The camera shut off abruptly and refused to power on for a minute, interrupting the recording of one of the speeches, much to my surprise.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Blamed on immigrants, on refugees, on asylum seekers, and on people of color.
00:08So for example, people blame the housing crisis on immigrants.
00:15But then they sit in their homes and you know a delivery comes and a delivery driver with
00:21darker skin or with a turban or with a hijab is the one who brings them their Uber Eats meal
00:27or who brings them their Amazon delivery from a factory run by people of color, right?
00:36People blame immigrants for the overwhelming, you know, of Ontario's health care system,
00:43for the lack of timely care, for poor health outcomes for people. And yet it is immigrants,
00:51it's Haitian women, it's Filipino women now and during the height of COVID-19 who have served as
00:59personal support workers, nurses, cleaners, doing the most dangerous and thankless work.
01:08I could go on about this because the labour of immigrants and racialized people
01:13sustains this country and we know that. But the racism we're facing today is not new
01:19and it shouldn't surprise us. Some of what I'm talking about can be classified, you know, as
01:25bigotry, as individual prejudice. You guys know about the hurtful comments,
01:31the hateful things that people say, the individualized stuff. But if we really want
01:37to combat racism, we have to fight it on a systemic and on an institutional level.
01:45And that means, yes, and that means fighting the powers that are allowed to do
01:51the most harm to people of colour, that are allowed to kill us, that are allowed to detain
01:58us and take away our freedom, the institutions that are allowed to separate us from our families.
02:05So that means that when black and indigenous people organize against police brutality,
02:12all of us have to be there to stand with them, right?
02:19This means that when we hear about people who are organizing to free people who are in our jails
02:25and prisons from some of the most inhumane conditions of this country,
02:29we have to stand with and organize with them also.
02:33It definitely means that when we see Palestinian and Arab people organizing
02:41in the streets for Palestinian solidarity and against genocide, we have to stand with them.
02:52And it also means that when the Canada Border Services Agency comes for people like our
02:59brother Charles Mwangi here and tries to deport them to death, we have to organize
03:06and stand with them. And we saw what happened when we organized for Charles, didn't we?
03:13He is still here. You're right here and thank God for it.
03:20And still leading the fight for other people, even as you struggle yourself.
03:25So we have to be willing to take risks. Unity and risk taking and solidarity for one another
03:34is the way that we are going to defeat racism and xenophobia. Racism is the thing that allows
03:40so much of our suffering to be ignored, to be minimized and to be excused. And when we allow
03:46it to happen to one group, our collective movement gets weakened. So we have to be together.
03:54It wasn't until my final year of high school, I just want to say this in closing, OK?
04:03Sometimes it's hard to know for racism, how do we make progress? How do we know that something is
04:09changing? When we have immigrant demands, we want status, we want regularization. You've heard it.
04:15We want health care. We want benefits for people. But how do we measure how we're doing when it
04:21comes to racism? When I was in my last year of high school, I learned about the trail of tears.
04:30That is the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples in what is now southwestern United
04:36States of America. I didn't learn about that until my final year of high school.
04:41And it wasn't until university that I first heard a professor use the words colonialism
04:47and genocide in relation to indigenous people in this country. But what do we see today? Today,
04:56I see elementary students who are learning about residential schools, who are wearing t-shirts
05:03that say all children's lives matter. And I think that is remarkable.
05:08I talked to, I talked to students, I talked to students in elementary and high school who have
05:18been out here marching for black people who have been killed by the police, who are saying that we
05:23need to invest in care instead of cops for a safer future. And although the fight against the police
05:30is still an uphill struggle, it is remarkable in the last decade to see how many more people
05:35are educating themselves to stand up for black lives and against policing. It's remarkable.
05:47And so we have to take strength from these developments and we have to continue to move
05:53forward together. So as we prepare to go onto these streets now and to march, I want to ask you,
05:59when indigenous lives are under attack, what do we do? When black lives are under attack?
06:29Why are we doing that? Profit. Corporate greed. But we're here to make sure that tomorrow when
06:45parliament returns, they implement broke people policies, right? Broke worker policies.
06:53Broke immigrant policies, right? Who are we going to kill? We're going to beat.
