Where? 2120 Cambie Street
When? Thursday July 19th, Protest at 12:30 PM, Public Meeting at 1 PM
What? Join the protest, and/or sign up to speak by emailing office@vancouverpoliceboard.ca (bcc: sanctuaryhealthvancouver@gmail.com so that we know you are coming)
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/483363188790350/
At a public meeting at 1pm Thursday, the Vancouver Police Department will ask its Police Board to pass fake “Access to Police Services without Fear” guidelines, which will only create a false sense of security.
We are asking community to tell the police that their guidelines are unacceptable by protesting outside their meeting and/or by signing up to speak directly to the board.
The Vancouver Police Department should not claim to provide ‘Access without Fear,’ if it continues to be complicit in the detention of children, the separation of families and the deportation of people to countries where they will face violence and persecution. If you collaborate with Canada Border Services Agency, you’re not providing ‘Access without Fear.'
The VPD’s proposed guidelines are exactly the opposite of Access without Fear principles. They list extremely general reasons why they may choose to call CBSA. Even when they cannot justify their call under these very general reasons, they refuse to limit their officers’ ability to contact CBSA.
We have shared multiple concerns rooted in the experiences of community members,
and the VPD cannot explain how their guidelines would offer any safety to these same
people. For example, we received a report from a Latinx refugee who was walking down
the street while wearing construction gear and was stopped by a VPD officer and asked
for his immigration papers. In another case, when the VPD was called to a job site to
investigate a case of missing tools, they proceeded to ask everybody on the worksite for
their immigration status.
Read the Sanctuary City audit of Access without Fear policies in the City of Vancouver here: http://www.sanctuarycityvan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Audit-Final.pdf
To read the guidelines, see page 20-21 here: https://vancouver.ca/police/policeboard/agenda/2018/0719/1807P03-Board-Report-Access-to-Police-Services-Without-Fear.pdf
Tuesday 17 July 2018
Friday 29 June 2018
Sanctuary Health Statement 2018-06-29
As we see heartbreaking violence happening at all borders and as the municipal elections approach, several candidates and parties have been speaking out about Sanctuary City - and the city’s Access Without Fear Policy.
The current City of Vancouver Access Without Fear policy, passed in April 2016, has not been implemented under Vision Vancouver and has not led to meaningful change in the lives of migrants and their ability to feel safe accessing services. We often hear politicians say they support migrant communities but actions speak louder than words.
Sanctuary Health is a non-partisan group; we have not and will not endorse any political candidates. All candidates and community-oriented organizations must be held accountable to individuals who live in fear due to their precarious immigration status and the reality on the ground has not changed for them. The City of Vancouver has failed to allocate any resources to train staff and raise awareness about their policy, and they failed to get the Vancouver Police Department on board with the sanctuary principles. We are willing to work with anyone who will advance the Sanctuary City movement.
http://www.sanctuarycityvan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Audit-Final.pdf
The current City of Vancouver Access Without Fear policy, passed in April 2016, has not been implemented under Vision Vancouver and has not led to meaningful change in the lives of migrants and their ability to feel safe accessing services. We often hear politicians say they support migrant communities but actions speak louder than words.
Sanctuary Health is a non-partisan group; we have not and will not endorse any political candidates. All candidates and community-oriented organizations must be held accountable to individuals who live in fear due to their precarious immigration status and the reality on the ground has not changed for them. The City of Vancouver has failed to allocate any resources to train staff and raise awareness about their policy, and they failed to get the Vancouver Police Department on board with the sanctuary principles. We are willing to work with anyone who will advance the Sanctuary City movement.
http://www.sanctuarycityvan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Audit-Final.pdf
Wednesday 23 May 2018
Still Waiting, Still Afraid: Auditing Access without Fear Policies in the City of Vancouver
Below is the Executive Summary of an Audit of Access without Fear policies in the City of Vancouver, two years since the policy was initially passed. Click here to read the full report.
It has been two years since the City of Vancouver passed its Access without Fear policy. While we’ve witnessed Vancouver’s mayor and City Council celebrate the policy as an example of the City of Vancouver’s inclusive and welcoming nature, the policy has not been implemented. Sanctuary Health Vancouver, with the support of a group of UBC students, conducted an audit on the implementation of Access without Fear policies in the City of Vancouver. This report presents the results from this audit.
The City of Vancouver committed through their policy to implement a communication and education strategy to raise awareness about the principles and policy; to develop guidelines in collaboration with affected communities to offer training to city staff; to monitor and evaluate; to implement a complaint mechanisms; to provide annual community reportbacks to share progress; and to advocate for provision of services regardless of immigration status to other orders of government and jurisdictions. Little to nothing has been done on any of these items. Furthermore, the City policy explicitly recognizes shelters as an important site for Access without Fear. However, none of the frontline workers were aware of the Access without Fear policy. Several staff stated they would have to give personal information to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers. This lack of training about the need to protect client confidentiality could prove to be most devastating to the safety and security of undocumented individuals. Furthermore, a new agreement between CBSA, the John Howard Society and the Belkin Shelter will put shelter workers in direct contact with the CBSA as the shelter will be used as a de-facto detention centre.
