SIKLAB-Canada
Press Statement

National day of protest against unjust deportation of Filipino live-in caregivers

January 13, 2006

Filipinos and their Canadian allies in Toronto,
Montreal, and Vancouver concluded a successful
national day of protest with rallies and actions last
Friday, January 13, 2006 protesting the unjust
deportation of live-in caregivers. The national day of
protest was coordinated by SIKLAB-Canada, a national
alliance of Filipino migrant workers in Canada, to
mark the delivery of over 1000 signed petitions
calling for a stop to the deportations to Citizenship
and Immigration Canada (CIC) Minister Joe Volpe at his
Toronto campaign office.

Since April 2004, SIKLAB-Canada has been campaigning
for a moratorium on the deportation of live-in
caregivers who cannot complete the requirements of the
program. In the majority of cases, the deportations
are due to the women’s inability to complete the 24
months of live-in work within three years of entering
Canada.

The national alliance criticized Canada because it
“does not take into account the oppressive working and
living conditions of live-in caregivers. Instead,
Canada penalizes live-in caregivers with its inhumane
implementation of an exploitative and racist policy.
Canada must be held accountable to the thousands of
live-in caregivers who toil under the LCP.”

“Last year, CIC Minister Volpe promised to review the
LCP in order to address the urgent issues arising from
the program,” SIKLAB-Canada pointed out in its
statement. “To date, there has been no review, only
lip service made by an administration adamantly
refusing to take responsibility for its own policies.”

In Toronto, SIKLAB members and more than 40 supporters
crowded the sidewalk outside the campaign office of
Immigration Minister Joe Volpe. Organizers were
stopped short of hand-delivering the 1000 petition
signatures by several police, who barred the
organizers from entering Volpe’s office. “We find it
ironic that when marginalized immigrant women want to
hand-deliver 1000 petitions we are met with a closed
door and police,” commented Yolin Valenzuela. Despite
police harassment, the organizers continued their
rally. “ If Volpe thinks that this is going to stop
us, he’s wrong. We will continue to hound Minister
Volpe until he takes responsibility for the office he
represents.” Vows Valenzuela.

In Montreal a mixed group of over 20 community
supporters and members of SIKLAB-Montreal gathered
outside the metro station in the heart of the Filipino
community as passerbys signed petitions. An
information forum was held later in the evening
attended by 40 members of the community. “We cannot
wait for politicians’ lip service and election-time
promises, while families are being destroyed by the
inhumanity of the LCP,” says Roderick Carreon,
chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada and SIKLAB-Montreal. “We
will continue to educate and empower our community
around this issue, because families are at stake.”

The national day of protest ended in Vancouver with a
vigil rally for those live-in caregivers already
unjustly deported from Canada outside the regional
headquarters of CIC. Over 80 people gathered, holding
candles while listening to representatives from the
International League of People’s Struggle, the
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, as
well as representatives from the Public Service
Alliance of Canada, and the Hospital Employees Union
call for the scrapping of the Live-In Caregiver
Program.

“Racist immigration policies and deportation, and
discrimination against working people is a trade union
issue,” emphasized Fred Muzen, President of Hospital
Employee’s Union, BC during the rally. “ There’s
thousands of people who come to this country looking
for a better future and they’re treated as thought
they are second-class citizens, even though Canada is
built on the backs of immigrants.“ said Muzen.

Sid Tan, president of the Association of
Chinese-Canadian for Equality and Social Justice;
Erica Fuchs of Justicia for Migrants; and
representatives from No One Is Illegal, Grassroots
Women, the Filipino Nurses Support Group, the
Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance, and the Iranian
Federation of Refugees and the Bus Rider’s Union also
joined in the demand to scrap the Live-In Caregiver
Program.

As SIKLAB-Canada honored those women who have already
been forcibly deported from Canada over the last few
years, the Siklab-Canada has vowed to continue calling
for an end to the unjust deportations of Filipino
live-in caregivers and to scrap the LCP.

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 For more information, please contact:

Montreal: Roderick Carreon, SIKLAB Chairperson @
514-344-2709.
Toronto: Yolyn Valenzuela, SIKLAB Vice Chairperson
(Eastern Canada) @ 416-878-8772 or e-mail:
siklab_ontario@yahoo.ca
Vancouver: Glecy Duran, SIKLAB Vice Chairperson
(Western Canada) @ 604-215-1103 or e-mail: siklab@kalayaancentre.net