07:23So
07:40the biggest climate destroyer in this planet is a corporation called Suncor.
07:46And they just fired more than a thousand workers. Do you know how much this CEO took home?
07:5536.8 billion dollars. Is that not enough?
08:01There is enough. This is a crisis of inequality and that is what we're fighting against. Is that right?
08:10So we're going to do some chanting as we pull up into Yonge and Bloor.
08:13When we get to Yonge and Bloor, we're going to hear some amazing speeches
08:17from the Najwa Support Network. I see their flags in the back.
08:23We're going to hear from the Chinese community.
08:27We're going to hear from the Palestinian youth movement as we go right up to Yonge and Bloor,
08:32which is where the Israeli consulate is. Let's do some chants.
08:38No, my brother Keon wants to do some chants.
08:43I know my brother's sister's complaints at OSCE were to be sure that there was a million
08:47dead or I'll give it up for them. I saw the labor campaign was here.
08:55I know this was an amazing match to be happening in 10 great organizations.
09:03We are mildly managed by Turkey and that's why
09:07we are united.
09:19We are dominated by our bosses.
09:21When we take the streets,
09:23you know what we get?
09:25We get our ticket back.
09:29So many of our countrymen get to the CDF,
09:31get to Canada Border Service,
09:33and get humiliated from ours.
09:36But when we take these streets,
09:38we fight for our dignity.
09:40Is that right?
09:46That's the tale of the march.
09:48When we get to Yonge and Bloor,
09:50we're going to take a moment
09:52to recognize how many of us
09:54gathered in the streets here
09:56right before parliament returns
09:58to work tomorrow on September 16th.
10:00We're telling Prime Minister Trudeau
10:02and all the politicians in this country,
10:05both liberal and conservative parties
10:07that we will not accept racism and xenophobia.
10:11We will only accept liberation and justice.
10:13Is that right?
10:35We will not accept racism and xenophobia.
10:37We will only accept liberation and justice.
10:39Is that right?
10:41We will only accept liberation and justice.
10:43Is that right?
10:45We will only accept liberation and justice.
10:47Is that right?
10:49We will only accept liberation and justice.
10:51Is that right?
10:53We will only accept liberation and justice.
10:55Is that right?
10:57We will only accept liberation and justice.
10:59Is that right?
11:02Is that right?
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12:00Is that right?
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12:48Is that right?
12:50Is that right?
12:52Is that right?
12:54Is that right?
12:57I will say solitarity with grassy narrows
12:59Everyone ready?
13:01Yeah, put your power guards up
13:05Solitary with grassy narrows
13:11Our next speaker is Bikram
13:13A member of the
13:15American Supreme Court
13:17As well as a former
13:19U.S. Republican
13:21Welcome Bikram
13:23Welcome Bikram.
13:25Can you say hey to Bikram?
13:29Can you make some noise for Bikram?
13:32We are moving on.
13:34My name is Bikram.
13:36Thank you for inviting us to join today.
13:41We are here as a member of Lajwa Sport Network organization
13:46for international students and immigrant workers
13:50that organize to directly confront the employers, colleges, landlords and government that exploit us.
13:58I came to Canada in 2019 as an international student.
14:06I have been working as a mechanic while on a post-graduate work permit also called PGWP.
14:14But now my work permit is expiring and I stand to lose my status or face deportation.
14:23There are over more than 130,000 other PGWP holders across Canada like me
14:35and some of them are here with me today.
14:40Like so many migrant workers in Canada, international students were sold the Canadian dream.
14:46We were told this is a country that embarrasses, defends and offers people dignity and rights.
14:54For every year, federal government officially used the slogan,
14:58Study, Explore and Stay for the international student program.
15:05We were promised a pathway to permanent residency, pure and simple.
15:10Without that promise for PR, we would never have left behind.
15:14Our families sold our land and tolerated abuse and exploitation.
15:19So we came here with the Canadian dream in our mind.
15:23But when we arrived, reality was the completely opposite.
15:29Our government gives colleges unchecked power to exploit us by charging five times the domestic tuition fees.
15:38They give employers nearly free rein to pay us below minimum wage,
15:43threaten us with deportation and abuse us.
