White Canada Forever? The racist history of Canadian immigration policy

Brendan Campisi

In today’s debates over the admission of Syrian refugees to Canada, many defenders of admission, including the Trudeau Liberals, have drawn on the image of Canada as a friendly, welcoming country with a history of accepting refugees and immigrants. While this flattering cliché is believed by many Canadians, a look at the history of this country’s immigration policy shows it is far from the truth.

Early Canadian immigration law was loose to the point of being almost non-existent, befitting a settler-colonial society founded on European migration. This began to change when the first major group of non-European immigrants arrived in the 1870s and 80s. This group was made up of Chinese immigrants who mostly settled in British Columbia, many after working in deadly conditions building the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Calls began to limit this influx and by the early 1880s the ‘head tax’ had been introduced to discourage Chinese immigration. It would be raised significantly several times, eventually becoming so high that it effectively ended Chinese migration entirely. Chinese people were also stripped of the right to vote at the same time. In the discussion of that law, John A MacDonald said that it was necessary to disenfranchise the Chinese and stop them from immigrating in order to preserve “the Aryan character of the future of British North America.”

International Day of Migrants 2015: behind migrant crisis, there is the capitalist crisis

This article was written in support of the World Federation of Democratic Youth's (WFDY) joint actions on the International Day of Migrants. WFDY's Commission on Europe and North America has launched a campaign for migrant rights and against imperialisms displacement of people.

Adrien Welsh, chair of the Young Communist League of Canada's International Commission

On the International Day of Migrants, 18 December 2015, the Young Communist League of Canada joins with thousands of others around the world to express its solidarity with the millions of women, men and children forced every year to leave their country, family, home and job because of war, economic need or climate change.

Refugee Crisis is a Crisis of Imperialism

TJ Petrowski

The widely circulated photo of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy whose body was found on a beach in Turkey and whose family was “making a final, desperate attempt to flee to relatives in Canada even though their asylum application had been rejected” by the Harper Government, has caused widespread outrage and forced Western leaders to acknowledge that there is a “refugee crisis”.

In Canada, the leaders of the Liberal and New Democratic parties have used the news of Kurdi’s tragic death, along with the deaths of his five-year-old brother and his mother, to criticize the Harper Government’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis. Trudeau and Mulcair have called on Canada to accept more Syrian refugees, while the Harper Government, with its lust for military action, insists on more illegal bombing raids in Syria and Iraq as the solution to the surge of Syrian refugees.

The real tragedy is the refusal of Western leaders to acknowledge the cause of the refugee crisis – Western imperialism’s genocidal and never ending wars on the people of the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa.

Harper to Canadians: “Some citizens matter, some don’t”

By Zidane Mohamed

Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian, remains in prison  

On June 23rd, the Egyptian high court sentenced three reporters for Al-Jazeera to 7 years in prison, advancing the ongoing campaign of censorship of journalists and activists by the current military dictatorship, which has the support of the United States and Israel. One of them is a Canadian-Egyptian journalist, Mohamed Fahmy, who was arrested in December in Cairo as he was covering the aftermath of the army's removal of Mohamed Morsi from the presidency in July 2013.

The Canadian government, which prides itself as a champion of human rights, should do its best to intervene in aiding its citizens from the crimes of military dictatorships. But after the Omar Khadr fiasco, and a decade of “war on terror” jingoism, they passed a pernicious bill that would legally absolve the Canadian government of any responsibility to intervene. Bill C-24 reiterates the Harper government’s commitment in continuing institutionalized racism, which discriminates against migrant peoples, who are often racialized. Bill C-24 gives the immigration minister expanded powers over citizenship rights, which include revoking the citizenship of dual-citizens who have “engaged in certain actions contrary to the national interest of Canada”.

C-24 Expands Tory Attack on Human Rights

By Kimball Cariou - Reposted from People's Voice Newspaper

Anti-C24 rally in early July 2014, Vancouver

Passed in June by the House of Commons, Bill C‑24, the new "Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act (SCCA)," imposes new requirements to obtain citizenship, and makes it easier for the government to revoke it.

