News and activities |
Nouvelles et Activités -- EN FRANÇAIS
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In addition to our info pages for refugees, we have two new pages with regularly updated information about
We also have new articles in the local media, InfoHemmingford and The Gleaner on:
- Government decisions about Roxham Road: COVID 19 at Roxham Road
- the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), including background info, the recent ruling about the STCA and the appeal by the government: STCA
We also have new articles in the local media, InfoHemmingford and The Gleaner on:
- the stories of three Roxham Road refugees, all very different: a young student from Sudan, a mother from Nigeria, and a covid 19 'guardian angel', also from Nigeria.
- the effects of the US-Canada border closure on refugees and other covid-19-related issues.
Supporting refugees:
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At the Roxham Road border crossing
 At the border
Since November 2017 we’ve been going to the US side of the border on Sunday afternoons to be a friendly presence for people before they cross. During the winter, we hand out gloves, hats, scarves and coats to them, as many are not dressed for Canadian winter. During hot summer days, we give out water. We also monitor how the people crossing over are being treated by the RCMP. The visits are logged on the blog of our website. Our friends from Plattsburgh Cares are there during the rest of the week. It is our way to say 'Welcome to Canada' and to have some brief contact with those seeking refuge in Canada.
Update March 2020: Due to the border being closed, we can no longer go to the US side. Please go to the Covid 19 page to find out what the current state of affairs is. Vertical Divider
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Summer picnics for refugee families
Our first summer picnic for refugee families took place at Sue Heller's farm on Roxham Rd in 2018, the second one at a member's place in Hemmingford in 2019. We provide the food and the activities for children, and volunteers from Montreal and the West Island drive the families out here and back. One of the women who attended both picnics with her daughter wrote us after the last one: I can not thank you all enough for all you have done for my daughter and I. [...] I do not feel like a total stranger in a foreign land. (This was my biggest fear, upon arrival).
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Working with the RCMP
Our observations during our border visits helped us cause considerable improvement in how refugees are treated when they cross the border at Roxham Road, and we are continuing to cooperate with the RCMP in this respect. We meet with the RCMP liaison officer every few months to discuss issues arising. The liaison officer also works on RCMP officers complying with the protocol (how to interact with people crossing), as well as on specific training for officers stationed at Roxham Road.
Our observations during our border visits helped us cause considerable improvement in how refugees are treated when they cross the border at Roxham Road, and we are continuing to cooperate with the RCMP in this respect. We meet with the RCMP liaison officer every few months to discuss issues arising. The liaison officer also works on RCMP officers complying with the protocol (how to interact with people crossing), as well as on specific training for officers stationed at Roxham Road.
Interview with Sue Heller, group member and long term resident on Roxham Road
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In this interview, Sue shares her own experience of WWII in the UK and that of her refugee husband; living on Roxham Road very close to the border; early refugees crossing into Canada; her own volunteer work at the border.
We are very grateful for all the ways Sue has supported the work of our group: hosting many events at her farm, doing border visits, contributing art work and her unique way of working for the good. In summer 2019 she sold her farm and moved to Costa Rica to join her family there. |
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Getting the information out there: Media coverage and social media
Interview with CTV Montreal News
We have given interviews to the media in Canada and the US:
-> Since October 2019 we have a Facebook page: Créons des Ponts - Bridges not Borders, where we put up photos from events as well as interesting articles or news about refugees.
- -> local media: Coup d'Oeil and The Gleaner; we also write regular articles for Info Hemmingford, the local community paper;
- -> Montreal: news channels CBC Montreal, CTV, TVA, and Le Devoir;
- -> Canada: CBC radio Quebec City, the CBC Doc Project; Canadian Press; a Kingston podcast and Talking Radical radio;
- -> US media (among others): Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, The Intercept, Mountain Lake PBS, Vermont Public Radio, newsy.com;
- -> European media: The Guardian, UK, and two Dutch TV stations.
-> Since October 2019 we have a Facebook page: Créons des Ponts - Bridges not Borders, where we put up photos from events as well as interesting articles or news about refugees.
Lobbying:
Meeting Anne Quach, January 2018
Meeting with local Members of Parliament and other politicians
We have met with
We have met with
- Anne Quach (NDP), the previous MP for Salaberry-Suroit, and with Brenda Shanahan, (Liberal) MP for Chateauguay-Lacolle.
- Jagmeet Singh (NDP) during his visit of Anne Quach's Valleyfield riding.
- Amir Khadir (Member of the Quebec National Assembly, Quebec Solidaire) when he visited Roxham Road.
- Parliamentary Secretary Marc Holland (Public Security).
- Claire Isabelle (newly elected Member of the Quebec National Assembly, Coalition Avenir Quebec).
- Claude DeBellefeuille (Bloc) the MP for Salaberry-Suroit (elected 2019) and Christine Normandin MP , the Bloc spokesperson on immigration.
