Brampton encampment closes but the fight is just beginning

After 143 days, the immigrant workers and students that held an encampment in Brampton have shut down the camp to change tactics. 

 

The group of Post-Graduate Work Permit holders (PGWP) and supporters has been fighting to end the ‘use and throw’ policy of the Liberal government. 

 

Thousands of Immigrants were promised permanent residency after graduating or working in Canada. The Liberals reneged on that deal this year and are now threatening mass deportations. Trudeau and his cabinet are following the Conservatives and the far-right in building attacks on immigrants based on disinformation and an attempt to appeal to racists. 

 

The change in tactics from the encampment organizers comes with changes in the political terrain. The prorogation of parliament and the upcoming election means the focus has shifted to MP races and other targeted actions. 

 

Although the tents may have come down, the committee can speak of significant achievements. They burst through the bubble of disinformation that is being peddled by politicians and they began to challenge the scapegoating of immigrant workers and students. 

 

They even forced some changes in immigration policy although the changes fall short of the demands. But they have a new and invigorated committee and support network that can continue the struggle and can do so collectively. 

 

People from all around the world and in Canada heard their message and this will be crucial in the coming days and months as the struggle for just immigration policies heats up. 

 

Joint statement

 

The PGWP committee released a statement at an event in Brampton outlining the reasons for the decision to take down the encampment:

 

“After 143 days of maintaining the encampment the PGWP committee is announcing a shift in its approach. The encampment will no longer be ongoing. We want to remind everyone that this is not the end of our fight.

 

Our commitment and advocacy to immigration issues and international issues will be unchanged. Our struggle continues on until our demands are met and policies are just and equal for everyone.

 

This strategic change comes in response to the current political landscape in Canada where both Liberals and Conservatives are trying to scapegoat international students and workers. We believe now is the time to shift towards more strategic actions—actions that can mobilize our community and find our collective voice.

 

We believe at this time that directing our resources to alternative forms of activism will be more effective in advocating our cause. We expect this to intensify in the coming days.

 

On behalf of the PGWP committee we send our sincere gratitude to all the unions, community groups, faith based organizations and media outlets who have covered this encampment and joined us throughout our struggle. Your support has been crucial in maintaining our efforts for 143 days. We request that all of you continue standing with us as we continue pushing for fairness and justice in immigration policies.”

 

PGWP committee activist Bikram Kullewaliâ spoke of the state of the movement and next steps:

 

“We raised this tent to call out injustice and to say we will not stay silent or despair. We will fight back. This tent was not set up by any public official; it was set up for the court of public opinion right in the heart of the Punjabi community.

 

In this election it seems that politicians are only concerned with votes and, in their propaganda they have scapegoated immigrants, especially international students as the root cause of Canada’s problems.

 

But this tent brought global attention to our issue and many thoughtful individuals and organizations stood with us. Even if some opposed us and spread disinformation we still succeeded in taking our message to the people.

 

We live in a system that is only comfortable serving the very wealthy while ignoring the majority of workers. It is this very system that pushed us onto the streets and that is where we found common ground and posed our arguments.

 

I have a message to Canada’s labour movement. Many of us are not unionized but we are still workers. Many union leaders came and stood in solidarity with us. They said that they represent thousands of workers which they do but when they came to stand with us they were alone or in a small group.

 

We really appreciate these leaders for supporting us but we have two requests for them. One, please share the information about us with your thousands of members and please provide your members with the resources to join us in our actions.

 

We request this because even the best leaders cannot change the system by themselves. Only the people who work to make the system function everyday can change it. We invite all working people to support our struggle to change the system.

 

Our second request to the union leaders is to speak out more against the system that exploits all workers. We know that union leaders are engaged in the fight for better wages and working conditions for their workers. We have supported those fights in the past and will continue to support them in the future. Please work to struggle to change the system as a whole to make a system that meets the needs of the vast majority.”

 

All the participants at this encampment should be proud of the work they have done. It was the largest and most sustained push back in Canada against the scapegoating of immigrants and a crucial salvo against the racism of the far-right. They deserve all of our support in the fights to come.