As the Peruvian immigrant community in Kitchener-Waterloo — and families at home in Peru — mourn the loss of 11 of their own in a deadly highway crash in rural Ontario on February 6, at least one Toronto daily newspaper two days later prioritized instead the highway death a single girl (a white, 19-year-old aspiring model), pushing the 11 Peruvian lives to page eight. This is but a symptom of a larger problem that suggests that white/Canadian lives are more valuable than their non-white/non-Canadian counterparts.
Sadly, it took a tragedy on the scale of the traffic accident in Hampstead, Ont., which claimed 11 lives, to bring some attention to the plight of migrant workers in Canada. There have been a number of stories this week outlining the massive scale of the migratory labour system that brought these workers from Peru, and the difficult conditions they face. But before the media moves on to other issues, or the story’s focus narrows to traffic safety regulations (important as these may be), it is essential that Canadians take a moment to consider what those numbers and conditions really mean — in other words, to wake up to the realities that tens of thousands of migrant workers face. Two broad areas of concern stand out.
Community Supper and Discussion to Celebrate International Migrants Day
When: Monday Dec 19th
Where: GVBC, 1803 East 1st Avenue
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Organized by: Philippine Women’s Center, No One is Illegal, and Justicia for Migrant Workers
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December 18th has been designated as a Global Day of Action Against Racism, And for the Rights of Migrants, Refugees and Displaced People to commemorate and celebrate the struggles of migrant workers around the world (http://globalmigrantsaction.org/) Join us in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories for a community supper and participatory discussion across communities to continue to organize, to resist and to build a strong and vibrant migrant justice movement to demand dignity, justice and status for all.
In Lebanon, a new maid-training academy claims to provide a much-needed education for domestic workers who have little experience with etiquette and cannot speak the language of their employers. The House Keeper Training Academy caters to foreigners who come from as far off as South Asian and Africa to work as maids and housekeepers. A four-day training session costs $180. Critics say the school misattributes maid-employer problems in Lebanon and across the Middle East. In reality, they contend, maids are too often the victims of unreported abuse that has nothing to do with language barriers or work experience. The mistreatment is more commonly the result of employers and agencies taking advantage of undocumented workers.
Watch the accompanying video “Silenced Voices” here
Vermont, land of rolling green hills dotted with black and white Holsteins and picturesque red barns. White people, everywhere, lots of them. Home of state-sanctioned town hall meetings that are models for participatory democracy. And now, the first state in our republic to enact universal health care for all. Two weeks ago, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law H. 202, “An act relating to a single-payer and unified health system.†It’s the first state to plunge into a single-payer system to implement national health care reform, which Harvard economist William S. Hsiao found was the best method to both reign in spiraling costs and diminish disparities.
