| 
National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada
Communiquè from "Filipino Community and Beyond: Towards Full
Participation in a Multicultural and Multi-ethnic Canada"
November 28, 2008
More than 120 participants came together from British Columbia,
Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario to attend "Filipino Community and Beyond:
Towards Full Participation in a Multicultural and Multi-ethnic
Canada." The community-based and community-led national research
conference was held from November 6-9 at the University of Toronto.
As part of a three-year project of the National Alliance of Philippine
Women in Canada (NAPWC) in partnership with Canadian Heritage and
Multiculturalism, the conference showcased the work being done by the
Filipino community toward addressing its concerns and developing
capacities and initiatives that will lead to the community's
empowerment and full civic participation.
The conference opened on the evening of November 6, 2008 with a
reception and art exhibit at University of Toronto's Wilson Hall
Lounge. Art exhibits included murals depicting narratives of
migration painted by youth members of Kabataang Montreal, an art piece
on the lack of access to health care for live-in caregivers by SIKLAB
Ontario, a video on young women's issues by UKPC/FCYA Ontario, the "Maleta" family - a family of suitcases depicting the impacts of
migration and garments from a fashion show about violence against
women by organizations from the Kalayaan Centre in Vancouver.
The second day of the conference opened with a General Report
on the three-year project by Cecilia Diocson, Executive Director of
NAPWC. Diocson outlined the project's four themes, based on issues
facing the Filipino community in the course of their settlement and
integration in Canada: 1) Overcoming economic marginalization; 2)
Enhancing Filipino women's equality, human rights and genuine
development; 3) Making the Filipino youth count in Canada's future;
and 4) Combating systemic racism and social exclusion. Diocson also
highlighted the community development activities undertaken during the
project by NAPWC and its network organizations. Activities included:
community-based research and education; public policy engagement;
skills and capacity building; community economic development projects;
community organizing; and collaborative work with academics, research
agencies and other community organizations.
The first panel, "Overcoming Economic Marginalization,"
featured presentations by community organizers and academics. Ning
Alcuitas-Imperial gave an overview of the socio-economic context of
Filipinos in Canada, highlighting the fact that Filipino migrants and
immigrants are among the most highly educated but lowest paid in the
Canadian labour force. Professor Habiba Zaman, of Simon Fraser
University, shared the research she carried out in collaboration with
the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC) on economic security issues
facing Filipino immigrants. Zaman discussed the impacts of changes to
BC's employment standards on marginalized workers and described the
practices of job-hopping (quitting jobs due to poor working conditions
rather than raising concerns with employers) and working multiple
low-paying jobs because full-time work is unavailable. Leah Diana and
Dinah Estigoy of the Filipino Nurses Support Group of BC (FNSG)
described the systemic barriers to accreditation imposed by the state
and regulatory bodies on Filipino nurses seeking to practice their
profession in Canada. They also shared the work of FNSG in advocating
for nurses and policy engagement with nursing unions and regulatory
bodies. Roderick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB National, highlighted
the poor working conditions and workplace health and safety issues
facing Filipinos working in the industrial and manufacturing sector in
Quebec. He described how the Filipino community is concentrated in
the Montreal neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges, where 60% of Filipinos
in Quebec reside. He also described the racialized nature of
workplaces requiring workers to do dangerous and poorly paid work. He
also described how many young workers drop out of school and feel
forced to accept poor working conditions because of their economic
marginalization and the need to contribute to their family's survival.
