Letter to Immigration Minister

January 19, 2007
BY MAIL AND FAX
(3 pages including this page)

The Honourable Diane Finley,
MP for Haldimand--Norfolk and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1
FAX: (613) 996-9749

Dear Minister Finley --

We are writing you as Solidarity Across Borders, a Montreal-based network engaged in the struggle for justice and dignity of immigrants and refugees. We are comprised of migrants, immigrants, refugees and allies, and come together in support of our main demands: the regularization of all non-status people (Status for All!), an end to deportations and detentions, and the abolition of security certificates.

Some of us have direct experiences with the immigration and refugee system; some of us come from immigrant backgrounds; all of us organize as part of a collective struggle for justice and dignity. We have organized and campaigned together since 2003.

We have included with this letter a longer one-page description of our group, as well as a document that outlines our 12 principles for regularization that were passed at the Status Conference in Toronto in 2004.

We are writing you, as you begin your new job as Immigration Minister, to ask you for your clear position on our demands. We would like to know if you support our demands, and whether you will immediately implement a comprehensive, ongoing regularization program for all migrants, which you and your government have the power to do.

Moreover, we write to ask for a face-to-face meeting between you and our members, so that we can explain our demands to you in person, and so that you can hear directly from our members.

We are prepared to meet at whatever location is convenient to you (Montreal, Ottawa, or Simcoe). But, because of the urgency of ongoing deportations, detentions and security certificates, we ask that you meet with us before March 2007.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and the attached documents. We look forward to your reply, and to meeting with you face-to-face.

Sincerely,
The members of Solidarity Across Borders (Montreal)