Yesterday, Wednesday March 13 2013, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) conducted armed raids at several sites in Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territory, including construction sites and reportedly at least one residence to round up undocumented workers to deport them. Why is it that the Canadian government supports allowing Canadian corporations to operate freely anywhere in the world but criminalizes the movement of labourers?

Many of the workers who are being detained have been living in Vancouver for years and have partners and family here, so a lot of pain is rippling through our communities.  Several are partnered with indigenous women.  Very disturbingly, one of the raids included a large number of armed plainclothes CBSA agents surrounding a construction site while a TV crew filmed the raid for a reality television show.  The raid was conducted to create a spectacle for the cameras, to be packaged and sold as entertainment! And of course the pain and fear of the workers and their families is rendered invisible. This is not acceptable.

We demand regularization for undocumented workers!  This has been done before for other groups of workers/undocumented members of Canadian society and it can absolutely be done again.

Women at the Forefront of Emancipation: Resisting 

Structural Violence and Exploitation!

Join us at tomorrow MARCH 8th for a rally being held on International Women's Day: 

Women at the Forefront of Emancipation: Resisting Structural Violence and Exploitation! International Women's Day Rally 2013 Vancouver Art Gallery - Robson St. Friday March 8 - 5:00 pm

For full details see: https://www.facebook.com/events/628544257172488/?fref=ts

BC Nurses Union on "Sanctuary Health: Saying "NO" to refugee health cuts"

See full article at: http://issuu.com/bcnursesunion/docs/update_feb-mar_2013?mode=window

Refugees in Canada have poorer access to health care than in refugee camps

Open letter from Canadian health providers who have volunteered for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) about the effects of the Interim Federal Health Program cuts.

Vigil, December 15 2012

Thank you to everyone who braved the cold weather to give voice to our collective opposition to the IFH cuts and Bill C-31.  Today is a shameful day in Canadian history, the day that Bill C-31 came into full effect. We had an excellent turnout for something organized in two days and which also took place in freezing and damp weather! It shows that there is a lot of energy and grassroots support around these issues. Perhaps the most poignant moment was when we heard the story of a family who fled political imprisonment, torture and possible death and now have a member trying to survive in Canada without vital medications because of these cuts. We were asked "What is the difference between Canada and the country we came from, that in Canada we are killed more slowly?"

There are many difficult questions Canadians must ask themselves right now. What is Canada's role in forcing global migration?  Where does Canada's wealth come from? What kind of society do we wish to live in-one where people suffer and die needlessly because some politicians wanted to score a few cheap political points?  Please stay in touch as we move with momentum into 2013 and continue to build the strength of our communities to practice an ethic of solidarity and demand health justice for all people!

Our friends from www.wearejose.com also attended and spoke, including Jose Figueroa and his son Jose Ivan Figueroa who is developing into a very talented young speaker! Please make sure to check out their important and very touching campaign.

This was part of a coordinated national Day of Action and we will be sharing media coverage of events in other cities once it is available.

 Near the beginning, if you have a picture showing the fuller crowd send it along! :)

The "Cards For Kenney" station where people wrote holiday greeting cards to Jason Kenney with messages such as "All I want for the holidays is... insulin for diabetics!" etc.  This is part of a national campaign. "Cards for Kenney" video on Youtube.

How do we decolonize healthcare?

The struggle for health justice for refugees and migrants is intimately connected to the struggle for health justice for indigenous peoples in Canada.  There is a direct relationship between the ongoing colonization of indigenous peoples/territories and Canadian policy toward refugees, migrants and all other immigrants.  In fact, when it was founded in 1917 Citizenship and Immigration Canada was actually called the "Department of Immigration and Colonization." Additionally, many refugees and migrants are themselves indigenous people who have been forced away from their homes by historical events and economic situations that Canadian corporations and the Canadian government have played a direct role in creating.

This week the Health Council of Canada released a report called Empathy, dignity, and respect: Creating cultural safety for Aboriginal people in urban health care. The report has received some press coverage because it addresses the fact that indigenous people in Canada  face very serious barriers to medical care, sometimes including explicitly racist treatment by medical staff.  Sanctuary Health encourages all healthcare workers to become champions of transformative change in the medical system by challenging and resisting racism in any form. It is impossible to be neutral-we either oppose racism in our medical system or participate in sustaining it. Indifference and injustice have the same relationship as oxygen and fire. Let's take a stand for health justice and participate in positively shaping the cultures of our workplaces. As we begin to listen to the voices of refugees, migrants and indigenous communities, and as we begin to find our own voices, we begin to find the power to change our world!

A Crisis in Migrant Health

Check out this informative new article.