“Today, the inquiry into the death of Chantel Moore, an Indigenous woman who was killed by police in New Brunswick during a routine wellness check is set to begin. We hope this investigation into her tragic death will finally give her family and community the answers they deserve.
A wellness check, carried out by a police officer, should never result in death. This cannot be allowed to continue. The government has a responsibility to ensure systemic change so that all communities are served by police forces in Canada.
Sadly, there are many examples of police violence against Indigenous and racialized people. The Feminist Alliance for International Action’s (FAFIA) recent report found that there is a pattern of discrimination, harassment and assault against Indigenous women by officers of the RCMP.
Open Letter: Gaza Family Reunification Measures
Over the past two months, I have become aware of more than two-hundred Palestinian Canadians with either citizenship or permanent resident status across the country that have applied to sponsor their family members in Gaza to come to Canada through the family reunification program. These families have begun the application process to bring nearly 2,500 loved ones from Gaza in total. Of these family members stuck in Gaza, 78 per cent are still waiting to receive the code from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that is required to proceed to the next phase and complete their application.
Your department has stated that 986 people have received a code and used it to submit a temporary resident visa (TRV) application which has been accepted into processing. It is apparent that the code issuing system works in lockstep with the 1,000-person cap to severely restrict the inflow of applications. It should be abundantly clear that you must lift the cap.
It has been almost seventy days since the program opened for applications on January 9. These families are desperate to know when, or if, loved ones will be allowed to come to Canada. For many, the news is consuming their life as they anxiously await to hear from IRCC officials regarding their application. Yet they are met with radio silence from IRCC. The process is frankly excruciating to for family members. The federal NDP caucus has already condemned this non-communicative approach, called on you to lift the arbitrary cap, and change the discriminatory lens through which this policy approaches Palestinians.