
By Colin McGregor
I was at a demonstration recently at the Jean Talon Station (Parc Métro) to support the plight of undocumented migrants who are being deported. There should be some sort of regularization program for them, said the protestors, which numbered about 100.

According to the organizers, the rationale behind the march was as follows:
« The Canadian Parliament just closed for the summer and undocumented migrants are still waiting for a regularization programme.
« Undocumented migrants and all major organizations and unions in Canada and Quebec have been demanding that Prime Minister Trudeau move forward on a regularization programme granting permanent residence to all undocumented migrants.
« Now Trudeau and his colleagues have gone off on vacation and we continue to be shut out of schools, deprived of healthcare, exploited at work, separated from their families and communities, arrested and deported. We feel angry and betrayed by the failure to move forward on regularization. »
The delay of the regularization program promised by the government in 2021, the continuation of deportations and detentions and the closure of several borders, including that with the United States, are frustrating many people and driving them to despair, according to the demonstrators.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales, notes that “regularization is a first step towards concrete economic and social integration for migrants in their destination countries and communities. In economic terms, regularization allows migrants to access regular jobs, undertake entrepreneurial initiatives, start small businesses, work on their own and make full use of their capacity for innovation. With regard to social rights, obtaining a regular status also allows migrants to access protection and social security systems since, in some countries, universal health care is limited to emergency treatment, and education available to migrant children with irregular status is limited to primary schools; migrants in a regular situation have better access to health and education systems”
The demonstration was peaceful and without incident. Samosas were served to all before the march! They were delicious.
Leave a Reply