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July 22, 2009 - No. 143 Toronto Public Forum Declares "Daycare Is a Right!" Toronto Toronto Public Forum Declares "Daycare Is a Right!"On July 18, a militant community forum entitled: "Fight for Childcare Rights!" was organized in East Toronto by the Teesdale Place/Crescent Town community organization South Asian Women's Rights Organization (SAWRO). The banner over the meeting displaying SAWRO's motto stated "If the Women Move Forward the Whole Community Will Move Forward." More than 100 women and their children, mostly Bengali immigrants, filled the hall to hear the community's investigation and discussion on childcare Also present were guest speakers on women's rights and immigrant settlement from the community and local and federal politicians who were asked to come to hear what the women had discovered through their ongoing work in the Teesdale Place/Crescent Town neighborhood The Bengali youth took up ensuring the technical success
of the cultural events which included videos of past meetings and
actions organized by SAWRO, music, a drama depicting the plight of
immigrant women as they arrive in Canada dealing with unemployment and
lack of childcare, a singing
group performing revolutionary and patriotic songs and Bengali national
dances.   For the past six months SAWRO outreach workers knocked on 1200 doors and talked to 400 women to discuss the problems of childcare and childcare subsidies. This forum was a culmination of this work. The highlights of this discussion follow. TML hails the work of SAWRO as a contribution to the struggle of women in Canada to demand their rights and the rights of all. We call on the government to increase funding for social programs with no strings attached in order to meet their responsibilities to women. A national day care program is needed to solve the problems facing all women and families. SAWRO's demand for democratic renewal is entirely just. The following articles are taken from the paper Teesdale Place/Crescent Town Childcare Investigation distributed at the child care forum by SAWRO. Access to ChildcareSAWRO first began raising the issue of childcare for immigrant women in the public arena during the community forums on poverty reduction organized by CASSA (Council of Agencies Serving South Asians) in 2008 and in February 2009 At these forums SAWRO gave the view that childcare for immigrant women is a key strategy for reducing poverty because lack of childcare blocks pathways to successful immigrant settlement: ESL training; international credential bridging; career training and acquiring Canadian experience relevant to education. Discovering a strong conviction among immigrant women that the lack of affordable, accessible and culturally sensitive childcare is the number one barrier they face when coming to Canada, SAWRO began assisting community women in expressing this conviction and in making political demands. While carrying out the outreach discussion, focus groups began meeting to sum up the discussion in the community and to plan action. Community women began to see access to childcare as a matter of fundamental human rights, not just personal problem for individual women. If women cannot participate fully in modern society without childcare, then the duty of government is to ensure childcare. Child care is a right. Community women also began to see that while the movement for access to childcare has made progress, if immigrant women do not take a leading role in the movement it will not be carried through to the end Immigrant women will be marginalized and left behind. As the outreach and focus group work was going on, cuts to childcare subsidies were announced and implemented by the provincial and City governments because of federal under funding. This concentrated the attention of the women on resisting these cuts because in this community, no subsidies equals no childcare equals no opportunity for women. Community Action
During the past few months, SAWRO workers and volunteers have been taking up the mobilization of the community on this issue with great enthusiasm. Contact was made with other women working on childcare and poverty issues -- the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC), Campaign 2000; Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) and the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA). Expertise was gained from contact with these organizations and joint actions have been carried out. - On May 12, SAWRO assisted a group of women from Teesdale/Crescent Town to participate in meeting against subsidy cuts organized at the Ontario Legislature by the OCBCC. The community women talked to members of provincial parliament to demand an end to subsidy cuts and full funding for childcare subsidies. - On June1-2, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA Standing Committee) held hearings in Toronto as part of a national tour. This parliamentary committee oversees federal social spending. Meetings were held in SAWRO offices to discuss what to present to the HUMA committee. SAWRO made a presentation to the hearing demanding full funding for childcare subsidies. - HUMA Standing Committee members also attended a town hall meeting organized by the anti-poverty coalition Campaign 2000 at Metro Hall. SAWRO was asked by the coalition to speak on childcare. Thirty immigrant women from the neighborhood made placards and banners with community demands and participated in the Town Hall. SAWRO's executive director, Sultana Jahangir and the Childcare Campaign Coordinator, Shamima Islam, made speeches at the Town Hall demanding full funding of childcare entitlements. - On June 13, the Toronto and York Region Labour Council organized a large rally in Toronto to demand good jobs and increased EI benefits. Teesdale/Crescent Town women, many of whom are unemployed, participated in this rally to support these demands and to keep the demands of working women for childcare in the forefront of the labour movement. - Leading up to a Teesdale Place/Crescent Town community forum on childcare, SAWRO workers and volunteers have been stepping up community mobilization around childcare demands. Outreach workers are revisiting the 400 women involved in the daycare discussion. Groups of women have been preparing songs, dramas and speeches on childcare for the forum. In the months ahead, SAWRO will be continuing to support the mobilization of the community women and their families