Anti-immigration flyers that some are calling racist were distributed on York University’s Keele campus and in a nearby student neighbourhood earlier this month by Immigration Watch Canada (IWC).
Dan Murray, a spokesperson for the IWC, said the purpose of the flyers was to bring awareness to the number of immigrants in Canada to young people.
“We went to York University because most of their students are quite young . . . and have not been exposed to these ideas,” Murray said.
Murray said IWC is concerned that Canadian immigrants are taking away opportunities from other Canadians. He said he hopes young people will continue talking about this issue.
Aaliyah Khan, a political science student at York and member of Racism Watch York, said that it is “inappropriate” for this type of flyer to be distributed on campus because it makes students feel unsafe, 5300 of whom are international students and new immigrants to Canada.
“It’s disturbing to see such things on campus, and it’s disturbing that people are comfortable enough to do so,” Khan said.
York’s response to the incident was to ask the IWC not to use the university’s logo in conjunction with these messages, according to Khan.
Khan said this response was inadequate and that she would have rather seen the university condemn such messages, and support Canadian immigrants “more forcefully.”
“York claims to have all these values, but it is really just about York’s corporate image,” Khan said.
Mithilen Mathipalan, vice-president (equity) of York’s student federation said he shares some of Khan’s concerns.
Mathipalan said one of York University’s greatest strengths is its diversity, which should be celebrated, not targeted.
“When flyers and sentiments like these are distributed on campus it creates a hostile and unsafe environment for students and community members,” Mathipalan said.
Mathipalan said international students already face barriers to access their education, such as tuition rates two to three times higher than that of a domestic student’s.
Both Khan and Mathipalan said it is important to recognize that this is not an isolated incident.
Related story:
