Indigenous Resistance News

Posted by admin on Feb 26th, 2015

‘This system hasn’t killed me yet’: A roundtable on gendered colonial violence

Nearly 1,200 Indigenous women have been murdered or gone missing in Canada over the past 30 years. According to researcher Maryanne Pearce, 24.8 per cent of all missing and murdered women in Canada are Indigenous women despite making up less than two per cent of the total population. Statistics are, of course, wholly inadequate when conveying the scope of violence. Gendered violence is embedded within settler-colonialism: in racist and heteropatriarchal laws such as the Indian Act, in policies of child apprehension which target Indigenous families, in the practices of locking up Indigenous women and youth at alarming rates, in the theft of Indigenous lands that disproportionately displaces and impoverishes Indigenous women, and in the genocidal attempts to annihilate Indigenous laws through the very bodies of Indigenous women, girls, trans and two-spirit people that embody and enact Indigenous sovereignty.

 http://rabble.ca/columnists/2015/02/this-system-hasnt-killed-me-yet-roundtable-on-gendered-colonial-violence

The Tsilhqot’in Decision and Canada’s First Nations Termination Policies

“The reaction to the SCC Tsilhqot’in decision has ranged from the jubilation of Tsilhqot’in Chiefs and other First Nation leaders, to dismay and alarm from industry spokespeople and other Canadian Settler opinion makers. Reaction from Colonial Crown governments was muted or silent for the most part, except for the British Columbia government, Premier Christy Clark called for a meeting between her Cabinet and Chiefs in BC on September 11, 2014.”

http://www.newsocialist.org/782-the-tsilhqot-in-decision-and-canada-s-first-nations-termination-policies

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Celebrating Migrant Justice Victories

Posted by admin on Feb 14th, 2015

 Immigration program for parents ‘discriminatory,’ Federal Court of Appeal rules

An appeal court has found that the federal government discriminates against parents and grandparents by delaying their immigration processing. The Federal Court of Appeal ruling this week is a partial victory for Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa law and medicine professor who applied in 2009 to sponsor his aging parents, both American citizens, to Canada under the family class immigration program.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/02/06/immigration-program-for-parents-discriminatory-federal-court-of-appeal-rules.html

Refugee claimant who sought sanctuary in a church for four years gets Canadian citizenship

Abdelkader Belaouni, a blind refugee claimant who spent almost four years in a Pointe-St-Charles church to avoid deportation, is now a Canadian citizen. On Jan. 1, 2006, he sought sanctuary in St. Gabriel’s Church, only emerging in October 2009 when the government granted him permanent-resident status. During his long confinement, supporters staged rallies and concerts, created a portable mural and filmed a documentary to publicize his plight. While at the church, Belaouni hosted radio broadcasts on McGill University’s CKUT, learned to play the piano, guitar and flute, recorded two albums and wrote two books — a memoir and a volume on Algerian history.

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/refugee-claimant-who-sought-sanctuary-in-a-church-for-four-years-gets-canadian-citizenship

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Remembering Nav: Honouring his Life, Questioning his Death

Posted by admin on Feb 4th, 2015

Saturday, Feb 28, 4:30-6-00pm
Surrey Central Sky Train Station
https://www.facebook.com/events/1585058868405437/

With Nav’s family members, community and you.

Naverone Christian Landon Woods was a young 23 year old Gitxsan man who was fatally shot by transit police on Dec 28, 2014. His family describes him as “truly a gentle spirit” who “was respectful to all he came into contact with.” Nav had a special bond with his family and “brought happiness and laughter wherever he went.”

His death at the hands of police was profoundly tragic. It was also incredibly troubling; raising many questions about the use of deadly force by police, the role of armed transit police on our public transit system, and the broader dynamics of racism and colonial violence.

At this vigil for Nav, we are honouring his life as we hear from his family and friends who knew him. All of us are disturbed by his fatal shooting and want to raise important questions about justice, dignity and equality that his killing by Transit police forces us to consider.

8th Annual Community March Against Racism

Posted by admin on Jan 29th, 2015

Saturday March 21
Starts at 1 pm at Clark Park (Commercial Drive and 14th)
Unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ territories, Vancouver

Anti Racism March poster

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/601744243292857/

Poster for sharing on the Internet
Posters for printing:
81/2 by 11
11 by 17

*Family-friendly festivities! Bring your neighbours, banners and drums!

Watch previous videos:

Video from 2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUMawBQASFM

Video from 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQii7Z9-yAw

Video from 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKDMpj9x2xU

The International Day for the Elimination of Racism marks the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa when police opened fire on hundreds of South Africans protesting against Apartheid’s passbook laws, killing 67 and wounding 186. Every year we join friends and allies around the world to mark this day and to speak the truth about racism.

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Community Alert: CBSA increasing raids

Posted by admin on Dec 23rd, 2014

en español

stop_the_raids_nola

We have been hearing about an increased number of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) raids at workplaces around the Lower Mainland. Over the past month we have received phone calls from Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey and East Vancouver about CBSA visits and raids at workplaces. People within prisons have also called, saying “the prison is getting busier” and “there are lots of people in and out,” suggesting greater CBSA enforcement, detention and deportation to meet ‘quotas’ as the year’s end nears.

For those in our communities who are at risk of CBSA enforcement, let us know if and how we can support you in staying safe. For anyone who witnesses CBSA vehicles or CBSA inland enforcement teams, please contact us. If you work in a workplace where you know of undocumented workers, please ask how best to support in case of a CBSA raid (safe exits, emergency contacts etc). We are deeply troubled and angered and saddened by these raids and invite others to join in the movement to end CBSA enforcement in our communities.

In struggle,
No one Is Illegal and Sanctuary Health
Phone: 778 885 0040 and 604 315 7725
Email: noii-van@resist.ca and sanctuaryhealthvancouver@gmail.com

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