            Human rights groups are planning a legal challenge to the SCCA, which effectively creates two classes of Canadian citizens, each with very different sets of rights. The Bill allows the federal government to strip the Canadian citizenship from dual nationals convicted of some offences. The law could apply in cases where Canadians are convicted in foreign courts, and even to people born in Canada if they also have citizenship elsewhere, such as through their parents.

            Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association say that giving the government the power to revoke people's citizenship is the same as banishing them into exile. They argue the legislation does not include enough safeguards to protect Canadians. Opposition MPs and other advocacy groups, including the Canadian Bar Association, have also objected to the bill.

            The new revocation provisions are "divisive and buy into and promote false and xenophobic narratives about `true' Canadians and others, which equate foreignness with terrorism," says an analysis released by Amnesty International Canada.

Youth volunteers gear up for S.A.M.E. Awareness Tour

By Directions newsletter,
United Food and Commercial Workers

The countdown has started to the launch of the S.A.M.E. Awareness Tour 2014 — building on the success of the 2013 tour and outreach which energized more than 10,000 Ontario youth to defend human rights and fight for migrant worker justice.

Since it was founded four years ago, S.A.M.E. (Students Against Migrant Exploitation) has grown into Canada's leading student social justice movement to empower and engage youth on migrant worker and labour rights issues. The 2013 tour brought S.A.M.E. youth activists to more to 45 schools, colleges and universities across Southern Ontario.

The 2014 Tour launches on February 27 at York University and runs until the end of March. Throughout the five-week your tour which leads up to Farm Workers Awareness Week, S.A.M.E. youth volunteers will host seminars, music workshops, and art and multimedia activities at schools and campuses across Ontario to empower and inform youth on issues about migration and migrant workers.

Tarek and John’s message on indefinite migrant detention in Canada

It was very moving and upsetting to meet some of the Lindsay detainees today. So much of what they described to us struck a chord, given what we just went through in Cairo. For detainees and their families, to suffer indefinite detention is to be consigned to a terrible limbo, not knowing what the future holds, not knowing how long the ordeal with last. We hope Canadians will speak out, as they did for Tarek and I, and demand justice and fair treatment for the Lindsay 191 –John Greyson

Ontario migrant workers fighting prison lockdown with mass hunger strike

 A banner dropped in Guelph, Ontario on Wednesday
in solidarity with the hunger striking detainees

Peter Miller
Rebel Youth Magazine

Around 200 immigration detainees have recently been moved from prisons in the Greater Toronto Area and sent to a maximum-security prison in Lindsay, Ontario, immigrant rights group No One Is Illegal has exposed.

The immigrant detainees are facing lockdowns due to understaffing of the prison, and some are unable to leave their cells for 18 hours a day. The move from prisons in the Greater-Toronto Area has resulted in greater isolation for the detainees, whose families often live in Toronto.

Almost 200 of the detainees in Lindsay have been on hunger strike for over 10 days, since Wednesday, September 18.  Strikers are calling for better access to medical care and social workers; cheaper phone calls and access to international calling cards; access to better food, like the food on the non-immigration ranges; an end to constant lockdowns; and better access to legal aid and legal services.

S.A.M.E. activists bring migrant awareness to thousands of students

In many regards the 2012-2013 school year was an historic milestone for S.A.M.E. (Students Against Migrant Exploitation).  Among the many accomplishments for the organization, now in its fourth year, was the total number of students that were engaged through presentations and online campaigns: more than 7,500 students altogether!

This incredible feat was reached over the year through a series of presentations and events held at over 50 different schools, campuses, and communities across Ontario.

June marked the end of the school year presentations for S.A.M.E, whose activists visited Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Grimsby, Ontario where they had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of interested students at the school’s annual Multicultural Week assembly.

As has become customary, the S.A.M.E seminar was accompanied by the musical talents of Benny Esguerra. Collectively, the presentation outlined the importance of diversity, multiculturalism, and the importance of acknowledging, respecting and celebrating the thousands of migrant workers that come to Canada yearly to harvest the food we eat.

While the in-school presentations have come to an end for this school year, S.A.M.E is already working hard to make next year bigger and better. “The fact that the S.A.M.E. in-school component has come to end until next fall is bitter-sweet. It is always exciting and inspiring speaking to students, but for now it will be just as rewarding working with this year’s volunteers who have signed up in record numbers,” explains Pablo Godoy, the coordinator for S.A.M.E.

