Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

source: The Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — Gurcharan Singh Gill’s grandfather was a stout man - and could just barely see over the rails of the Komagata Maru when it docked in Burrard Inlet 94 years ago.

Despite that, Daljit Singh, the personal assistant to the man who led the voyage, was proud as he looked out over the water to Vancouver after a month-long voyage that began in Asia, Mr. Gill said.

But after a two-month standoff in British Columbia, the Komagata Maru was turned away, marking one of the most shameful chapters in Canadian immigration history.

Now, the federal government is preparing to apologize for its exclusion of 376 would-be immigrants from India.

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TORONTO - The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) is the co-recipient of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Award of Excellence. In a ceremony May 2 in Calgary, representatives of CCNC shared the spotlight with co-recipient Le Carrefour BLE and 5 other Award finalists. CRRF also anounced the establishment of a new fund to recognize the efforts of CCNC, redress-seeking groups and the Chinese Canadian community for its efforts in seeking redress of the Chinese Head Tax, Newfoundland Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act.

Sid Chow Tan, CCNC National Chairperson and President of the Head Tax Families Society of Canada and Victor Wong, CCNC Executive Director attended the CRRF Gala. Over the last 24 years, CCNC has worked in coalition with head tax families, redress-seeking groups and activists and allies including the Head Tax Families Society of Canada and the Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Families and lobbied the administrations of seven Prime Ministers in seeking a just and honourable resolution.

“We are honoured to share this recognition with Le Carrefour BLE and with all of the finalists, the honourable mentions and all of the groups that participated in the CRRF Award of Excellence this year,” Sid Tan, CCNC National Chairperson said today. “We share this recognition with the head tax families, redress-seeking groups and activists and allies from coast to coast to coast who assisted us over the years in the 24-year campaign for justice.”

The Chinese Head Tax (1885 - 1923), Newfoundland Head Tax (1906-1949) and Chinese Exclusion Act (1923 - 1947) were racist legislation targeted directly at people of Chinese descent. On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a Parliamentary Apology in the House of Commons and announced direct redress in the form of $20,000 ex-gratia payments to living head tax payers and surviving spouses and a $2.5 million community education fund. More than 82,000 Chinese paid the Chinese Head Tax, yet only 800 living head tax payers and surviving spouses will receive direct redress.

CCNC continues the campaign for inclusive redress by calling upon the Canadian Government to extend a meaningful apology in the form of direct redress to all head tax families. There are some 3000 families where the head tax payer and spouse have both passed away and these families are excluded under the June 22, 2006 Parliamentary Apology and redress announcement. The sons and daughters of the head tax payers were also directly affected by this legislation and experienced poverty, racism, family separation and lost educational opportunity first hand.

Founded 28 years ago on April 20, 1980, CCNC is a national non-profit organization with 27 chapters across Canada and a community leader for Chinese Canadians in promoting a more just, respectful, and inclusive society.

For more information contact: Victor Wong at (416) 977-9871.

My name is Kiran Arora and I am a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University, in the Marriage and Family Therapy department. I am conducting a research study which seeks to understand the impact of political violence in Punjab India, on Sikh diaspora in Vancouver.

Specifically, I would like to understand your views on what it means to be living in Vancouver, Canada as part of the Sikh diaspora. Further, I would like to understand how the political violence in Punjab, India has impacted you, your relationships and your position in the world, as a member of the Sikh diaspora in Vancouver.

This study will be pioneering in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy because this topic area has not been studied before. Bringing forth the unique experiences of the Sikh diaspora will be informative for those working in the mental health field. It will also allow the unique stories and voices of Sikh diaspora to take space in academia, where these voices can be acknowledged, and understood.

I am looking for potential volunteers for my study and hope that you will consider participating. If you wish to participate you must meet the following criteria:

1. You must be born outside of India, to parents who were born in India.
2. You must have experienced (first hand or second hand) some of the events affecting the Sikh community in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
3. You must reside in Vancouver.
4. You must self identify as a Sikh.

