Our youth mourn the loss of Christian Derro
Toronto, ON – November 9, 2009 – Members of Ugnayan ng Kabataan ng Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario (UKPC/FCYA-ON) are mourning the loss of Christian Derro, a young member of our community who was recently lost to gun violence. Christian, who was only 19 years of age, sadly passed away on Thanksgiving weekend at a shooting incident in the Jameson area of Parkdale. We recognize that although Christian’s early death may have been avoidable, such stories of violence and death as experienced by Filipino-Canadian youth are not new happenings within the community. Circumstances such as these remind us of Jeffrey Reodica, Mao Jomar Lanot and Charle Dalde, to name a few. We remember their names not as part of news reports and headlines gone by, but as Filipino-Canadian youth whose lives speak of the experiences of many others within the community. We are with the Derro family in mourning for the loss of Christian. Our community has been experiencing different forms of youth violence, and we do not wish for this trend to continue. Violence, whether from [...]
The youth voice the community’s need for a Poverty-Free Ontario
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Filipino-Canadian youth voice the community’s need for a Poverty-Free Ontario Toronto, ON – November 5, 2009 – On this national Day of Action, Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance–Ontario stands in solidarity with student and community groups as we struggle for accessible education and a Poverty-Free Ontario. We are united with various groups in the recognition that the lack of accessible education is only one aspect of a larger systemic problem. Poverty in Ontario affects us all, as systemic barriers withhold us from accessing adequate social services such as childcare, housing, job training and proper wages. We have continually witnessed tuition fees increasing with each passing year, as more and more students are no longer able to afford a full-time education, much less provide for their basic necessities. Ontario now has the highest tuition fees in Canada, fees that are increasing up to 8 percent each year. We are affected by education that is becoming increasingly exclusive, one that presents an idealized vision of the education system, while preventing the participation of [...]
The youth urgently call to stop street violence in Côte-des-Neiges
Kabataang Montreal Over the past three weeks, incidents of street violence involving Filipino adolescents, and alleged members of the South Asian community have increased in the Côte-des-Neiges area. According to reports received by Kabataang Montreal (Filipino youth of Montreal), several Filipino youth have been involved in fights and were hospitalized as a result. In response to the rise in violence, Kabataang Montreal will be holding a press conference on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 4900 Fulton at 10h00 to call for an end to this pressing and urgent matter. “We are deeply concerned with how frequent and severe these cases have become", says Neil Castro, Secretary-General of KM, "We will not allow this situation to escalate to the point where more people get hurt. We need to talk about this issue immediately”. The Filipino youth hope to join forces with leaders of the South Asian community to address the issues of systemic racism facing the youth of both communities. With the growing influx of immigrant communities, Côte-des-Neiges has become a densely populated area in Montreal where many citizens [...]
PWC’s Young Women’s Collective launches first community-based women’s studies program
Philippine Women Centre of Ontario Press release PWC’s Young Women’s Collective launches first community-based women’s studies program For immediate release: June 17, 2009 June 17, 2009 (Toronto, ON) – The Philippine Women Centre of Ontario (PWC-ON), along with its newly formed Young Women’s Collective, is launching “Towards Filipino Women’s Liberation: a community-based Filipino women’s studies program.” This program, which will consist of ten three-hour sessions, marks the first ever community-based Filipino women’s studies program in PWC-ON’s history. Modeled after the Philippine Women Centre of BC’s own community-based Filipino women’s studies program, these courses will examine the root causes of Filipino women’s migration through the study of political, social and economic forces – both historical and contemporary – that frame Filipino women’s experience. As Filipino women comprise over 70 percent of Filipino migrants and immigrants in Canada, the need for understanding the role of Filipino women in the community’s struggle for settlement and integration becomes more pressing and vital. The increasing feminization of labour and migration is especially evident in the Live-in Caregiver Program, a program that is comprised [...]
As the violence continues, the Live-in Caregiver Program still remains unquestioned
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) SIKLAB-Ontario (Advance the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos) Media release As the violence continues, the Live-in Caregiver Program still remains unquestioned May 9, 2009 Toronto, ON – Filipino advocacy groups strengthen their call to abolish the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) as the experiences of Filipina domestic workers once again make it onto the front page of the Toronto Star. The groups identify the abuses suffered by the live-in caregivers in the home of Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla as a testament to the state-sanctioned modern-day slavery in Canada. While the general public is busy condemning our provincial and federal parliamentarians in their complicity to this ongoing violence, SIKLAB-Ontario, a local migrant workers' organization, and the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) remind Canadians that the “Dhalla case” is beyond the isolated incidences of abusive high-profile employers. Rather, they encourage media and the public to interrogate the federal program itself, and investigate why the stories of Magdalene Gordo and Richelyn Tongson are common to all domestic workers employed through [...]
