The recent anti-immigrant demonstration in downtown Hamilton should be deeply disturbing to everyone; but what could an inclusive response look like in the face of xenophobic extremism?
Initial reactions to the far-right demonstration outside Jackson Square late last year on Nov. 9, 2024, where masked protestors held up a sign calling for "mass deportations now" were unified; hate has no home in Hamilton.
This message might ring hollow however, if instead of just words, we examine the actions of Canada as a whole. Far from out of place, in our current political climate, this anti-immigrant extremism seems right at home.
The current federal government is remarkably unpopular. Headed by a Prime Minister with dismal approval ratings, the federal Liberals have spent the last year attempting to claw back support they’ve lost to the Conservative’s 18-point poll lead.
While Prime Minister Trudeau has pivoted to address many of the Conservative’s main appeals, the housing crisis and inflation are much harder issues to address immediately. Reducing immigration numbers and preying on vulnerable people for approval is much faster.
Whether it be the dramatic rise in deportations, recent last-minute decreases to the number of new permanent residents, or the new cap on international students, the government has found a scapegoat in temporary residents.
The government is well aware of the risks these policies impose on temporary residents. Pushed into instability by a lack of documentation or the constant threat of losing it, temporary residents are at risk of exploitation. Many are having their wages stolen, being forced to work in unsafe conditions, or becoming victims of an epidemic of sexual harassment.
The bare minimum to ensure against these risks, as recognized both by migrant activists and Canadian experts, is permanent residency status.
Why then, in a political environment increasingly built on xenophobia from our two largest political parties, would anyone be shocked that protestors feel emboldened to call for mass deportations in downtown Hamilton? A more important question to ask however is, how can students change this reality?
Migrant issues are worker’s issues, as was succinctly pointed out in the Hamilton and District Labour Council’s response to the recent demonstration. Workers with citizenship have infinitely more in common with temporary residents working to survive than they do with Canadian citizens who get wealthy profiteering off of their exploitation.
Worker’s with citizenship have infinitely more in common with temporary residents working to survive than they do with Canadian citizens who get wealthy profiteering off of their exploitation.
Shut out from formal political power without a vote however, migrant activists are disempowered from engaging in the formal politics that Canadian citizens are granted a voice in.
These organizations, like the many affiliated with the Migrant Rights Network, or the Southern Ontario local Naujawan Support Network, do important, invaluable work organizing temporary workers to fight for their rights. These organizations do all of this despite their exclusion from formal politics in Canada.
More than half of current temporary residents in Canada are international students, or graduates here on postgraduate work permits. Students with citizenship have the unique ability to bridge two worlds inclusively and productively.
By helping to connect international students to organizations best capable of supporting them and developing ties with these organizations to advocate on behalf of their concerns at local, provincial and even national levels, students can build political relationships and work in solidarity for a more inclusive Canada.
Campus organizations of NDP students for instance, are granted voting delegates to NDP conventions, where that party, which at least claims to represent workers, votes on important policy matters and the future of the party.
With student’s adamant support, there could be at least one federal party that actively supports temporary resident’s needs in direct collaboration and dialogue with them. By establishing themselves as an interface between these important organizations and a powerful party, student’s may be able to affect change.
All is not hopeless. The Hamilton and District Labour Council’s response to the recent demonstrations illustrate the willingness of other organizations, with power both inside the NDP (local labour councils are also granted voting delegates) and within the local community to stand up for the rights of temporary residents. The recent rise in xenophobia is not inevitable nor undefeatable.
Migrant issues are labour issues. By working in concert with both migrant workers and the political infrastructure of Canadian labour, caring students make a difference. Our attention and advocacy can matter and we must amplify our voices to ensure it does.
Cover Art C/O Razan Samara
100 years after the Winnipeg general strike, the Workers Arts and Heritage Center is encouraging us to critically reflect on what we do and do not know about one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history.
In May of 1919, 35 000 workers walked off the job to protest unfair working conditions and mass inequality. The strike culminated in Bloody Saturday, when state representatives killed two protestors and arrested 84. The strike lead to a massive wave of strikes across Canada and paved the way for future reforms.
WAHC’s Massive Disruption exhibition commemorates the Winnipeg General Strike through a series of events running from May 1 to Aug. 16. At the core of WAHC’s programming is Michael DiRisio’s Archiving Unrest exhibition, which encourages audiences to engage with archival documentation of the general strike.
DiRisio was interested in working with displaying the WAHC archives because of the organic structure that, according to DiRisio, is more indicative of the nature of collective action than hierarchically structured, well-ordered government archives. DiRisio notes that WAHC’s collection mandate changes over time, and the archive responds to the community as items are sourced for projects and pieces are donated.
“It’s people and groups that have intersected with this building in this organization at different times and what they’ve left and what’s been absorbed through that,” said DiRisio.
The Archiving Unrest exhibition brings the archives to the forefront, allowing viewers to engage in snippets of the collection displayed in works of photography and video.
In displaying the archives, the exhibition also asks us to consider what they leave out. Often times, retellings of history highlight the contributions and accomplishments of individual leaders. In reality, says DiRisio, it is the work of collectives that drive social and political movements.
“We have a very hero oriented culture where we tend to latch on to or focus on these heroes,” said DiRisio. “It can give you some glimpse of a fraction of what was happening, but it leaves most people out; it leaves so much of the conversation out.”
The Massive Disruption exhibition casts the spotlight away from individual leaders, instead highlighting the collective power of the 35 000 workers who walked off the job in the Winnipeg general strike.
A large part of this, says DiRisio, means understanding the motivations and desires of the strikers. The exhibition shows microfilm displaying labour news leading up to and following the strike, chronicling the underlying inequality and indignity of work that prompted mass unrest.
WAHC’s programming works to examine the underlying motivations and causes for unrest and connect them to conditions that persist today. Continuing on the focus on collective action, the exhibition creates space for audiences to engage in critical discussion about what it means to gather and organize.
The exhibition hosts weekly reading groups based on texts that focus on themes of collective organizing and group dynamics. People are invited to make use of the modular library, which holds a collection of texts focused on labour history and collective organizing.
“There aren’t a lot of chances outside of school to talk about these kinds of theoretical, philosophical questions about gathering or crowds or publics,” noted DiRisio. “And so I’m looking forward to different discussions, but also super open to what different people bring to it.”
Each reading group is hosted by a different community organizer who use the strike commemoration as a jumping off point to discuss collective action, injustice and group dynamics more broadly.
The strong focus on public dialogue is part of WAHC’s larger strategy to encourage community engagement. According to WAHC executive director Florencia Berinstein, one of WAHC’s central goals is to appeal to the public that is not typically made to feel welcome in cultural institutions.
“Our school of thought at WAHC is in order to engage with the ideas that we’re putting out there, or with any subject matter, we need to program around it to animate those ideas so that people will find the hooks,” said Berinstein.
By encouraging public dialogue and critically examining history, WAHC aims to commemorate the past while looking forward at the same time.
“What is the legacy of the Winnipeg general strike today in our contemporary culture?” asks Berinstein? “What are the lessons that we can take from the Winnipeg general strike but actually apply them to what’s happening today?”