around their demands for childcare and childcare subsidies. Immediate plans include collaboration with the City of Toronto to organize onsite childcare subsidy registration for community women. Another Community Childcare Forum is planned for the fall. Workers and volunteers will continue to raise consciousness in the community that childcare is a matter of fundamental human rights for women and children. This consciousness will be a powerful force. SAWRO workers will also assist community women resist any attempt by political parties to turn this issue into a political football game or by different levels of government to avoid their responsibilities through jurisdictional wrangling. No More Excuses For Denying Women's Rights! Childcare Now! Highlights of the Community Discussion on ChildcareFrom January until May, women working the Childcare Campaign knocked on over 1,200 doors and talked to 400 immigrant women about their lives. Contact with these 400 women has been maintained with revisits and phone calls. During these home visits, outreach workers and volunteers used prepared questions to begin discussion about childcare needs and experiences. After making calls, the outreach workers would got together to discuss and assess the information and opinions gathered. Some of the highlights of the investigation and discussion in the focus groups are presented below. Education- Women in this immigrant community are highly educated. This is a consequence of the "points system" which encourages immigration by highly educated couples. - 80% have university or college degrees and more than half the women have postgraduate degrees. Among the women we contacted are women with doctorates in medicine and physics and other highly qualified women. - Many women expressed bitterness that while the government requires high qualifications for women immigrants, no childcare infrastructure is put in place by the government so the women can put their qualifications into play. Employment/Underemployment- 40% of the women talked to said that they were unemployed involuntarily. If women who say they are not in the labour force because of responsibility for childcare are included the number would jump to 80%. - Almost all employed women said that they were overqualified for the jobs they held, usually precarious low-wage retail jobs. Without affordable childcare, these are the only jobs available. Focus groups used the term "work at Tim Horton's or stay home" to describe this situation. - Along with the lack of labour market growth, the need for international credential recognition/bridging and for English language upgrading was given as the main causes of unemployment/underemployment in the community. The lack of childcare was given as the main barrier to resolving the language and credential issues. - Many women expressed frustration with their employment status. "I made a big sacrifice to come here. I came to work, not to sit around." Number of Children- The immigration process selects for families in the child-bearing years -- points are given for being the "right age." The federal government brings almost 50,000 immigrant women with children to Toronto every year without taking any responsibility for ensuring childcare infrastructure is in place for these women. - The women we talked to have a similar number of children as the national average for families with children. Teesdale/Crescent Town families have 1.89 children per household. The national average for families with children is 1.8. - When looking at family size, workers and volunteers in the focus groups uncovered a popular misconception that is created when the size of immigrant families is compared to all families. The rate for all families, including unmarried people and childless couples, is 1.1 children per family. Workers discovered that despite immigrant families having about the same number of kids as other families with children, a problem arises because of processes which concentrate children in under serviced areas. - The housing market concentrates immigrant families with children in particular areas of the city where less expensive and readily available family housing is located. The apartment complexes of Teesdale/Crescent Town are typical of such areas. As a result, these "immigrant neighborhoods" have lots of families with children who require schools and young children who require childcare. Childcare spaces and subsidies allocated to these areas are inadequate and the schools are overcrowded. - Some women also expressed feeling pressure to become "baby machines" because of the endemic unemployment/underemployment among immigrant women. With three children, child benefits (at least until children enter school) come close the minimum wage and can be "earned" without childcare costs. While being deeply loving mothers, the women we talked with also deeply resented being forced toward such a desperate survival strategy. - Everywhere in the world, family size decreases as female education increases. In Canada, irresponsible policies toward the settlement of highly educated immigrant women and the lack of childcare funding creates pressure against this world-wide trend. Childcare and Childcare Subsidies- More than 60% of the women we talked to said they need childcare service and most of these had looked for childcare in the area unsuccessfully. - 75% of the women think that there are not enough childcare spaces in the neighborhood. - When the number of childcare spaces is inadequate for programs such as ESL, they are rationed according to children's ages -- young children not accepted because of high level of care required. - Women's three year eligibility for Citizenship and Immigration funded programs can "time out" while waiting for childcare. - While almost all families in the neighborhood are eligible for full or partial childcare subsidies, only 20% are getting subsidies they are entitled to. - Many women are either unaware of their subsidy entitlements or are discouraged from applying by the long waiting lists. - Community women ranked lack of childcare as the number one barrier preventing them from succeeding in Canadian society. Other Services RequiredWomen we talked to almost all said that as well as childcare being a barrier, other immigrant settlement services for women are also inadequate for their needs. The following table shows the ranking of services required by community women, which has obvious implications for our future work.