15:51They allow landlords to mistreat and illegally evict us.
15:59And then, at the peak of COVID, we work to hold up the economy.
16:04During a labour shortage, when working conditions were unsafe,
16:08we work in trucking, warehouse, construction, food service.
16:13Intentional and systemic.
16:16We created a second class of citizens made of migrants.
16:22Instead of addressing housing and employment crises,
16:27xenophobia and racism become a convenient tool for the government
16:31to avoid responsibility and further justify discrimination.
16:38An old Chinese poem reads,
16:40四海皆兄弟,谁为喜怒人?
16:43It means everyone within the four seas is my brethren.
16:47No one is a stand-alone passerby.
16:50Now I know someone. I am someone.
16:53To the CCNCTO community and all of you here,
17:01I came to understand that I am alone
17:04and that my experiences are valid because many of us share it.
17:08I came to understand that this society pushes migrants to the margins
17:12while demanding our compliance and our labour.
17:17My comrades, it is up to us to speak up
17:23and abolish the second class citizenship in Canada
17:27that justifies anti-Asian and anti-immigrant sentiments and policies.
17:31While Parliament promised to give permanent residence status
17:35and regularization of all undocumented people,
17:38many of us, who are barred from citizenship and voting,
17:41reinforce the status quo.
17:43Parliament is returning tomorrow.
17:46Join us in speaking up and demanding Prime Minister Trudeau
17:50to implement permanent residence status
17:53and regularization of all undocumented people.
17:59We want permanent residence status
18:02and regularization of all undocumented people.
18:13We want permanent residence status for all.
18:16This second class citizenship has to stop.
18:19Let us not forget that we, yes, you, you, you and me,
18:25we have power too.
18:28We have power too to social organize it.
18:32Now let me know, what do we want?
18:35Adam was born and raised in the West Bank,
18:39Palestinian youth movement want to speak to us today
18:43about Palestinian residence and its most important.
18:47Welcome.
18:49As-salamu alaykum and peace be upon all of you.
18:53Today we're here to raise our demands against the Canadian state.
18:59We're here to condemn the blaming of immigrants and migrants
19:04for this country's problems.
19:06We know that they brought us here,
19:08but before they gave us a chance to come here,
19:11they colonized our land,
19:13they oppressed our people back home.
19:17We are witnessing a shift, a political shift around the world
19:23and the leading factor of it is Palestine and what's happening in Gaza.
19:27The people of Gaza have exposed Western hypocrisy
19:32and Western double standards that's been used to fund Israel
19:37and let Israel act with absolute impunity by killing 2,100 Palestinians.
19:45We will not stay silent while the Canadian government
19:49uses our money to fund the genocide around the world
19:54and in the global south to fund the killing of Palestinians
19:58and other minorities around the world.
20:00We demand them to use that money towards affordable housing,
20:06to use that money to better the conditions of migrants and immigration here in this country.
20:13We demand them to stop the scapegoating of immigrants
20:16because we are not the problem.
20:20The problem is the elite class that controls profits and benefits
20:25from these wars around the world.
20:27The past 11 months, the international community has stayed silent
20:31in the face of the genocide-spewing community.
20:35Shame!
20:37Shame!
20:39I think it's much for Palestine.
20:42I want to see you all there. Thank you, thank you.
20:48Thank you very much, Adam.
20:49I will now introduce Adam.
20:51My name is Adam.
20:56I'm very lucky to be here today.
21:00I'm so fired up.
21:01Are you fired up?
21:04Are you fired up?
21:06What do we want?
21:12We are all fired up, Charles.
21:14Okay, that is a close for today.
21:16We hit the streets.
21:17We made a note.
21:18But the fight doesn't stop here.
21:20You know this, right?
21:24Our comrade sister Assata Shakur said that
21:27it is our duty to win.
21:30It is our duty to win.
21:32We're going to win this, right?
21:35We're going to fight against racism.
21:37We will refuse to be divided.
21:39And we will win status for all.
21:44Thank you all for the movement.
21:45Thank you so much for coming.
21:47If you have a placard, please bring it to the front.
21:50Stay hydrated.
21:51And leave with somebody that you know.
21:54We're going to have all the placards come to the corner over here.