A petition supported by more than 250 organizations is calling for stronger protection for migrants who engage in civil protests. The campaign, which includes Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the United Church of Canada among others as signatories, is asking for migrants to enjoy the same rights as Canadian citizens to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as laid out in Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “Migrants are part of every movement in this country,” said Bikramjit Singh of the Post-Graduate Work Permit committee, member organization of the Migrant Rights Network, in a news release. “What happened in Calgary was meant to frighten people into silence. It will not work. Migrants will keep organizing and keep speaking out. We will defend those rights every time they are attacked.” The movement comes after Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officials attended a protest on Aug. 12 outside the Calgary campus of Portage College. The demonstration was by students at the school who said their post-graduation work permits were being denied. When border agents attended the scene, they investigated 20 participants and directed 12 of them to a CBSA office. Ten removal orders were issued that same day to individuals who were in Canada illegally, formally launching the process to deport them. A similar protest was held at Edmonton’s Portage College campus, but no action was taken there. The group says there need to be “clear public policies” to protect migrants from immigration enforcement and it has written to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to put that plan into action. “A migrant worker must be able to join a picket line. An international student must be able to protest government policy. Refugees and undocumented people must be able to demonstrate and organize,” the statement reads “If basic rights are denied to some people, then we further entrench their vulnerability and treat them as less than equal.” CTV News has reached out to the CBSA for details on the pending investigations of the Portage College students as well as the petition for Charter protections.
