Demonstrate for Humanity over Bureaucracy

Against Jason Kenney's recent Bill C-31 under the Refugee Reform Act!
Against the deportation and devastation of a hard-working, dedicated, local family!
... and In Support for Lucene Charles, her family, and her daughter, Ajohke! 

The goal of this rally is to bring together as many people as possible, united to create a powerful visual and physical display of the strength of our voices.

Without conflict, there will be no conflict transformation. Our power to speak and our power to confront the oppressions of a world of inequalities, must never be quelled by any force meant to keep us down! We are strong, and we can act.

Join us at 4 p.m. on Friday
55 Bay St. N at the Federal Building

For anyone wishing to attend as part of a group, I will be meeting with people between 3 and 3:30 pm at Homegrown Hamilton / Sky Dragon Community Centre (27 King William St.) We will depart toward the rally at 3:30 pm, so please do not be late. For anyone who does not know me by name or face, I will be wearing a bright blue scarf.

Please forward to friends and allies.
- Amelia

Disclaimer: this is not an official opirg mcmaster sponsored event, and is posted for information purposes only. Please contact the event organizers with any questions or concerns.

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HSR Bus Transit Information:

- Coming from East of Downtown (Landsdale, Gibson, Stipley, and further.) -- Routes 1, 5, or 10 (B-line) Westbound to King at Bay; walk North on Bay one block; OR Routes 2 or 3 Westbound to James at York; walk West on York, then turn left on Bay. ALSO, Route 4 Westbound to James opposite Rebecca; walk North to York, West to Bay; or continue on the bus until Bay at King.
- Coming from Dundas, Westdale, or close to Main St. W. -- Routes 1, 51, 5, or 10 (B-line) Eastbound to Main at Bay; walk North on Bay two blocks.
- Coming from Kirkendall, Locke St., Durand, etc -- Route 7 Eastbound to Bay at King; walk one block South; OR Route 8 Eastbound to York at Bay; walk a half block South.
- Coming from West Mountain -- Route 34 Northbound to Main at Bay; walk two blocks North; OR Route 33 Northbound to MacNab Terminal; walk West on King, North on Bay.
- From Central Mountain -- Any of Routes 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 35 or 20 (A-line) to MacNab St. terminal; walk West on King, North on Bay.

On 8 February 2012 13:03, amelia herman wrote:

Hi folks,

Some of you have already heard about Lucene Charles' impeding forceful ejection from Hamitlon: I want to share information about this particular case so far. 

Lucene, a woman living in Westdale, and her daughter are to be deported on February 20th -- Family Day. She must make the choice to leave her three boys in Canada without their family, or take them with her, and her daughter, to St. Vincent. 

Between January 7th, and today, The Spectator has published 9 articles about Lucene Charles. 

There is a page set up on Facebook so that people can keep up-to-date with Lucene's case.

Lucene has been told by the Candian Border Service Agency that she and her daughter must leave Canada. Jason Kenney, Minister of Immigration can be contacted at 613-992-2235 or email jason.kenney@parl.gc.ca. Should you have any opinions or thoughts about this, you can voice them to him. You might also want to consider being in contact with Lucene's MP, David Sweet, who's conveniently done sweet nothing about this, and his contacts are here: 905.627.9169 david@davidsweet.ca.

Briefly, about the case, for anyone who can not currently open the links above:

• The three Canadian Charles children have the right to live with their mother in their own country. To be raised in a loving stable home along with their young sister. 
•  Lucene Charles has earned the right to be a Canadian citizen. The primary reason she is not a Canadian citizen is that during the time her application should have been submitted, she and her family were caught in a vicious cycle of domestic abuse and poverty. In fact, Lucene’s success in becoming an active participant in her community was recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship & Immigration at which she was a guest speaker in April 2011. Today, Lucene is a hardworking single mother who holds a good job, nurtures her family and supports the family’s full participation all spheres of Canadian life.
•  In signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Canada recognized the particular responsibility of the government to protect children. A central commitment made by the Canadian government was to make the best interests of the child the primary consideration in all decisions affecting them.
• The stakes are high. Lucene Charles is an honest, hardworking, active and contributing member of her community and of Canadian society. She is raising her children, three sons and young daughter, as warm-hearted, independent and contributing members of Canadian society. The three oldest children are Canadian citizens. If Lucene is forced to leave Canada with her youngest daughter, Ajohke, irreparable harm may befall the boys. 
•  Lucene is her children’s primary source of financial and emotional support and her departure would leave these children with the psychological and emotional pain of not knowing when they will see their mother and sister again, much less live with them. Studies are very clear that children in this situation experience psychological harm, undergo behavioral changes, and can experience serious declines in health and educational performance. Children reported increased depression, sleeplessness, and anxiety. They also reported plummeting grades and desire to drop out of school. To break this family in this way simply cannot be what the Canadian Government believes is in the best interest of these children. 

Currently, this is all only for your information. 

Because there is so little time and because, other than an online petition and individual letter-writing or phone-calling to local MP's and the CBSA, there is no other organized mobilization around this, I am not here asking for any specific further support. If you feel personally moved to support Lucene and her children, given the information herein, you can contact Lucene's supporters by phone -- 1.905.512.1534 -- or by email at canadiansforlucene@gmail.com. I have been in touch with them with some ideas of my own. Your suggestions, opinions, support and ideas are valuable, too! You can also forward this email to other friends and allies who you know.

Time is definitely short, but if we act, we may be able to keep a wonderful human being in our city.

Thanks for devoting some of your time to learning more. 

Peace and Courage,

Amelia