Passionate protesters and speakers gathered at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa on Sept. 15, demanding change in the rhetoric often used to characterize migrants.
The Migrant Rights Network organized the protest to confront the spike in “anti-migrant rhetoric” perpetuated by the media, including the portrayal of immigration as the cause of the affordability crisis and the Canadian government’s failure to deliver on promises of migrant regularization.
Regularization would give these migrants access to the same social services as the rest of Canadians and offer them stability. A pathway to give migrants permanent status was in talks in 2021, yet there are no updates as of late.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “Status for all” and “None of us are free until all of us are free” in response to the government’s practices concerning migrants. According to protesters, this includes the government benefiting from migrants’ economic contributions while blaming them as the cause of a weak economy.
Immigrant voices and speakers from various cultural backgrounds shared their stories with the attentive audience.
Azar Masoumi, an associate professor in Carleton University’s department of sociology and anthropology, said she was adamant to speak at the protest. She said society should focus on the “real issues” at hand, such as the lack of funding for affordable housing as well as monopolies controlling prices in the grocery sector, which are being misrepresented as migrants’ faults.
“With the affordability crisis, we are witnessing a rise of xenophobia and racism in North America against immigrants, refugees, migrants and international students,” Masoumi said.
Karen Coca, a member of the Migrant Workers’ Alliance for Change and an organizer of the rally, said international students have carried the brunt of recent anti-migrant sentiments.
She attributed this to the federal government’s policies to limit the amount of study permits for international students and discontinue students’ post-graduate work permits this fall.
Many study permit holders are now faced with the decision to remain in Canada undocumented or return to their home countries.
The Migratory Rights Network’s primary demands include a regularization program for undocumented people and temporary migrants, as well as more avenues to regularization within the immigration system. For international students, this could accelerate the residency process and provide stability of study and work permits.
Coca said the demonstration’s timing was particularly important, as it was strategically scheduled the day before Parliament resumed for the fall.
“There’s been a lot of scapegoating of migrants,” Coca said. “The housing crisis is being blamed on international students and food prices are being blamed on temporary workers when, in reality, those are just tools to distract from the real causes.”
Other protesters shared this sentiment, carrying signs with economic grievances such as “Bosses cut jobs and wages, not migrants” and “Grocery monopolies inflate food prices, not migrants.”
Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah, one of the speakers at the protest and a Carleton alumna, attended the protest on invitation by a co-organizer. As a daughter of immigrant parents, she said she is outspoken for racial justice causes.
“The consensus around immigration has shifted and that’s a problem,” Owusu-Akyeeah said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government put plans in place to increase immigration to boost the economy. However, the government instead chose to restructure the immigration system, including a cap on international student visa permits.
Owusu-Akyeeah encouraged protesters and supporters to challenge disinformation and speak out against anti-migrant messaging within their communities.
“Winning is not going to come from lobby meetings alone and it’s not going to come from us arguing with bots on Twitter,” Owusu-Akyeeah said. “We need to reclaim what is common sense.”
A fourth-year student at Carleton University, who attended the protest in support of migrants, emphasized the importance of such protests. She chose not to give her name for fear of safety and professional repercussions.
“The marginalization of migrants is something that has existed for far too long in Canada’s history and has continued well into the present day,” she said. “Every one of us here needs to understand that protecting the rights of migrants — the rights of everyone — should be the top priority.”
She said the struggles of all oppressed people, whether in Canada or elsewhere, are connected.
“For meaningful change to occur, we must address such hypocrisy and ensure that Canada makes concrete efforts towards improving the migrant system.”