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO TURNS TO UNJUST SOLUTION TO SATISFY CHILD-CARE DEMANDS
Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance - Ontario March 11, 2009 Press Release UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO TURNS TO UNJUST SOLUTION TO SATISFY CHILD-CARE DEMANDS Filipino student group appalled by the hypocrisy of Uof T’s Family Care Office in endorsing modern-day slavery Toronto, ON - The Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance – Ontario (FCYA-ON), a registered student organization at the University of Toronto, is outraged at the Family Care Office for holding a workshop on finding a caregiver under the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), a federal program that promotes the human trafficking of Filipino women. The workshop is provided by a group that says that it promotes “family diversity,” but yet it blindly ignores the exploitative nature of the LCP. The Family Care Office held an information session on February 18, 2009 to provide a venue for a placement agency and current employers of Filipina caregivers to help students, staff and faculty find the caregiver who is “the right fit for their family.” Although members of the University should have an opportunity to make informed decisions about [...]
Filipino women in Canada: continue the struggle to scrap the LCP and for our genuine freedom!
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada March 8, 2009 Statement Filipino women in Canada: continue the struggle to scrap the LCP and for our genuine freedom! On this year's International Women's Day, the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada continues to call for the scrapping of the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) and sends warm and militant greetings of solidarity to all working women around the globe who are struggling for equality, justice and genuine development. We remember and pay homage to the 20,000 immigrant women garment workers in the United States, who took to the streets in 1908 to struggle for better working conditions. Their struggles inspired socialist women to call for the first International Women's Day. We also honor the struggles of women around the world who have devoted and offered their lives to the struggle for national and social liberation and for genuine equality for women and against all forms of exploitation and oppression. As the global economic crisis worsens, women around the world and in Canada are the hardest hit. In Canada with [...]
Sad State of the Filipino Union
Sad State of the Filipino Union Ugnayan Ng Kabataang Pilipino Sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance – Ontario Issues of Filipino identity dominated the conversation during the first State of the Filipino Union (SOFU) gathering on February 26, 2009. However, the gathering did not address the more apparent concerns that affect the successful settlement and integration of our community such as, systemic racism, violence against women and economic marginalization. “What was it like to grow up in Canada? Did your parents teach you Tagalog? What was your experience with assimilation? Did you teach your kids Tagalog?” These questions were directed to a panel of 16 Filipino youth and 16 older Filipino Canadians who spearhead or are affiliated with cultural, religious, media, service-oriented and university student-based organizations in the Greater Toronto Area. Many panelists responded with similar experiences and reiterations of culture clash, “just trying to fit-in” scenarios and learning Filipino culture as elements that informed their identity. However, if Filipinos have continued to arrive in Canada since the 1960s, why has the dialogue today become so stagnant and fixated [...]
Filipinos welcome U.N.’s critique of Canada’s human rights record, cite human rights violations of live-in caregivers
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada Press Release Filipinos welcome U.N.’s critique of Canada’s human rights record, cite human rights violations of live-in caregivers For immediate release: February 6, 2009 A national advocacy group of Filipinos in Canada welcomed the recent recommendations of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) urging Canada to ratify a treaty to protect the rights of migrant workers. The UPR took place in Geneva, Switzerland on Feb. 3, 2009. Members of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) a national advocacy group of Filipinos in Canada say the Canadian government should listen to the U.N. body’s recommendations and the voices of Filipino migrant workers in Canada and other NGO’s who have been urging the government to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW) and investigate abuses under the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). Chapter members of the NAPWC participated in consultations in Vancouver and Toronto last month organized along with other NGOs and Indigenous peoples organizations [...]
Announcement: Going back to the roots
A sharing on the Philippines and the Filipino people's experience with globalization and their struggle for genuine human rights. Guest Speaker: Monica Urrutia a member of the Philippine Women Centre of BC and staff of the Public Service Alliance of Canada who joined the Vancouver District Labour Council's (VDLC) solidarity tour to the Philippines last Novermber 29 to December 14, 2008. Where: room 1230 Bahen Centre, University of Toronto (St. George Street and College St) When: February 22, 4-6pm Refreshments will be served! Bahen Centre is also wheelchair accessible! Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=124472900533