* Part of NATIONAL WEEK of Action from March 31- June 7 in Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere*

Refuse to be invisible! Join the fight against racist immigration laws!

Central City Shopping Centre (north entrance by SFU Surrey Tower)

[Organized by No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Supported by Al Awda Vancouver, Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Building Bridges Human Rights Group, Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Muslim Union, Canadian Network for Democratic Nepal, Coalition of South Asian Women Against Violence, Council of Canadians BC/Yukon Office, Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance, Filipino Nurses Support Group, Grassroots Women, Hospital Employees Union, Indigenous Action Movement, Indo Canadian Workers' Association, Industrial Workers of the World (Vancouver), Iranian Federation of Refugees, International Solidarity Movement, Justice for Migrant Workers, Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation, La Surda Latin American Collective, Latin American Connexions, Neworld Theatre, Philippine Women's Centre of B.C., Rhizome Cafe, Salaam Vancouver, SIKLAB-B.C - Overseas Filipino Workers, Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group, SFU Interfaith Institute for Justice, Peace, and Social Movements, Siraat Collective, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy, Teaching Support Staff Union, Vancouver Catholic Worker]

Recently the Conservative government introduced a series of amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act buried in Bill c-50. This undemocratic move aims to sneak in significant changes that will perpetuate a restrictive, exploitative, and racist immigration policy in Canada.

Concerned? You should be! Join us in a rally to call for the scrapping of Bill C-50 and demand justice and dignity for migrants.

For more information, email noii-van@resist.ca or call 778 552 2099

Visit [our web site] at: http://noii-van.resist.ca

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BACKGROUND

* Multilingual Bill C50 Factsheets:
http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=758

* Finley Admits New Bill Will Limit Intake (Indo-Canadian Link)
http://www.thelinkpaper.ca/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1...

* Bill C50 is a serious threat to immigrant rights (Rabble)
http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?sh_itm=0bbd3e9977...

* New immigration legislation encourages discrimination (Vancouver Sun)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html...

* Joint statement by No One Is Illegal chapters:
http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=696

Recently the Conservative government introduced a series of amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act buried in Bill c-50. This undemocratic move sneaks in critical changes to immigration policy without proposing any of those changes before Parliament.

The government is stating that these measures are a solution to the growing backlog by essentially giving the Minister and her department the power to kick people off the waiting list.

Under the proposed changes, even if someone meets the necessary - already stringent - criteria for a visa (such as permanent resident, visitor etc), the Minister can reject the application. The Minister will also have the power to issue quotas and restrictions on the "category" of people. Humanitarian and Compassionate applications no longer have to be examined if the applicant is outside Canada.

Finally, the Minister will have the power to decide the order in which applications are processed, regardless of when they are filed.

These sweeping changes will give enormous and arbitrary powers to the Minister around application processing, while perpetuating a racist, anti-poor, restrictive, and exploitative immigration policy based on 'labour market needs'.

The major lobby for Bill C50 comes from business organizations, who want immigrants to fulfill their need for disposable labour. These proposed legislative changes come in the context of a global capitalist reinforcement of labour flexibility as the guiding principle of immigration policy. In conjunction with the Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement, it is clear that the priorities will be relatively wealthy people, as well as increasingly vulnerable temporary migrant workers.

The Conservative government says they are “welcoming record numbers of newcomers”, however the reality is that the percentage of permanent residents is decreasing while there is an increase of vulnerable temporary migrant workers without basic rights. The favouring of migrant workers as commodities is taking place in an increasingly hostile climate to family class immigrants and refugees, who are perceived as security threats and/or foreigners who are being too accommodated.

In respose to an overwhelming negative reaction to these amendements, the Immigration Minister has recently been forced to attempt to spin these regressive changes, including launching an intense advertising campaign only in 'ethnic' media to help sell the bill and get it passed through the House within the next few weeks!

Join us in an action to call for the scrapping of Bill C-50! Demand justice and dignity for migrants - No One Is Illegal!