The second panel of the day focused on "Enhancing Filipino
Women's Equality, Genuine Development and Human Rights." Professor
Bonnie McElhinny, of the University of Toronto, presented her research
on how public health policy was used as a tool of US imperialism in
the Philippines and how it both obscured pre-colonial understandings
of public health and constructed Filipino women as colonial subjects
with a defined role in nursing, caregiving and mothering. Marilou
Carillo, of the PWC-BC, shared her Ph.D. research on transnational
women's activism in the Philippines, the Netherlands and Canada. She
described how the process of organizing is also a process of social
transformation whereby women change the conditions of their
oppression. Susan Rodriguez and Reyna de Mesa, of the PWC-Manitoba,
shared their work, including some of the challenges of organizing the
community. They also described the emerging impact of the Temporary
Foreign Workers Program, which brings increasing numbers of Filipinos
to Manitoba each year. Joanne Vasquez, of PWC-Quebec, described the
reproduction in Montreal of economic practices from the Philippines
due to the community's economic marginalization. In particular, women
are turning to loan sharks and street vending as strategies of
survival. Vasquez also shared the accomplishments of PWC-Quebec and
the Kapit Bisig Centre in educating, organizing and mobilizing the
Filipino community in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal.
Joy Sioson shared the work of PWC-Ontario and described the emerging
issue of "airport to airport" deportations faced by live-in
caregivers. This phenomenon involves Canadian immigration officials
demanding to meet a live-in caregiver's prospective employer before
issuing a work permit and allowing the woman to leave the airport upon
her arrival in Canada. Many women pay high fees to employment
agencies only to discover upon their arrival that no employer actually
exists. They are then deported back to the airport of their
departure. In her presentation, Monica Urrutia showcased PWC-BC's 20
years of work on the issue of violence against women. She highlighted
a recent example of "Scrap! A Political Fashion Show to Stop Violence
Against Filipino Women." This fashion show dramatized the silencing
and process of participants' empowerment through sharing their stories.
Following the panel, the audience watched an excerpt of "Scrap!
A Political Fashion Show." Conference delegates heard the stories of
three women's experiences of violence, accompanied by models wearing
garments representing aspects of the women's victimization and
empowerment.
Delegates then participated in workshops on "Young Women's
Issues," "Accreditation of Foreign-educated Professionals," and "Violence against Women." In these workshops, participants had an
opportunity to share their personal experiences and discuss local
victories and challenges of community organizing on these issues.
The third day of the conference opened with the first panel of
the day focusing on "Making the Filipino Youth Count in Canada's
Future." Professor Geraldine Pratt, of the University of British
Columbia, spoke about her long research collaboration with PWC-BC,
SIKLAB-BC and UKPC/FCYA-BC. She highlighted the issue of family
separation and its impacts, including the significant high-school
drop-out rate of Filipino youth. Camille Cendaña shared about the
work and growth of UKPC/FCYA-Ontario, which has expanded from 3 to 40
active members since 2007. She also discussed the implementation of
recommendations from "Palakasin! Ang Tunay na Ugnayan/Strengthen our
Youth, Unite for Freedom," an Ontario-wide youth consultation held by
UKPC/FCYA-Ontario in 2007. Niki Silva shared the advocacy work of
UKPC/FCYA-BC, particularly in the areas of youth education and
employment. She discussed various ways in which youth are falling
through the cracks of the education system. Josie Caro, of Kabataang
Montreal, shared the challenges to settlement and integration created
by the structure of French language "Welcoming Classes" for
immigrants. She also shared some of Kabataang Montreal's successes,
including mobilizing youth to fight for the reinstallation of the
Shaad basketball courts, a central site for many Filipino youth in
Côte-des-Neiges.
The second panel focused on "Combating Systemic Racism." Carlo
Sayo, of UKPC/FCYA-BC opened with an overview of the context of
systemic racism in Canada and the history of the Filipino community's
anti-racism work. Cezar Dalde, of the Kalayaan Centre, shared his
testimonial of his family's mistreatment by the RCMP in the context of
his son Charle Dalde's murder in April 2008. The Dalde family was
handcuffed while their home was searched without warrant or
explanation. They were then prevented from seeing Charle's body for
two weeks after his death due to the ongoing RCMP investigation. Mr.
