Juan, who works under Canada's SAWP; Melissa Paciulan, whose work calls attention to the wide impact that migration has on the families of migrant farm workers; and Romero House's Lizzie Neale and Teresa Edge.
The panel of the May Day potluck, which has been celebrated in Guelph, Ontario for four years now, illuminates the experiences of working-class migrants and immigrants in relation to Canada's immigration and labour legislation.
Recorded and edited by Migrant Matters Radio, migrantmattersATriseup.net
Panel organized by Guelph-based migrant worker advocacy group, Fuerza/Puwersa
More on the speakers (Note* The times below indicate the start of the speakers' talk on the audio of the full panel):
00:04:21 - Juan works as a migrant farm worker in Waterloo, Ontario. He talks about his experience living and working under Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program.
00:23:59 - Melissa Paciulan is a graduate of University of Guelphâs Latin American and Caribbean Studies Masterâs program. Melissa 's work has focused on the strategies that working-poor migrant parents use to fulfill their reproductive roles transnationally, and the impact that transnational migration has on family structure and traditional gender ideologies in Latin America. Though her research for her thesis work, she has conducted years' worth of interviewing farm workers about their experiences as transnational migrants in Canada. The topic of ensuring family reunification is particularly timely as we currently are facing cuts to permanent immigration for parents and grandparents.
00:45:47 - Lizzie Neale and Teresa Edge are two interns at Romero House. Romero House is a community consisting of four houses and a community centre in the west end of Toronto. Since Romero House was founded in 1992, it has provided housing, settlement and advocacy services to more than 4,500 individuals and families. Lizzie and Teresa speak about why it is imperative to fight against the refugee exclusion act (Bill C-31).