If you or anyone you know is interested in volunteering with S.A.M.E this year, please contact info@thesame.ca.

Deportation is not entertainment

Coalition of Organizations Release Letter

Regarding Border Security TV Show

​TO:
​
Minister Vic Toews, Ministry of Public Safety, Government of Canada
Luc Portelance, President, Canadian Border Services Agency
Rob Bromley, President, Force Four Entertainment
John Ritchie, Partner and Executive Producer, Force Four Entertainment
Gillian Lowrey, Partner and Director of Business Affairs, Force Four Entertainment
Paul Robertson, President, Shaw Media
Peter Bissonnette, President, Shaw Media
Zoran Stakic, Privacy Officer, Shaw Media
Andrew Eddy Vice President, Shaw Media Content Distribution
Michael French Vice President, Shaw Media Finance
Barb Williams Senior Vice President, Shaw Media Content
Deb Avis, Senior Vice President, Shaw Media Social Responsibility
JR Shaw, Executive Chair, Shaw Media
Jim Shaw, Vice Chair, Shaw Media
Bradley Shaw, Chief Executive Officer, Shaw Media​

​
We are a group of community-based and national organizations who would like to voice our collective concern about Border Security: Canada’s Front Line.
​
We are deeply concerned about the traumatic and potentially dangerous consequences upon all those who find themselves being filmed for Border Security. In Border Security a highly one-sided narrative is told about those crossing the border under varying circumstances or those people in the process of migration, which has the particular long-term impact of spreading fear about and among immigrant and migrant communities. At best, this TV show is an invasion of privacy with questionable ethics on informed consent; at worst, it can put the lives of vulnerable migrants at risk by commercially exploiting their stories for broadcast. No one deserves to face the trauma of being forcibly separated from their families and then having this suffering turned into entertainment. We also find it extremely troubling that the federal government has approved and is involved in this production.
​
Deportation is not entertainment. We urge you to cancel, stop participating in, and end the broadcast of Border Security. More than 23,000 people have signed a petition calling for an end to this TV show. They are joined by prominent cultural producers, human rights groups, and legal organizations. We hope you will take this opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to upholding human rights, legal obligations, and ethical media production by cancelling Border Security.
​
Sincerely,
​
Agriculture Workers Alliance Support Centre-Surrey
Alberta Public Interest Research Group
Alliance for People’s Health
Amnesty International
Antidote: Multiracial and Indigenous Girls and Women's Network
Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society
Babae Montreal
Battered Women’s Support Services
BC Civil Liberties Association
B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union
Café Rebelde
Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers
Canadian Council for Refugees
Canadian Labour Congress
Check Your Head
Chinese Canadian National Council
Coalition of South Asian Women Against Violence
Connective Project for Colombia
Council of Canadians
Defenders of the Land
Dignidad Migrante
Downtown Eastside Women’s Center
Fraser Valley Peace Council
Friends of Women in the Middle East Society
Fuerza-Puwersa
Global Queer Research Group-University of British Columbia
Hamiltonians for Migrant and Refugee Health
Health for All
Idle No More
Immigrant Workers Center
Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign
International Iranian Federation of Refugees
Justice for Migrant Workers
Latinos in Action
Law Union of Ontario
Lead Now
Migrante BC
Mining Justice Alliance
Native Youth Movement
No One Is Illegal-Toronto
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Out On Campus-Simon Fraser University
People's Commission Network
People Against Settler Colonialism-University of British Columbia
Pivot Legal Society
Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas
Purple Thistle Center
QTIPOCALYPSE
Quebec Public Interest Research Group-McGill University
Queer Migration Collective
Raices Latin American Cultural Society
Rising Tide-Vancouver Coast Salish Territories
Regina Public Interest Research Group
Salaam Canada
Sanctuary Health
Shit Harper Did
Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group
Simon Fraser University Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Siraat
Social Housing Coalition BC
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
Streams of Justice
Tadamon
Teaching Support Staff Union
The Feminist Wire
The Mainlander
Toronto Action for Social Change
Trikone Vancouver
Truthfool Communications
University of British Columbia Colour Connected Against Racism
University of British Columbia Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice
University of British Columbia Race Autobiography Gender and Age Graduate Student Network
Unis’to’ten Camp
Vancouver Status of Women
Welcome Home Refugee Housing Community
West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund

