Lots of people are not welcome in Canada anymore.
People can no longer count on finding refuge in Canada. It’s like our country now has big signs on our borders saying Go Away. We don’t want you here. rabble radio 158 is about the lives that undocumented migrants face, those who are incarcerated because they are undocumented, and also about people trying to help them make sense of it all and live their lives.
No One is Illegal – On September 17, Victoria Fenner, rabble radio’s executive producer, went down to the Immigration and Refugee Headquarters on Victoria Avenue in Toronto. In front of the building was an event to recognize the one-year anniversary of a significant day. On September 17, 2013, 191 immigration detainees held in the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay Ontario, began a non-cooperation protest. Since then, people across the country have joined the call to end immigration detention.
Tings Chack is with the Toronto Chapter of No One Is Illegal, the organizers of the protest.
Imagine what it would be like to always be looking over your shoulder and wondering who knows you’re in the country without proper documentation. Your kids’ teachers? Your employer? Are they going to turn you in? Our next guest knows a lot of people who live with that fear. Suzanne Narain is a Jane Finch community resident, a neighbourhood in Toronto where a lot of undocumented workers live. She spoke to John Bonner of the rabble.ca podcast John Bonner Audio Blog, about what life is like to live in fear of arrest, detention or deportation.
If you’re born in Canada, you’re automatically a Canadian citizen, right? Well, maybe not. Deepan Budlakoti was born in Canada. He has been issued a passport by the federal government. Twice. The government of Ontario gave him an Ontario birth certificate. But … the federal government now says he’s not a Canadian citizen and he needs to go home. Except India, which the government says is his home, says no. He’s not an Indian citizen. He was born in Canada, so he’s Canadian.
Deepan is still in Canada but has been stripped of his Canadian citizenship. He is now stateless. He is under house arrest in his parent’s home and can only go out between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. He doesn’t have health insurance anymore. He’s living in limbo.
Earlier this month, he lost his appeal of the government’s decision to revoke his citizenship. The case hinges on the question: Were his parents employees of India High Commission when he was born? Deepan and his lawyers say no.
Dan Kellar of the rabble podcast AWOL spoke to Deepan Budlakoti a few days after he received the news of his lost appeal earlier this month.
When one of our podcasters celebrates, so do we. This year is a milestone year for one of our longest-running podcasts. It’s the 10th anniversary of the program “Living on Purpose.” It hasn’t been on the rabble podcast network for all that time. Lynn Thompson’s podcast began on the radio in Nanaimo in 2004 and migrated to the rabble podcast network in 2007. Happy anniversary, Living on Purpose!