Participation in this study would be completely voluntary and you may withdraw at any time if you choose to participate. Your confidentiality is of utmost concern, and measures have been put into place to ensure that your confidentiality is protected.

I would be happy to discuss this with you in detail on the phone. The format of this study will be interviews, where I would be interviewing you for 90 to 120 minutes.

If you are interested in this study, please phone/email me. I will give you further information at that time, and also answer any questions or concerns you may have.

Kiran S.K. Arora
kiransarora@gmail.com
315.383.5400 - Syracuse, N.Y.
604.719.1871 - Vancouver, B.C.

“Challenging the Myths of Migration, Building workers’ solidarity in Canada”

A critical look at the expansion of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers’ Program (TFWP)

• Community Forum
• Sunday, April 6, 2008, 2:00 pm
• Kalayaan Centre, 451 Powell Street, Vancouver (between Jackson & Dunlevy Streets)

Speakers include: SIKLAB-B.C. (Advance the Rights and Welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers and their Families), Justicia for Migrant Worker, Other speakers to be announced. For more information: email: ilps_canada@shawcable.com

Lawyer, senator, union leader agree minorities are unwelcome

Don Butler, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Justice Canada is a “very poisonous, toxic department” that drives visible minorities out the door, says a high-profile former Justice lawyer.

Mark Persaud, who left Justice in 2003, told a Senate committee the atmosphere during the decade he worked there was rife with “overt racism and intimidation of employees.”

His testimony came on the heels of charges by a senator and the Public Service Alliance of Canada that racism is blocking visible minorities from being properly represented within the federal public service. Nova Scotia Senator Donald Oliver, who is black, bluntly asserted at Monday night’s Senate committee meeting that “it is racism that is preventing visible minorities from progressing in the public service.”

And Ed Cashman, a PSAC vice-president, told senators that racism is “the elephant in the room” that nobody in government wants to talk about.

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The deadline for nominations for the racially visible delegate to the B.C. Regional Convention has been extended to Friday, January 25th at 4 p.m. The Convention will be held in Vancouver from April 18-20, 2008.

Nominations for the racially visible delegate are open to racially visible members in good standing who have self-identified. Please ensure you have completed the self-identification form.

Please see the attached nomination form (pdf) which may be faxed to the REVP office at (604) 430-0194.

Recruitment rate drops as pool grows; critics call for penalties if government can’t reach hiring goals

Kathryn May, The Ottawa Citizen (Monday, January 14, 2008)

The federal government’s multimillion-dollar plan to hire and promote visible minorities has failed and it’s time to start imposing tough penalties if departments don’t meet hiring goals, critics say.

Despite the government’s push, visible minorities are losing ground in the public service, and their under-representation will only become more marked as their share of Canada’s population increases.

Staffing watchdog Maria Barrados, president of the Public Service Commission, raised the alarm when she found the recruitment rate of visible minorities fell last year even though overall hiring in departments increased. Despite that hiring spree, recruitment of visible minorities dropped from 9.8 per cent to 8.7 per cent of all hires.

“I was optimistic we could close the gaps more rapidly. I had not expected that downturn and that is quite a significant downturn. … It means that we have reached a level that we seem to be getting into the public service and we are not going beyond that because all of our recruitment is going up and the proportion is not going up,” she told a Senate committee.

In a bid to catch up, Ms. Barrados has asked Statistics Canada to determine how many visible minorities departments will have to recruit “within a reasonable amount of time” so its workforce reflects Canada’s labour force. She also launched a series of surveys and reviews to determine why visible minorities can’t land jobs in the public service in anywhere near the large numbers that apply.

What’s worrisome is that this dip comes at a time when the number of foreign-born Canadians — who are mostly visible minorities — in the labour market continues to climb.

