions to the table about what is needed to be effective in community organizing especially with the emboldening of the [...]
In Memory of Qara Clemente, Comrade and Friend
We have known Qara since 2006 when she joined the community-based research project of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) - a multi-year project that focused on processes and challenges of settlement and integration of Filipinos in Canada. It was through this project and as member of the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-O), Philippine Centre of BC (PWC-BC) and Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance (FCYA) that Qara began her productive journey and life-long commitment into the affairs of the Filipino-Canadian community. Through these various community organizations, Qara became a community organizer. She was actively engaged in the education and mobilization of the community relating to various issues such as globalization, immigration, anti-racism, women empowerment, youth activism and enhancement economic opportunities for Filipino-Canadian women, youth and workers. She researched and wrote on numerous social and political topics proving her intellectual and academic abilities in understanding them in the context of and beyond the Filipino-Canadian community. Among her accomplishments was her direct and active participation in our community-based project “Making the Filipino Youth Count in Canada’s Future” that [...]
Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance to hold a panel discussing organizing amidst growing popularity of fascism
Toronto, ON--The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance/Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada (FCYA/UKPC) invites everyone to a panel discussion on November 24, 2018 entitled “Make the Youth Count: Rise Against Fascism”. This event will provide a space to share experiences of activism and community organizing under the current intensifying right-wing populism that have continued to attack especially racialized communities and the working class globally. It will also aim to better equip ourselves with the knowledge of what fascism means in our current times and how youth and students can play a crucial role at the forefront of the resistance against fascism and towards a larger movement for social change. In Canada, rising student debt, flexible, contractual and part time employment becoming the norm for young workers and the prospect for those graduating post-secondary institutions, it is crucial we demand and continue to fight for a more meaningful and secure future for ourselves and the generations to come. With right-wing attacks continuing to claw back basic civil liberties that previous social movements had fought for, how can we progressive [...]