Speech of Sultana Jahangir at the Community Childcare Forum, Crescent Town Club July 18, 2009I said before that this event is really part of a discussion that is taking place in the community and this is a very important point. At the end of the 1800's the great Cuban freedom fighter José Martí inspired colonial people everywhere when he said, "One just principle from the depths of a cave can be mightier than an army." So the just principle that the daycare discussion in the community is raising is this: "All women have a right to participate in economic and civic life. It is the duty of government to affirm this right." Our work is to continue this discussion in the community until every woman understands that: Childcare Is a Right. This is the principle that will be "mightier than an army" if we do our work. We do not have to convince women that we need childcare. Women have told us that they know lack of childcare is the cause of poverty in this community. They have told us that NO SUBSIDIES equals NO CHILDCARE equals POVERTY. What we have to continue clarifying is that this is an issue of fundamental human rights that the government must resolve. Government is not taking up its responsibilities and we have to hold politicians accountable for this. Thousands of women in our neighborhood are entitled to daycare subsidies but there is no funding for these entitlements and there are long waiting lists. The situation is the same right across the city and is especially bad in all recent immigrant neighborhoods where most of the City's poor people live. We immigrant women made great sacrifices to come here. But we did not come here to be idle and to beg. We did not come here to be baby machines. We came here to work and we want to be part of building a nation here. And we have THE RIGHT to participate fully in society -- in education, in workplaces, in social and political life. Without affordable, accessible and culturally sensitive childcare, our rights are denied. This is unacceptable. The media tell Canadians -- native born and newcomers -- to be proud of Canada's democracy and of its role defending rights of women all over the world. Together with its NATO partners, Canada is spending billions of dollars on a war of terror against peoples of the former colonial countries -- in Afghanistan and elsewhere -- under the banner of democracy and women's rights. But what about democracy and women's rights in Canada? Canada wants to be judged by the success of wealthy women -- how many CEO's are women? How many MP's are women? Canada should be judged by whether it affirms the rights of the most vulnerable women -- the immigrants, other poor working people, first nations women, young women (especially single mothers), the handicapped. The rights of vulnerable women are denied. Canada does not affirm the rights of all. In its real practice, Canada's democracy is only for the rich and powerful. Women in these vulnerable groups are excluded from full participation in society. We are marginalized in civic life and economically impoverished. We are given the choice "Work at Tim Horton's or stay home." This is unacceptable. We immigrant women will not accept being pushed to the margins of society! We will not accept being left behind! We demand that the government stop marginalizing immigrant women and do its duty to affirm our rights! We demand full participation in society according to our abilities! We demand full funding of daycare subsidy entitlements! We demand a national childcare program! Now! I would just like to make a couple more points about the politics of childcare before I finish up. Childcare is a political football game that all the parties in the House of Commons play. With all due respect to our honourable guests, I would like the community to consider the following facts: - For 13 years under Chretien and Martin the Liberals talked about a national childcare policy at election time, followed by excuses about "deficit fighting" and did nothing. - Finally in 2005 Martin's minority government proposed a national childcare policy in a desperate bid to stay alive. The NDP helped Harper defeat the national childcare policy for its own partisan political ends -- grabbing a few more seats from the Liberals during an election was more important than childcare - Harper has re-introduced the Baby Bonus (which benefits affluent Canadians the most) and called it a national childcare policy - These facts are not from very long ago, but in Ontario right now before our eyes a new game is being played. Dr. Pascal's report earlier this summer called for all-day childcare for 4 year olds in schools. Premier Dalton McGuinty said -- this is a fine, fine report but you know there is a recession right now and there may not be any money for doing very much Shame! Shame on the parliaments of Canada! Shame on Canadian democracy! We immigrant women and families are kept in poverty while these political games are played year after year, election after election. When elections roll around, politicians come into our immigrant communities, peddling influence, peddling promises about childcare and other issues, attempting to divide our communities along political party lines. This politicking with our lives is not acceptable. In Teesdale/Crescent Town we are rejecting party politics and taking matters into our own hands. Working women, especially trade union women, have made important gains by taking matters into their own hands. But immigrants and many other vulnerable women have been left behind. For us, this is a matter of survival that must be carried to the end. We asked the politicians to pledge their support and I would like to make the following pledge on behalf of the South Asian Women's Rights Organization: - we will organize our community around the fight for