Last year’s census revealed Canada’s foreign-born population grew four times as fast as that of the Canadian-born population during the first half of this decade and accounts for nearly one in five people who live here, a 75-year high.

“One in five Canadians will be visible minorities by 2017. That’s like the population of Quebec, which brings a lot of social, economic and political power with it,” said Errol Mendes, a law professor at the University of Ottawa.

“This is as much about the economy and sustainability of the public service and the private sector has caught onto this much faster.”

Under Canada’s employment equity laws, the government must hire women, people with disabilities, aboriginals and visible minorities in proportion to their share of the labour force. Departments are only trailing in the hiring of visible minorities, who make up 10.4 per cent of the labour force but have 8.6 per cent of federal jobs. Women, people with disabilities and aboriginals are hired at rates higher than they represent in the labour force.

On paper, getting more racial minorities into the public service has been a federal priority since the Liberals approved targets in 2000 recommended by the Embracing Change task force. It called for one in five new hires to be a visible minority by 2003. Similarly, one in five promotions into the executive ranks was to be a visible minority by 2005.

But a recent Senate study found the government went backwards and only one in 10 new hires is a visible minority.

Many say the poor showing will ratchet the pressure for new targets and tough penalties to enforce them.

Fo Niemi, the director general of the Centre of Research-Action for Race Relations, said the problem is Canada’s laws and policies aren’t enforced and there are no consequences.

The Senate’s human rights committee echoed that criticism and urged a cut in pay for deputy ministers, such as withholding their performance bonuses, if departments don’t hire enough visible minorities. Mr. Niemi, however, said ministers should be “accountable” if departments fall short.

The Embracing Change targets, led by Lewis Perinbam, lost momentum and the Harper government has shown little enthusiasm in pursuing them. Ms. Barrados said those targets are now being reworked and will have to be increased to catch up with the growth of visible minorities in the labour market. (Mr. Perinbam, a longtime bureaucrat, died last month.)

Governments have been bedeviled why visible minorities don’t get more jobs because they show such high interest. The commission’s studies reveal they accounted for 25.7 per cent of applications, but have 10.5 per cent of the jobs. This discrepancy is larger in some regions, departments and occupations.

Visible minorities are also more educated than most applicants; half have bachelor degrees or higher. Language doesn’t seem to be a barrier, especially for entry jobs, and neither does the preference for Canadian citizenship.

Ms. Barrados said the commission has been studying the recruitment process for about a year to determine where visible minorities drop out. She said they meet the advertised job requirements; fill in all forms properly and sail through the first screening. She now plans to survey visible minority applicants to ask them why they don’t think they landed the jobs.

Mr. Niemi said he suspects the dropoff happens after the interviews, which are often done by panels without visible minority members. The public service has long been dominated by white men and people tend to hire those who look like them, the Senate report said.

“It’s natural for people to like to hire and retain those they are most comfortable with. That’s the natural rule of selection and why men hire male buddies and work with people from the same cultural group,” he said.

Deborah Gillis, vice-president of the research firm Catalyst, said her studies show visible minority managers, professionals and executives in the private sector feel excluded from relationships that often help people get ahead, such as those forged by networking or with mentors and role models. She said many don’t feel comfortable going for drinks, paying golf or to see hockey games, especially women. She said nearly half felt they were held to higher performance standards and said who you know was critical to getting ahead.

Ms. Barrados said the big problem is departments aren’t strategic in their personnel planning, which should include plans for visible minorities.

She said she hoped that would change now that departments have been ordered to publicly post staffing and business plans on websites by the end of March.

She said the fact that departments rely on term and casual workers as their main pool of talent for permanent jobs also affects the number of visible minorities. These short-term workers are typically hired locally, through networks or contacts. Once hired, they get the inside track on permanent jobs. Visible minorities, however, don’t have the same contacts and are also concentrated in big cities of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

This is a reminder that the deadline date for PSAC racially visible members to apply to attend the upcoming 2008 PSAC National Conference for Racially Visible members either as a delegate or an observer is next Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 4 p.m. (Ottawa time). The deadline to receive resolutions for this conference is also January 16th, 2008 at 4 p.m. (Ottawa time).