“What about migrant worker families?” ask activists from Guelph

Protest outside Diane Finley`s offices. (From the Simcoe Reformer)

Peter Miller


On Friday, February 22, Fuerza/Puwersa, Justicia for Migrant Workers, and community members from Simcoe, Ontario organized a rally in front of Federal Conservative Minister Diane Finley’s constituency office.

Finley is the Federal Minister of Human Resources & Skills Development. Last December, she announced the withdrawal of EI benefits for migrant workers.

Migrant workers have been paying into
 Employment Insurance since 1966, but just recently became aware
that they were eligible for E.I. special benefits in 2002. It is estimated that they pay 400 million dollars into E.I. each year.

Migrant workers have used E.I. maternal and paternal
 benefits to provide much needed support for their newborn children, Justicia For Migrant Workers explained in a recent press release. Migrant Workers could also apply to use the special E.I. Benefits to provide support for ailing spouses.



Tzazna Miranda Leal, a member of Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW)
argues in J4MV’s recent press release that “these benefits meant families could stay healthy, and in
some cases have kept children alive. We are calling on the Federal
Government to restore them immediately.”

 At the rally, protesters chanted and held banners. One large banner was also a giant petition that said “Restore E.I. Parental Benefits for Migrant Workers.”

 An estimated 30,000 migrant workers come to Canada to work in agriculture and other industries. Many migrant workers work for the agricultural industry in Simcoe County.

The thousands of foreign workers that come through the SAWP to Canada face many issues while on the job. They are often placed in rural communities which are extremely isolating. Workers can face up to 9 months away from their families in various countries where they come from the Caribbean, and South and Central America.

They work in some of the most dangerous industries. Agricultural labourers face exposure to pesticides, other chemical and organic additives, and prolonged work hours under extreme temperatures. They do not have the right to form unions or collectively bargain. Moreover, they get paid lower wages than Canadian workers, often working 12 to 15 hour days, six days a week.

In June of 2012 the Federal Government passed law that allows employers to pay temporary high-skilled foreign workers up to 15 per cent less than local wages. The new law also allows employers to pay low-skilled foreign workers 5 per cent less than local wages. Migrant rights activists say that this policy is highly discriminatory.

Labour leaders like Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan agree, and also point out that the policy will cause wages for Canadian workers to lower as well.

Activists plan to organize more actions against the cut to E.I. for migrant workers. They also have noted the importance of recognizing that this action so far was organized by friends and allies of migrant workers, and that as those working as migrant workers begin to return to Canada in the next few months, actions will be led by their voices and opinions on the taking away of their rights and benefits. One a member of Fuerza/Puwersa Guelph told Rebel Youth:

“In understanding this action, and understanding our continued work around this campaign, the most important consideration is that as more migrant farm worker community members start returning in the next couple of months, their voices and opinions around the taking away of their EI benefits will come forward, will take the lead, and be supported. Diane Finley cowardly announced the taking away of EI benefits during the farming off-season, while most of the migrating farm workers we work with are in their home countries, demonstrating how the government continues to disrespect and exclude them, it becomes so crucial not to perpetuate this, and to recognize that we work as allies, and support the recognition and confrontation of attacks on migrant workers, but they can speak for themselves”.

According to Fuerza/Puwersa it is important to recognize the continued risk  migrant workers face in speaking out, perpetuated by their lack of employment security and precarious status. Migrant workers are taking the risk as well as being strategic and coming up with ways to protect themselves while also having their concerns heard.

The Guelph-based activist group is looking toward the Justicia campaign where workers wrote their thoughts around the EI cuts on posters, taking pictures holding these posters while covering their faces. During the rally participants were holding these posters that were written by workers, and shared their messages in their absence.

“This is money migrant workers and their employers paid into the
system, now Finley has decided to be a miser and steal it all away,”
added migrant justice activist Amar Bathia. “Norfolk County’s
agricultural industry would not survive without migrant workers. They
have been subsidizing Canada’s EI system for almost half a century. Is
 this how we re-pay that debt?”


