NATIONAL ACTION DETAILS
January 30 to February 5 – Full list of actions in all cities, continually updated:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1awOa4tymbc-ZxNmv5AfknvR9KQl44Fty0ixFZ3XZqSk/edit
We are tired.
The war waged against Muslims and refugees worldwide has reached its boiling point with Trump’s Presidency. These xenophobic, anti-Black, Islamophobic, anti-refugee racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic policies have come to fruition. Walls and bans against Muslims and Refugees on stolen Indigenous lands. We affirm our solidarity with Indigenous nations whose lands we reside on.
Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen. The geographies of our birth place that put targets on our heads. Families separated, refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants deported and detained, trapped in between borders or taken back – our communities are being terrorized by white supremacist violence and domination. Our movement is confronted by racist white nationalism, our lives are devastated in constant fear. We flee war, persecution, mass poverty in search for life – instead we get a fatal sentence for our faith.
Enough is Enough.
On January 29th, in Quebec City a group of Muslims were praying in a mosque at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre when one gunmen came in and rang shots throughout this place of worship. Six have died, even more are injured. We mourn their lives.
Last summer during the holy month of Ramadan, a pig’s head was left at the doorstep. The president of the cultural centre hoped the event was an isolated incident, and responded with nothing but love and respect to the Centre’s neighbours.
Colonial borders are imaginary constructs.
The white supremacist hatred of Muslims and refugees from all intersections world wide is the colonizing force that fuels the identity and economy of America just as much as Canada. Trump’s power is extended to Trudeau’s. The institutional and systemic Islamophobic, anti-Black and racist policies that are killing us at the border, in the streets, in our homes, at work and in our mosques are one.
We are under attack on all fronts, especially those of us who live in the intersections of Blackness and Muslimness and are Refugees who are the first to be silenced, ignored or forgotten.
Not another life. Not another mass murder.
Our resistance does not stop here. Now more than ever we must organize. This is a national call to action to plan demonstrations in your cities, Canada wide. Join us, as we rise up!
OUR DEMANDS:
1) The Canadian government must make an immediate public condemnation of the executive order by President Trump that bans Muslim visa-holders from seven countries and also bans all refugees from entering the US.
2) Canada must immediately open the Canada-USA border and grant permanent, not temporary, status.
This includes revocation of the Safe Third Country Agreement which bars most refugee claimants entering from the United States over land to claim asylum in Canada. The Designated Country of Origin list, which makes it almost impossible for US citizens and citizens of forty other countries to claim asylum in Canada, must be eliminated.
3) Canada must end racist, anti-refugee, anti-Black, Islamophobic exclusion of migrants and refugees within this colonial border.
This includes ending the system of indefinite immigration detention. The federal government must create a regularization program so that all undocumented residents can live here with their families rather than fear mass deportation. Migrant workers in Canada must also be given permanent status and open work permits. We want real, not symbolic, Sanctuaries that guarantee access to services and refuse collaboration with Canadian and American border agents.
4) Canada must rescind all federal legislation that attacks racialized Black and Brown Muslims and refugees, including the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act as well as anti-terror legislation such as Security Certificates and Bill C51.
Statement initiated by Black Lives Matter – Toronto With the support of:
Anti-Fascist Action Calgary
Black Lives Matter -Vancouver
Coalition Against Bigotry – Pacific
Idle No More
Justicia for Migrant Workers
Kashmir Solidarity Group – Toronto
No One Is Illegal – London, Ontario
No One Is Illegal – Toronto
No One Is Illegal -Vancouver Coast Salish territories
People for Peace – London, Ontario
Refugees Welcome – Victoria/Lekwungen territory
Salaam -Vancouver: Queer Muslim Community
Siraat Muslim Collective – Vancouver
Tamil Freedom Coalition
Trikone – Vancouver
Additional Endorsing Organizations:
Amnesty International at York (AIY)
Anti-Colonial Committee of the Law Union of Ontario
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement
Brock University Students’ Union Advocacy Department
Canadian Federation of Students
Canadian Friends of Kurdistan
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Canadian Union of Postal Workers – Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses
Centre for Women’s Studies in Education (OISE)
Children Space Theatre
Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter
Cooper Institute – PEI
Council of Canadians
CUPE – Ontario
CUPE 1281
CUPE 3902 Flying Squad
CUPE 3902 Racialized Members Caucus
CUPE 3903 First Nations Solidarity Working Group
CUPE 3903 Flying Squad
CUPE 5167 Outside Working Group
Diversity Solutions
Divest MTA
East Enders Against Racism (Toronto)
East Toronto Families for Syria
Harvest Noon Co-op
Health Providers Against Poverty – Toronto
International Anti-Zionist Network-Canada
Independent Jewish Voices – Canada
Independent Jewish Voices – Toronto
Independent Jewish Voices – Vancouver
International Socialists
Intersex Nonbinary and Transgender Action Coalition of Toronto
Fightback
Fight for $15 and Fairness
Friendzone Collective
Fossil Free Guelph
Khalsa Aid
Leadnow
OHIP for All
Ontario Council of Hospital Unions
Ontario Humanist Society
OPIRG Toronto
OPSEU 551
OPSEU Local 586
Project World Recovery
Mining Injustice Solidarity Network
Mujer
Muslim Women’s Collective – Brampton
NDP Socialist Caucus
Network of Women with Disabilities
No More Silence
Rainbow Refugee
Revolutionary Student Movement – Toronto
Revolutionary Student Movement – York University
RefugeAid – York University
Rhythms of Resistance
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Sanctuary Health – Vancouver
School of Social Play
Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) – Toronto
SlutWalk Toronto
Socialist Action
Solidarity Ottawa
Spring Tide Resources
Stop C-51: Toronto
Stop Demovictions Burnaby
Stop the JNF-Canada
Studio Jaywall
Taggart Law
Tamil Archive Project
Tamil Studies York
The Leap
Toronto Anarchist Reading Group
Toronto New Socialists
Toronto Seed Library
Toronto Street Medics
Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine
Toronto Women’s City Alliance
Unifor National
University of British Columbia Tandem Language Learning Program
University of Toronto Feminist Law Students Association
Upping the Anti: a journal of theory and action
V-Day Guelph
Women’s Human Rights Education Institute
World University Service Center of Canada- York Keele
Workers’ Action Centre
Youth Communist League