Be The Change: Create A Better World!

The objectives of our 2008 PSAC National Conference for Racially Visible Members are to:

• Educate, politicize and mobilize racialized members by making links between the union, the workplace, the community and equality rights.
• Create and/or strengthen networks within our union and our communities.
• Enhance and support leadership development of racialized members in our union, workplace and beyond.
• Develop an analysis on what is racism, the impact of racism and how to fight against racism.

For more information visit the national website or go directly to the online application form.

SIKLAB-CANADA READIES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS’ ALLIANCE; ENCOURAGES MIGRANTS IN CANADA TO JOIN

Filipino migrants in Canada are set to bring their fight for their rights to a new level.

SIKLAB-Canada, a national formation representing migrant Filipino workers, is readying for the historic launching of the International Migrants’ Alliance (IMA) in June 2008 in Hong Kong.

“There is an urgent need to form the IMA,” explains Roderrick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada, “The issue of migration has become a global phenomenon and the focal point for much intense debate and discussion among academics and politicians on how to administer and manage international migration. It is now also time for those of us organizing around migrant rights to join together internationally to focus on the real lived experience and exploitation of migrant workers, the structures behind global migration, and the impacts of imperialist globalization,” continues Carreon.

There are over half a million Filipinos across Canada, the majority of whom are women who have entered the country as live-in domestic workers under the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). SIKLAB is actively campaigning for the scrapping of the LCP calling the immigration program “anti-woman and racist”.

Under the LCP, migrant workers are required to live-in their employers’ home for 24 months, hold only temporary immigration status, and are tied to their employers because of the required employer-specific contracts under the program — conditions, which SIKLAB argues breed exploitation, abuse and oppression of Filipino migrant workers in Canada.

“We know that our community’s migration to Canada as cheap and expendable labour is shared by many other migrant and immigrant communities,” says Glecy Duran, Vice-Chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada, “Because we are here and legislated to perform low-wage and dangerous jobs that no other Canadians will perform, migrants of all nationalities, especially those of colour, share a common experience of exploitation. We need to unite,” adds Duran.

The objectives of the IMA are:

• To promote the rights, livelihood and welfare of migrants, refugees and displaced persons all over the world;
• To defend the interests of migrants, refugees and displaced persons from attacks of imperialist globalization and its lackeys;
• To forge coordinated and joint actions and plans in advancing the rights and well-being of im/migrants and refugees.
• To intensify campaigns for just wage, job security, against commodification and against criminalization of undocumented migrants and immigrants.
• Extend support and cooperation among the members.
• To further promote international solidarity and cooperation with progressive and genuine anti-imperialist organizations and alliances.

The IMA was initiated by the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) Study Commission on Migrants and Immigrants, and aims to be a broad international formation of progressive and anti-imperialist migrant organizations of various nationalities.

As a convenor of the launching the IMA, SIKLAB-Canada is also inviting other like-minded organizations of migrants and immigrants in Canada to join the significant founding of the IMA.

For more information: SIKLAB-B.C.: Glecy Duran, siklab@kalayaancentre.net; 604-215-1103
–
SIKLAB-British Columbia
Advance the Rights and Welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers and Their Families
Member of SIKLAB-Canada
c/o Kalayaan Centre, 451 Powell Street, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6A 1G7
Phone: 604.215.1103 | Fax: 604.215.1905 | http://www.kalayaancentre.net

2008 PSAC NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR RACIALLY VISIBLE MEMBERS
Be the Change: Create a Better World!

We are pleased to announce the call out for PSAC racially visible members in good standing to apply to participate in the PSAC National Conference for Racially Visible Members, which will be held March 7 to 9, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, under the theme “Be the Change: Create a Better World!”