our rights Sultana Jahangir (Moni) is the Executive Director of the South Asian Women's Rights Organization (SAWRO). Honduras Tension Grows as Crisis Goes onThe political tension continues in Honduras as the peaceful resistance to the coup d'etat completed its 24th consecutive day yesterday, with the de facto government refusing to solve the crisis. On Monday, the resistance forces held a demonstration in front of the Congress building, where a speech by a humble woman drew attention, not only for the grace of her simple words, but also the exhortation to radicalize the anti-coup struggle, Prensa Latina reports. The leadership of the Frente de Resistencia Pacífica, the resistance movement, constantly calls on the people to maintain the peaceful nature of protests and even created a commission to avoid incidents with soldiers or vandalistic actions, the news agency reports. Meanwhile, the de facto regime rejected Costa Rican President Oscar Arias' proposals to solve the conflict and reinstate Zelaya and the de facto President, businessman Roberto Micheletti, said Monday he will stay in his post until January 27, 2010, when the current term for the overthrown President Manuel Zelaya expires. Also on Monday, Honduras' constitutional President Manuel Zelaya announced that he will head a "march of hope" in his country to overthrow those who seized power in a military coup. Zelaya said he kicked off his march on Monday and that he will enter Honduras through any point of its border, according to an interview published by the Jesuit Radio Progreso radio station cited by Prensa Latina. He called on the people to reach the frontiers of his country and wait for indications by the leadership of the Frente de Resistencia Pacífica, the resistance movement, though he did not give a specific date when he would reach the border. He said he would wait for the 72-hour time limit given last Sunday by Costa Rica's Oscar Arias, mediator in the conflict, in an effort to reanimate the dialogue unsuccessfully held in San José after the de facto government representatives rejected the proposals put forth by the mediator. In his statements to the radio station the Honduran President warned that he has received information from within the armed forces that oligarchic groups want to kill him and he even thanked the military that ousted him for their opposition to his murder. He said that he is not afraid of dying, since he would die in the name of the principles supporting the just cause which demands a change of the oppressive regime imposed by the voracious oligarchy, whose only interest is that of preserving its interests. The Honduran President pointed out that during the rest of his mandate, which concludes January 27, 2010, he will keep boosting changes in favor of the poor and participatory democracy, but that he will not stay in power one more minute after his mandate concludes. Manuel Zelaya also called on the Honduran military that he considered as not compromised with the coup to not repress the people's demonstrations against the coup and the de facto government. It is also reported that the three Honduran trade unions convened a national strike for Thursday and Friday against the coup d'etat to demand the return of Zelaya. The Workers' Unitary Federation President Juan Barahona told Prensa Latina that the six national teachers' unions will be on strike again those days. This struggle won't stop until the coupists' defeat, and
re-establish the constitutional order in the country, Barahona stressed. In related news, civil and social organizations representing Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Puerto Rico, Austria and Ecuador requested on Tuesday in Mexico City that the United Nations consider coups d'etat to be Crimes against Humanity. The initiative came from Argentinean writer Marcelo Fabian Monges, who gave the document to the representative in Mexico of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Alberto Brunori. The text includes the request to submit it to the Human Rights Council in Geneva for consideration. The proposal describes the coup d'etat in Honduras as a breaking of the sovereign will of the people of that Central American nation, Prensa Latina reports. In public statements, Monges underlined that all acts of this kind entail the perpetration of crimes included in the definition of Crimes against Humanity, like torture, disappearances and mass deportation, among other arbitrary acts. He specifies that the establishment of a de facto regime in Honduras opened the door for a return to the past, with the re-establishment of a practice that signifies the abolition of citizens' rights and the legal system. Prensa Latina adds that Monges, who lives in Mexico, has been a member of various organizations in defense of human rights and has collaborated with the newspapers Página 12, from Buenos Aires, and La Jornada, Reforma and El Universal, from Mexico.
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