Migrant workers, civil society groups, unions and grassroots organizers have launched National Days of Action to demand reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The coalition, which issued the release, says closed work permits tie workers to a single employer, fuelling exploitation and abuse, and is calling for open permits to guarantee mobility, dignity … Read more
Responding to the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad following the seizure of power by opposition forces in the capital city of Damascus, Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnès Callamard said, “After over five decades of brutality and repression, the people of Syria may finally have an opportunity to live free of fear with their … Read more
Amnesty International designated Likhts’amisyu Clan Wing Chief Dsta’hyl (also known as Adam Gagnon) of the Wet’suwet’en Nation as the first-ever Amnesty International prisoner of conscience in Canada and demands his immediate and unconditional release. Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International commented “Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines of climate change and will face disproportionate harms if … Read more
Surging violence surrounding Canadian mining projects in Ecuador should raise red flags for the Canadian government as it commences trade talks with the Ecuadorian government, MiningWatch Canada, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Amnesty International Canada said Tuesday. They shared their recommendations to a study by the Standing Committee on International Trade. Canada has been clear that … Read more
Amnesty International Canada unveiled its 2023 Human Rights Agenda laying out the global organization’s calls to action for parties and politicians vying for power in Canada’s next federal election. “Our 77 calls to action establish a floor – not a ceiling – for what respecting human rights looks like in 2024 and at the beginning of the next … Read more
Former federal cabinet ministers Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock joined Amnesty International Canada and Human Rights Watch on Nov. 14 in admonishing the Trudeau government to end the Canada Border Service Agency’s practice of incarcerating refugee claimants and migrants in provincial jails on administrative immigration grounds. “Too many migrants and asylum seekers are detained pending the determination of … Read more
Thousands of people have joined a group of Sixties Scoop survivors in signing a petition urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) to formally apologize for the racist child welfare policies that separated more than 20,000 children from their families. “The federal government must accept responsibility for its role in the Sixties Scoop,” said NDP MP Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni, … Read more
Despite losing its bid to join the United Nations Security Council, Canada can and must still advance its global goals through its Feminist Foreign Policy. “In its campaign, Canada made promises to advance the rights of women and girls,” said Beth Woroniuk of the Equality Fund. “Carrying through on these promises will involve investments and courage to challenge … Read more
In an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.), a coalition of Canadian civil society organizations (inlcuding Amnesty International) expressed concern with a Global Affairs Canada analysis in Final Report: Review of export permits to Saudi Arabia, published in April. The group called the government’s analysis unsatisfactory, saying it demonstrates a weak commitment to Canada’s obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty. Justin Mohammed, Human … Read more
A total of 301 organizations, academics and former politicians from across the country are calling on all levels of government in Canada to take urgent steps to strengthen human rights oversight amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Everything about this pandemic – providing treatment, curtailing its spread, dealing with the economic fall-out, ensuring that the needs of marginalized … Read more