DEADLINE TO APPLY FOR BOTH DELEGATES AND OBSERVERS
JANUARY 16th, 2008 at 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)

CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES

The objectives of our 2008 PSAC National Conference for Racially Visible Members are to:

• Educate, politicize and mobilize racialized members by making links between the union, the workplace, the community and equality rights.
• Create and/or strengthen networks within our union and our communities.
• Enhance and support leadership development of racialized members in our union, workplace and beyond.
• Develop an analysis on what is racism, the impact of racism and how to fight against racism.

Resolution, Application and other
Forms (English)
Forms (French)

The Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network Film and Video (DTES-CAN-FV) cluster is pleased to present the broadcast premiere of FearlessTV #10, an In The Heart of the City Festival (HOC) special edition.

In Metro Vancouver on Shaw cable 4, the community channel: Wednesday October 24 @ 8:00pm and Saturday October 27 @ 3:00am (early morning)

The show features Anne Marie Slater introducing her documentary Heart and Home. Also interviews with Terry Hunter about upcoming HOC, Mildred German and Carlo Sayo on the titled Maleta [Suitcase] art at Gallery Gachet and Gena Thompson on Downtown Eastside Romeo and Juliette performance. Closes with Our Story: Chinese Head Tax Mash Up by No Luck Club and more. More information about the Heart Of The City festival.

Meeting Of The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance

• Thursday, September 27, 7 PM
• BCGEU HQ Auditorium
• 4911 Canada Way, Burnaby (half block west of Norland, entrance at Iris Crescent)

Join other Asian Canadian union members at a meeting of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance to discuss plans for upcoming events. Also, hear about the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Convention that took place in July and the recent Anniversaries of Change conference and reconciliation dinner. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance provides a forum for Asian Canadian Union members to connect, encourages the increased participation of Asian Canadian union members in the labour movement, and works to strengthen the relationship between labour and our Asian Canadian communities.

For more information about the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, or for more directions to the meeting please contact: Lorene Oikawa at 604-291-9611 or lorene.oikawa@bcgeu.ca

The Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society (ACCESS) and Head Tax Families Society of Canada would be honoured by your presence this Friday evening at a dinner gathering of anti-racism, human rights and social justice activists. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are provided. BYOB beer and wine okay.

• 5:00pm – 8:00pm, Friday September 7, 2007
• Kalayaan Centre, 451 Powell Street, Vancouver

On site will be one of two video installations titled “Shattered” by Karin Lee, current artist in residence at Video In. The works question the official reports of the anti-Asian riots that took place in Vancouver between September 7-10th, 1907. Earlier at 3:00pm, Karin presents an Artist Talk. Later in the evening, following our by-invitation-only gathering, there will be a reception open to the public at 8:00pm. For more information: email Sid Tan.

Roy Mah passed away on June 22, 2007 at the age of 89.

Mah was born in Edmonton in 1918. In 1943 at the age of 25, Mah was recruited as a union organizer for the IWA while still a history student at the University of Victoria. He was also the Secretary of the Chinese Youth Association in Victoria.

Even though he was born in Canada, Roy and thousands of other Chinese Canadians were not recognized as citizens. Roy attended a segregated school in Victoria and instinctively rebelled against inequality and other forms of discrimination.

As an IWA organizer, Roy began organizing workers of Chinese origin into the Victoria local of the IWA. He traveled up and down the Coast organizing workers in such places as Duncan, Youbou, Nanaimo, Comox, and Port Alberni.

(more…)

• Thursday, June 28, 7 pm
• BCGEU HQ Auditorium
• 4911 Canada Way, Burnaby (half block west of Norland, entrance at Iris Crescent)

Join other Asian Canadian union members at a meeting of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance to discuss plans for upcoming events. (Light Refreshments will be provided.)

