Blog – Libby Davies yeehaw
No Fly List in Canada Will Lead to Increased Racial Profiling: Opposition MPs Speak Out on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
No Fly List in Canada Will Lead to Increased Racial Profiling: Opposition MPs Speak Out on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
OTTAWA – NDP MP Libby Davies teamed up with fellow MPs, Gurmant Grewal (CPC), Richard Marceau (BQ) and Joe Comartin (NDP), to highlight the need for legislation banning racial profiling in Canada.
The Members of Parliament were joined by Shahid Mahmood, a Toronto man who was barred from flying in May 2004 and believes he may be on Canada’s no fly list.
On March 9th in Question Period Transport Minister Jean Lapierre responded that his department was developing such a list for Canada. “Major questions have to be asked about what mechanism will exists to protect people’s rights and ensure they are not racial profiling in the process,” said Davies, Grewal, Marceau and Comartin.
The Vancouver East MP has introduced a Bill in Parliament that would ban racial profiling from all federal departments and jurisdictions. The Bill, if passed, would compel enforcement agencies to maintain policies and procedures designed to eliminate racial profiling. The responsible Ministers would be required to report to Parliament and Federal courts would hear related cases.
“If the federal government is going to continue to move forward with increased security measures it is only just to introduce legislation that specifically spells out that racial profiling will not be tolerated,” said Grewal and Marceau.
Davies and colleagues recognized today as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by launching a campaign to stop racial profiling. A recently developed website (www.stopracialprofiling.ca) will serve as a place to bring people together on the issue.
The site includes a range of information on racial profiling and an Incident Report Form. “We want to collect people’s experiences of racial profiling and present them to Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan who continues to deny racial profiling ever happens,” explained Davies.
International Day for the Elimination of Poverty
International Day for the Elimination of Poverty
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, on this International Day for the Elimination of Racism, we remember those anti-apartheid protestors who were so brutally slaughtered in 1960 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
This March 21st is especially important as the grievous and devastating consequences of war on Iraq begin to unfold. State instituted racial profiling at the Canada-U.S. border crossings, harassment, interrogation, new visa requirements by the U.S. based on country of origin and targeting of members of the Canada Arab and Muslim communities and other minority groups are intolerable violations of human rights.
Federal New Democrats will continue to speak out against this racism fuelled by a war and anti-terrorism agenda that has even seen innocent people incarcerated.
We call on the Canadian government to uphold human rights, both internationally and here at home.
June 2011
Chinese Head Tax
Chinese Head Tax
Chinese Head Tax
Hon. Paul Martin, House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Prime Minister Martin,
We write to express our deep disappointment in the decision of your government to sign a back-door, $12.5 million agreement of redress for Chinese Canadians that effectively ignores the wishes of thousands of head tax payers and their families.
It is completely inadequate for this government to exclude at least 4000 head tax payers, their families and descendants through a lump sum agreement with only one organization.
We are calling on you to find a course of compromise that will address the needs of the diverse community of Chinese Canadians that must be acknowledged here.
The Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education (ACE) Fund was established for all communities to access. We believe the appropriate course of action is to ensure that a significant portion of the $12.5 million should be used for individual compensation for the families of head tax payers that have been so instrumental in bringing this issue forward. The remaining ACE funds should be spent on education and commemorative measures, administered either through the Canada Race Relations Foundation or a coalition foundation with representatives from the Chinese Canadian National Council, the Ontario Coalition of Head Tax Payers and Families and the National Congress of Chinese Canadians.
In a further act of good faith, we ask that members of the Chinese Canadian National Council be invited to attend the announcement of the agreement this Wednesday, November 23.
Finding a compromise to address the injustices committed against Chinese immigrants to Canada over a period of decades is of utmost importance and we look forward to working toward a solution to this problem.
Sincerely,
Jack Layton
Jack Layton MP,
Toronto-Danforth
Libby Davies
Libby Davies MP,
Vancouver East
Peter Julian
Peter Julian MP,
Burnaby-New Westminster
Bill Siksay
Bill Siksay MP,
Burnaby-Douglas
Speaking Out on the Environment
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Speaking Out on the Environment
Speaking Out on the Environment
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): – Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Environment Minister.
Tomorrow, Parliament will vote on the NDP motion on mandatory fuel efficiency standards for cars, but tomorrow the Minister will join with the Conservatives and vote against mandatory fuel standards for cars, even though during the election the Prime Minister said that he was very favourable to NDP policies on the environment.
Our motion will make the air cleaner. Therefore why is he joining with the Conservatives to block this very good motion?
Hon. Stéphane Dion (Minister of the Environment, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, we share the same goals. The point is the means. The view of the Government of Canada is that a voluntary agreement, if it is well done, will give very good results. It is working in Europe, so why not in Canada? We will try to have a voluntary agreement with the auto industry and we will consider regulations only if this first step fails. However up until now there has been no reason to think that we will not have an agreement with the auto industry.
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, voluntary measures have already been shown to fail. In fact the government has a real problem delivering on the principles it claims to stand on. It throws money at health care with no plan to stop privatization. It throws money at child care with no plan for not for profit delivery. Now it has no plan on Kyoto.
Why is the government prepared to send money to Russia to buy credits instead of working at home to make our air cleaner by delivering on mandatory standards for fuel emissions? Why will he not do that?