joeoliver

Breaking News: Refugee and Immigrant Rights groups shut down

Conservative MP offices for a second time, carry out further actions to scrap Bill C-31

No One Is Illegal – London is carrying out a sit-in at MP Susan Truppe’s office at 546 King Street, London while Occupy Toronto has joined No One Is Illegal – Toronto in shutting down MP Joe Oliver’s office at 511 Lawrence Avenue West to demand that the Refugee Exclusion Act, Bill C-31, be discarded. A banner was also dropped in Ottawa as part of this escalating, coordinated campaign against Bill C-31.

Banner Drop Pictures at www.twitter.com/NoOneIsIllegal

Toronto pictures: http://www.yellowsweatygorilla.com/noii/joeoliver/ 
and http://www.flickr.com/photos/fifth_business/sets/72157629758377078/

For London video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq-k8089b8U&feature=youtu.be

Contrary to Minister Jason Kenney’s announcement, Bill C-31, is still being pushed through with many of its vicious elements still in place. It remains fundamentally the Refugee Exclusion Act.

And it is still being resisted.

For far too long we have seen governments push extreme laws and policies initially. Under pressure, they feign a step back in the name of compromise. “Everyone won” they declare and too many of us agree. Soon after, as many look elsewhere, the entire agenda is being pushed through again.

We saw this with the current refugee bill, C11, slated to come into force on June 30th. It created a two tier system of refugee protection that would be determined by the Minister. Under attack, the Minister cut a deal insisting that the discrimination on the basis of nationality would be done under the veneer of public oversight.

Bill C31 gave these arbitrary powers back to the Minister and even with the latest concessions, it continues to do so.

This we oppose.

The Refugee Exclusion Act still mandates jail time for refugees, denies these people permanent residency or the ability to reunite with their families for five years and and gives greater powers of surveillance and arrest over migrant lives to immigration enforcement. At the same time, separate regulations mean that many refugees will no longer be able to access the most basic of health care.

Minor concessions announced by Kenney last week includes reducing the time period for the detention review on mandatory jail sentences and a detail-less promise on how C-31 will not take away permanent residency from refugees grants statutes. These changes are a result of community organizing and political opposition at all fronts. Now is the time to escalate.

We will oppose this racist law as it makes its way through Parliament. We will oppose it on the ground as it results in more suffering for thousands of refugees and migrants.

– Issued a public statement denouncing the Bill

– Initiated a call write campaign.

– NOII TO delivered letters to seven MPs in the Citizenship and Immigration Cttee.

– We dropped banners and occupied MP offices in six cities simultaneously. and

– Organized community discussions in cities across the country

– 3,000 people marched in opposition to the Bill in Toronto on May Day.

In the weeks to come we will continue to mobilize opposition to Bill C31 in defence of freedom to move, return and stay.

Until all are free.

No One Is Illegal!