Fuerza/Puwersa stands for "strength" in Spanish and Tagalog. The group of community members in Guelph is dedicated to working as allies to migrant communities, and building awareness of the injustices faced by migrant workers in Canada. They believe that “all beings deserve dignity, agency, and the ability to both “move” and “stay” wherever on earth we choose, according to our basic and self-determined needs.”

The group’s activities include working as allies to those under migrant worker programs, including the Seasonal Agricultural Worker’s (SAWP) program, as well as the Live-in Caregiver program (LCP), and  raising critical awareness about issues these individuals raise.

New Canadians and anyone concerned with our immigration system should not support the Conservative Party

We received the following news release via e-mail this morning and thought we would share.

Immigration Lawyers, Practitioners and Academics Tell New Canadians and anyone concerned with our immigration system why they should not support the Conservative Party:

In a press release today, leading immigration lawyers, practitioners and academics refuted the arguments of the Conservative Government that their policies have been favourable to New Canadians. They noted that the Conservative Party has been telling visible minority immigrant communities, which it calls the "ethnic vote", that it is improving the immigration system. A review of their record shows the contrary.


-Since the Conservative Party took power, the total time for processing sponsorship applications and visa applications for parents and grandparents has increased dramatically. Meanwhile the number granted visas annually has dropped by 44% since 2006. This year only 11, 500 visas will be issued in this category. New Canadians who hope to be reunited in Canada with their parents or grandparents, or who have any empathy for families that want to be reunited, should vote for another party.

-The backlog of skilled worker applicants waiting for a decision has gone up from 487,000 in 2005 to 508,000.

-What is actually being done to process any type of application remains a guessing game for many applicants.

-The Conservative Party has cut settlement funding for immigrants and refused to fund many well-established groups, often because of political considerations.

-The Conservatives claim they will get tough on human smugglers, but the law they intend to pass mainly punishes refugees. Even women and children will be imprisoned for a minimum of one year under this law.

-The Conservative Party claims to be sympathetic to refugees who do not flee their countries illegally, but just announced plans to cancel the only program allowing Canada to protect refugees applying from within their country.

-The Conservative Party plans to make marriage sponsorships conditional on a two-year waiting period. Canadians and their spouses will be subjected to more uncertainty and delay. Spouses in abusive relationships will be trapped in them.

-The Conservative Party has continually stirred up anti-immigrant sentiment to justify its policies, even without a majority.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT LORNE WALDMAN 416 254-4590 in Toronto; MITCHELL GOLDBERG 514-808-0843 IN MONTREAL; PROFESSOR DONALD GALLOWAY VICTORIA 250 721 8150. PROFESSOR PETER SHOWLER OTTAWA 613-562-5800 x 8871. SHARRYN J AIKEN 416-529-0379


Why the “Ethnic” Communities Should Not Support the Conservative Party:

Despite the media hype and government propaganda, Canadian immigration experts, both academics and lawyers, do not think that the Conservative government is doing immigrant communities any favours.

Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney and the Conservatives have targeted the so-called "ethnic vote," hoping to convince immigrant communities that the Conservatives have made things better for their communities and that these communities should support them. However, a review of the facts shows that this government's policies have not been friendly to immigrant communities. Moreover, the Conservative government has made a habit of using immigration issues to stir up anti- immigrant sentiments amongst other Canadians.

FACTS:

1. Since the Conservative Party took power, the processing time of visa applications for parents and grandparents has increased dramatically. Jason Kenney tries to manipulate the statistics to suggest that the contrary is true but the facts speak for themselves. The number of parent and grandparent visas issued in 2006, based on the 2005 targets, was 20,005. The number of visas for parents and grandparents that will be issued this year is 11,200, a reduction of almost 9,000 or close to 44 per cent. The total processing time of a sponsorship of a parent application including the time for the processing of the sponsorship in Canada and the processing of the application overseas has increased between nine and thirty months depending on the visa post. Moreover, given that the number of visas issued is being reduced, the backlogs will increase and the processing times will increase. The failure of the government to address this issue is creating immense hardship on immigrant families.