Council encouraged the boards of Parks and Recreation, the Vancouver Police, and the Vancouver Public Library to adopt policies which support the spirit and objectives of the City’s policy. The Vancouver Library Board passed their Access to Vancouver Public Library Services without Fear Policy in April 2016. In November 2016, The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation approved the Access to Park Board Services without Fear policy. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Police Department refuse to consider implementing Access without Fear principles.
A lack of training for frontline staff is significantly impacting Vancouver Parks and Recreation and the Vancouver Public Library’s respective policies. Only one out of twenty-seven frontline parks board staff interviewed were aware of the Access without Fear policy and most said they did not know what to do if the CBSA or police ask for information about clients. Similarly out of the twenty library locations called, only two staff confirmed knowledge of the library’s Access without Fear policy and only six were confident that they would not share information with law enforcement agencies without a warrant or legal order.
Through our journey of building relationships with individual frontline staff and service providers, Sanctuary Health has encountered great champions within the Vancouver Public Library and the Vancouver Parks Board. Because of the great trust, understanding and solidarity of these staff, more families have been able to use the libraries with their children and access leisure cards to be able to bring their children to community centers. We want to acknowledge these efforts as these relationships and their work is an example of what meaningful access without fear could look like. With training and support at the institutional level, all staff could replicate this work and make our city inclusive and equitable for all.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Police Department is asking people with precarious immigration status to talk to them, while refusing to assure their safety from deportation if they do. Over the past two years, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has sought community endorsement of their ongoing working relationship with CBSA’s Inland Immigration Enforcement under the banner of “Access without Fear”. This relationship subverts the whole intention and purpose of an Access without Fear policy, and is unsafe for people with precarious immigration status. Until the VPD commits to truly providing Access without Fear, the VPD should not pass guidelines called “Access without Fear” which would create a false sense of safety.
Click here to read the full report.
It has been two years since the City of Vancouver passed its Access without Fear policy. While we’ve witnessed Vancouver’s mayor and City Council celebrate the policy as an example of the City of Vancouver’s inclusive and welcoming nature, the policy has not been implemented. Sanctuary Health Vancouver, with the support of a group of UBC students, conducted an audit on the implementation of Access without Fear policies in the City of Vancouver. This report presents the results from this audit.
The City of Vancouver committed through their policy to implement a communication and education strategy to raise awareness about the principles and policy; to develop guidelines in collaboration with affected communities to offer training to city staff; to monitor and evaluate; to implement a complaint mechanisms; to provide annual community reportbacks to share progress; and to advocate for provision of services regardless of immigration status to other orders of government and jurisdictions. Little to nothing has been done on any of these items. Furthermore, the City policy explicitly recognizes shelters as an important site for Access without Fear. However, none of the frontline workers were aware of the Access without Fear policy. Several staff stated they would have to give personal information to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers. This lack of training about the need to protect client confidentiality could prove to be most devastating to the safety and security of undocumented individuals. Furthermore, a new agreement between CBSA, the John Howard Society and the Belkin Shelter will put shelter workers in direct contact with the CBSA as the shelter will be used as a de-facto detention centre.
Council encouraged the boards of Parks and Recreation, the Vancouver Police, and the Vancouver Public Library to adopt policies which support the spirit and objectives of the City’s policy. The Vancouver Library Board passed their Access to Vancouver Public Library Services without Fear Policy in April 2016. In November 2016, The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation approved the Access to Park Board Services without Fear policy. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Police Department refuse to consider implementing Access without Fear principles.
A lack of training for frontline staff is significantly impacting Vancouver Parks and Recreation and the Vancouver Public Library’s respective policies. Only one out of twenty-seven frontline parks board staff interviewed were aware of the Access without Fear policy and most said they did not know what to do if the CBSA or police ask for information about clients. Similarly out of the twenty library locations called, only two staff confirmed knowledge of the library’s Access without Fear policy and only six were confident that they would not share information with law enforcement agencies without a warrant or legal order.
Through our journey of building relationships with individual frontline staff and service providers, Sanctuary Health has encountered great champions within the Vancouver Public Library and the Vancouver Parks Board. Because of the great trust, understanding and solidarity of these staff, more families have been able to use the libraries with their children and access leisure cards to be able to bring their children to community centers. We want to acknowledge these efforts as these relationships and their work is an example of what meaningful access without fear could look like. With training and support at the institutional level, all staff could replicate this work and make our city inclusive and equitable for all.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Police Department is asking people with precarious immigration status to talk to them, while refusing to assure their safety from deportation if they do. Over the past two years, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has sought community endorsement of their ongoing working relationship with CBSA’s Inland Immigration Enforcement under the banner of “Access without Fear”. This relationship subverts the whole intention and purpose of an Access without Fear policy, and is unsafe for people with precarious immigration status. Until the VPD commits to truly providing Access without Fear, the VPD should not pass guidelines called “Access without Fear” which would create a false sense of safety.
Click here to read the full report.
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