The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance provides a forum for Asian Canadian Union members to connect, encourages the increased participation of Asian Canadian union members in the labour movement, and works to strengthen the relationship between labour and our Asian Canadian communities.

For more information about the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, or for directions to the meeting please contact: Lorene Oikawa at 604-291-9611 or via email.

• Meeting: Asian Canadian Labour Alliance
• Thursday, May 24, 5:30pm, BCGEU HQ Auditorium

Join other Asian Canadian union members at a meeting of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, before the film viewing.

The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance provides a forum for Asian Canadian union members to connect, encourages the increased participation of Asian Canadian union members in the labour movement, and works to strengthen the relationship between labour and our Asian Canadian communities. A light meal will be provided for those attending this meeting. Please RSVP to Sarah Maglio at 604-291-9611 or sarah.maglio@bcgeu.ca

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Source: The Vancouver Courier, May 11, by Cheryl Rossi-Staff writer

When families who were affected by the Chinese Head Tax celebrate 60 years of citizenship Saturday, they’ll be recognizing how far they’ve come in gaining rights and respect for Chinese people in Canada.

But according to Sid Tan, co-chair of the Head Tax Families Society of Canada, they’ll also highlight problems migrant workers face today as echoes of what their families endured.

“The issues of guest workers, the issues of seasonal and temporary employment, live-in caregivers and domestics, all these issues are not that different from what the early Chinese suffered,” said Tan. “These are people that are good enough to come to Canada and do the dirty and menial work or the work that a lot of Canadians won’t or aren’t willing to do, and they have no rights. There’s something wrong with the picture, and a hundred years ago this is what happened to the Chinese.”

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Head Tax Families Society of Canada will mark the 60th anniversary of full rights and the vote for the Chinese in Canada. The Canadian Citizenship Act, which went into effect in the spring of 1947, defined the franchise as part of citizenship status.

• Time: 9AM, Saturday May 12, 2007
• Place: Memorial to Railway Workers and War Veterans Keefer and Columbia (NE corner), Vancouver

The Head Tax Families Society of Canada is today’s Canadians on a twenty-three year struggle for an inclusive redress with justice and honour for affected head tax families. Go to www.headtaxfamilies.org for more information.

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“Farmworkers are Canada’s forgotten workers. They work in the fields and harvest the crops that feed us. They work in slave-like conditions for 12-14 hours a day and are paid piece rate. They travel in overcrowded buses to the fields or live in converted chicken coops. Many suffer chronic health problems because of exposure to pesticides during every working day.” - CFU spokesman Charan Gill, June, 1994

When farmworkers in British Columbia’s fertile Fraser Valley started organizing in the 1970s, the main issues were low pay, poor housing, unsafe working conditions, exclusion from labour and safety legislation, lack of childcare and racial discrimination. Those are still the major issues today for the 28,000 workers in the fields.

• Related: New regulations important step to protect farmworkers from employer abuse, says Sinclair, but they remain second-class citizens
• Related:BC farmworkers deserve protection not exploitation

Just outside Vancouver, considered one of the world’s “most livable” cities, farmworkers, mostly immigrants from Punjab, India, and most of those women, work long hours in the open fields harvesting the food we eat. They work in the third most hazardous industry in the province, behind logging and mining. The mortality rate is seven times higher than in the manufacturing sector.

Read (lots) more at www.vcn.bc.ca/cfu/

In celebration of ExplorASIAN 2007, the CBC Radio Studio One Book Club is pleased to present Jen Sookfong Lee on Wednesday, May 2, 6:30 to 8 pm, at the CBC Broadcast Centre.

Her debut novel The End of East has been garnering great reviews from across the country. It’s an evocative portrait of three generations living in Vancouver’s Chinatown, spanning most of the last century.

Here’s your opportunity to discuss the art of writing, and the struggles of young writers, with one of Canada’s newest literary stars!

The only way to get in, is to win! For all the details and to enter online, go to www.cbc.ca.