Dalde shared his family's continued challenges and struggle for
justice and a public apology from the RCMP. May Farrales presented
the Kalayaan Centre's support and advocacy for the Dalde family as
part of its ongoing anti-racism work on issues including racial
profiling. Neil Castro, of Kabataang Montreal, discussed the case of
Luc Cagadoc, a 7-year-old who was reprimanded by his teachers and
principal for eating with a fork and spoon, as an example of systemic
racism. Castro discussed the challenges faced by Kabataang Montreal
in raising this issue with the Filipino and wider communities in
Quebec. He also shared the growth of the organization's work through
rallies, media campaigns and community forums. Kim Abis and Bryan
Taguba shared the case of Jeffrey Reodica, the 17 year-old Filipino
youth who was shot three times in the back and killed by Toronto
police officers in May 2004.
The theme of the day's third panel was "Making the Filipino
Community Count." Professor Shauna Butterwick, of the University of
British Columbia, presented her external evaluation of the three-year
project. She highlighted the project's successes and stated "essential skills have been developed [from this project] that
directly contributed to your capacity-building and sustainability,
most particularly in the area of research such as Participatory Action
Research but also in relation to leadership...This project should be
included as an exemplary case of how to build, within economically and
socially marginalized immigrant communities, the capacity for
self-determination and democratic participation." Emmanuel Sayo, of
the Kalayaan Resource and Training Centre, discussed the history of
community-based research work in the Filipino community since 1984.
He recognized the leadership of women in community organizing and
framed community-based participatory action research as an important
form of knowledge production for empowering communities.
The Kapit Bisig Centre then presented their premiere
performance of "Pinoyville," a play based on the experiences of their
members that dramatized issues of forced migration, family separation,
high-school dropouts, drugs, and the role of community organizing.
Delegates then participated in workshops on "Systemic Racism,
Discrimination and Social Exclusion," "Family Reunification and
Migration," and "Youth Drop-outs, Education and Employment."
Dinner and an evening of cultural performances followed, where
conference delegates performed songs, spoken word and hip-hop pieces
that engaged many of the issues raised at the conference.
The final day of the conference opened with a synthesis of the
conference activities by Denise Valdecantos. Hetty Alcuitas, from
PWC-BC then gave a presentation on "Moving Forward Together:
Opportunities and Challenges." This was followed by a demonstration
of policy engagement in the form of a mock Parliamentary Hearing.
Denise Valdecantos and Dinah Estigoy presented a brief on the Live-in
Caregiver Program, originally delivered by NAPWC to the Standing
Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, to three mock
parliamentarians. After the presenters fielded a few questions from
the politicians, audience members were invited to step in to answer
questions from the mock parliamentarians in order to experience
answering critical questions about NAPWC's position to scrap the
Live-in Caregiver Program.
The conference closed with an assessment, during which
delegates shared their experiences of the conference. Jean Marc Daga,
a conference delegate and a member of the Filipino Canadian Youth
Alliance, stated "I am proud to see the capacity and the organizing of
the Filipino community on a national level. It was great to
experience the strength of our community and the unity amongst
Filipino youth, women and migrant workers. The conference reinforced
my conviction for organizing as a proud and strong Filipino."
"Filipino Community and Beyond: Toward Full Participation in a
Multicultural and Multi-ethnic Canada" represents an important step
toward the civic engagement of the Filipino community in Canada.
Delegates shared many victories and challenges faced in conducting
community-based research, capacity building and organizing work on
issues facing Filipino migrants and immigrants in the course of their
settlement and integration in Canada. The conference highlighted the
crucial role of grassroots, community-based initiatives to document
and analyze the community?s experiences, identify emerging issues and
produce knowledge about Filipinos in Canada in the process of our
empowerment toward full participation in Canadian society.
-30-
To view conference photos, visit www.magkaisacentre.org/photos.
For more information, contact NAPWC c/o Magkaisa Centre at 416-519-2553.
--
|
