A8 HEADLINES
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY January 1 - 15 , 2017
Tinig Migrante
By E . Maestro
Filipina Gina Bahiwal is fighting her removal order from Canada which has been scheduled on January 15 , 2017 at 9:130 p . m . Gina Bahiwal is a migrant worker , organizer , and advocate . She came to Canada from the Philippines in 2008 under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program ( TFWP ) and worked in vegetable-packing , housekeeping and the fast food industry in Ontario and British Columbia . She is a member of the Coalition for Migrant Worker Rights Canada ( CMWRC ) and of the Justice for Migrant Workers in Ontario .
The Justice for Migrant Workers in Ontario writes that Gina ’ s application for permanent residence is close to being finalized . While it makes perfect sense to let her complete her immigration process and let her remain with her family and community , the Canadian government does not think so .
Gina is now married to a Canadian citizen and has also filed a Humanitarian and Compassionate application . She is fighting her deportation and needs the support of the community groups , advocates and the general public .
I have not met Gina but because of her work in migrant activism , I feel that I do know her .
I saw Gina Bahiwal for the first time , on the screen , in the documentary film The End of Immigration ( 2012 ) produced by Mari Boti and Malcolm Guy , two Montreal film makers . Even then , I was struck by her courage at having her life filmed for everyone to see , and for standing up against the unjustness of
Stop the Deportation of Gina Bahiwal !
the temporary foreign worker program . I laughed with Gina when she and other workers caught their recruiter on tape telling them lies about their employment . I felt for her as a mother when she was talking to her two children in the Philippines on Skype , doing her parenting across the world and on different time zones , reminding them to take their vitamins and to study well . I was inspired by her when at the last minutes of the film , Gina was marching on the streets as an organizer and mass leader and talking on the megaphone about the issues of migrant rights and welfare .
I heard Gina in 2016 from the audio transcripts online . She has then spoken at the HUMA Standing Committee tasked with the Federal review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program ( TFWP ). She was one of the handful of migrant workers invited to give evidence on the very vulnerable situation of migrant workers , specifically the conditions of women migrant workers .
Justice for Migrant Workers in Ontario described her thus : “ During her time in Canada , Gina has been a bedrock for justice in communities throughout Canada . This has included advocating tirelessly for the rights of migrant workers like her , particularly among migrant women . She has volunteered her time providing mutual aid and services to other workers , and has engaged in pivotal work exposing the exploitative practices of recruiters .” She also had helped organized the Justice for Migrant Workers ( J4MW ) Pilgrimage to Freedom in 2011 and spoke to the press on Parliament Hill at the launch of the J4MW Harvesting Freedom campaign .
David Fairey of the Employment Standards Coalition , who is helping circulate Gina ’ s appeal for support , has worked with Gina on TFW complaints affecting her coworkers , when Gina was employed in Dawson Creek and Hope a couple of years ago . He described her as a “ dedicated advocate and organizer for TFWs .”
Gina is an example of how workers meet head on their struggles as migrant workers – through organizing , educating , and mobilizing – as workers and as part of the bigger social justice and labour movement . The
collective struggle , of which Gina ’ s activism is tightly woven into , continues to campaign and fight for full status ( landed status ) and full rights for all migrant workers . One of the gains of this collective fight was the elimination of the unjust “ four years in , four years out ” rule , a situation likened to a revolving door requiring migrant workers to leave Canada after 4 years of cumulative employment and banned from returning for four years ; a sure way to prevent migrant workers from accessing permanent residency and establishing roots in Canada .
Gina is fighting her deportation and needs the support of the community of migrant workers and advocates , and of the general public .
If you can help , please write your letters of concern to stop the deportation and send it to the Minister John McCallum , Minister of Immigration , Citizenship and Refugees ( email : john . mccallum @ parl . gc . ca ) and to MP Arif Virani , the Parliamentary Secretary to Minister John McCallum ( email : arif . virani @ parl . gc . ca ) and Minister Ralph Goodale , Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness ( email : ralph . goodale @ parl . gc . ca ).
Let us start the New Year by helping Gina Baliwal stop her deportation . Let us get those letters out .
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