2. The Conservative Government has cut settlement funding for immigrants and has refused to fund many well established groups. Moreover, as is well known, the government decides funding applications based on political considerations, providing funding to those groups that support them and denying funding to those that do not. In December, the Harper government cut $53 million from the 2011-12 budget for programs that offer support and integration services for new Canadians. This was not a rebalancing between provinces, this was a 10% cut to the overall budget before any reallocation occurred. In addition to a $43 million cut in Ontario, British Columbia was slashed by 8% or $8.5 million and Nova Scotia has been cut as well. The Conservatives have also held back more than $200 million of promised settlement funding for Ontario during the last 5 years - before the cuts were made.

3. Despite claims that the Conservative government cut the backlog of skilled workers, the backlog that was 487,000 in 2005 and is now 508,000. The overall backlog has grown by 173,000 on the Conservative’s watch. Thus despite all their claims to being good managers, they have failed to make any significant improvements in the skilled worker program in content or efficiency.



4. The Conservative Government promises it will get tough on human smugglers. However, instead of punishing the smugglers the bill targets the victims of smuggling, the refugees. The bill will require mandatory detention of all persons who arrive by boat for one year—including women and children. They would also deny permanent residence – and family reunification -- to recognized refugees for five years for no reason other than their mode of arrival. The Conservatives have made their claim that they are getting tough on human smugglers a cornerstone of their re-election strategy. However, the policy has nothing to do with smugglers and has everything to do with demonizing and reducing the numbers of refugees. After all the government has also proposed to eliminate the category of refugees who can be considered for refugee status by applying from their home countries.



5. The Conservative government proposes to make it harder for spouses to reunite by introducing conditional visas for a period of two years from landing.. Jason Kenney claims that the government is targeting ‘marriage fraud’ but don’t be fooled – every couple will face additional, harsher, longer and more invasive scrutiny. The more cynical visa officers have had their cynicism encouraged by Mr. Kenney. Just because you know your marriage is genuine, doesn’t mean the government will agree, and even more individuals, families and communities will suffer as a result of the government’s culture of suspicion. If a visa officer does deny a family sponsorship application, there will be a delay of several years before an appeal can be decided, further delaying family reunification. And those marriages entered into in good faith that fail within the two years conditional period will be suspect, causing many spouses to remain in potentially abusive relationships.



As academics and lawyers and other practitioners who specialize in immigration law and human rights, we are firmly committed to basic Canadian values of equality and respect for all Canadians, regardless of country of origin. We believe that the rule of law should not be undermined by political ideology. We value the wealth and wisdom of our multi-cultural society and understand that we will thrive as a country by cultivating our common Canadian qualities and not by exploiting our differences for partisan gain.



If you believe in the concept of family reunification, that is the ability of immigrants and Canadians to bring their parents, grandparents, children and spouses to Canada; if you believe in a fair and timely skilled worker program that recruits the best and the brightest from around the world to join our midst; if you believe in justice for refugees without automatic imprisonment; if you believe in spousal sponsorship processing that does not lead to the potential for greater spousal abuse and neglect, then you should not support the Conservative Party in the upcoming Federal Election on May 2nd.

Naomi Minwalla, Barrister & Solicitor
Naomi Minwalla Law Corporation
207 - 744 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1A5 Canada
Tel.: (604) 689 - 8100
Fax: (604) 689 - 2082
Web: www.naomiminwalla.com

Legal Privilege Claimed.

Kenney spars with protesters, thanks communists

September 01, 2010
Reprinted from the Guelph Mercury

Jason Kenney gave as good as he got Tuesday during a visit to Guelph.

The federal Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism got a glimpse of Guelph political activism as he attended the Guelph Conservative Party’s annual summer barbecue in Riverside Park.

About 100 turned out to meet and hear Kenney, whose recent changes to rules governing foreign workers and funding for immigration services have sparked much discussion in the media.

A coalition of about 30 protesters occupied a picnic area about the length of a soccer pitch away from the Conservative event, but the pitch of their voices over a megaphone was shrill and loud enough to clash with Kenney and Guelph Conservative Party federal candidate Marty Burke during their remarks.