July 2018 Letter to the Prime Minister:
In view of the political developments in the USA at this time, we sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the ministers for Public Security and Immigration and Refugees, as well as to the UNHCR office in Canada, asking for the immediate repeal of the Safe Third Country Agreement, as the USA cannot any longer be considered a safe place for refugees. You can see our letter HERE.
May 2019 Letter to CIIM concerning Bill C97: we wrote an urgent letter to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration to protest changes to refugee law found in the massive Budget Bill C97. Refugee claimants who have made a prior claim for asylum in the USA will be denied access to a full refugee hearing in Canada. These changes have since been voted into law by Parliament despite the escalating attacks on the US refugee system by the Trump administration. Read our letter HERE.
In view of the political developments in the USA at this time, we sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the ministers for Public Security and Immigration and Refugees, as well as to the UNHCR office in Canada, asking for the immediate repeal of the Safe Third Country Agreement, as the USA cannot any longer be considered a safe place for refugees. You can see our letter HERE.
May 2019 Letter to CIIM concerning Bill C97: we wrote an urgent letter to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration to protest changes to refugee law found in the massive Budget Bill C97. Refugee claimants who have made a prior claim for asylum in the USA will be denied access to a full refugee hearing in Canada. These changes have since been voted into law by Parliament despite the escalating attacks on the US refugee system by the Trump administration. Read our letter HERE.
Talks and presentations:
As our group becomes more well known, we are asked to give talks about our activities and about refugee issues. We have given talks at the:
- Unitarian Universalist Church in North Hatley;
- United Church Women's group in St. Lambert;
- Pathways to Prosperity Conference at Concordia University;
- Chateauguay Valley Regional High School at Ormstown;
- Women's Institute Hemmingford;
- Louis Cyr Highschool, Napierville;
- Comité protection des réfugiés, Montreal;
- Canadian Council for Refugees, Fall Consultation Nov. 2019: panel on border issues.
Local activities:
March 2018: Information meeting about refugees in Hemmingford, organized in cooperation with Solidarity Across Borders (Montreal). Two people, from DR Congo and Mexico, shared their experience as refugees: their reasons for seeking asylum in Canada, how they got here, and their experience after they crossed. We also had presentations about the Safe Third Country Agreement and about the situation in the US and about the support for refugees by Plattsburgh Cares. About 70 people attended, and we made many new contacts. The desserts provided by local volunteers for the coffee break were delicious!
Party Hemmingford Sept 2019
September 2019: 'multi-media' party in Hemmingford, with two video stations; an exhibition of masks made by refugee children in Montreal, of a Wheel of Fortune telling refugee stories, of photos of Roxham Road, and of the warm things we give out at Roxham Road; live music; and free food and drinks. We had invited the candidates for the federal elections to our party so they could meet local people. Only the two Green Party candidates came. The Salaberry-Suroit Green candidate, Nahed AlShawa, herself the daughter of Palestinian refugees who immigrated to Canada, told us how much she appreciated the work we do. More photos of the party and its exhibits in our photo album on the facebook page.
Peaceful and informative presence in the face of far right activities on Roxham Road and at Lacolle:
Press conference and picnic, 19 May 2018
This was organized in response to a far right demonstration by Storm Alliance, originally planned to take place on Roxham Road (in the end it was moved to Lacolle). We produced a press release, gave out information sheets on the Safe Third Country Agreement as well as a 'Refugees: Myths and Facts' document that we had produced for the occasion. This document is now up as an interactive webpage with lovely vignettes HERE. Vertical Divider
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Tea party, 3 June 2018
When Faith Goldy, extreme right wing blogger from Toronto, had called for another demonstration to 'Secure our borders', we invited the press for tea, gave two interviews, made placards to put on the fence, spoke to some of the far right protesters from Ontario and Quebec, and had delicious homemade desserts. See the slide show below for some of our placards. |
Demonstration and press conference at Lacolle, 19 October 2019
After a very small anti-refugee demonstration in Lacolle in August 2019, which we decided not to give any attention to (and nor did the press), a larger demonstration was called again for October by the Groupe de Sécurité Patriotique and the Parti Patriote. This time we felt we had to respond. We were on the same road -- separated off by a stretch of empty road and a police line -- with our banner, with posters with refugee-positive messages, and a clear message for the press conference. We were joined by members of other groups (Caring for Social Justice, Valleyfield; West Island refugee volunteers; and Unitarian Universalists from the Eastern Townships). You can see more photos in the photo album on our Facebook page (click on the thumbnail or the link).
After a very small anti-refugee demonstration in Lacolle in August 2019, which we decided not to give any attention to (and nor did the press), a larger demonstration was called again for October by the Groupe de Sécurité Patriotique and the Parti Patriote. This time we felt we had to respond. We were on the same road -- separated off by a stretch of empty road and a police line -- with our banner, with posters with refugee-positive messages, and a clear message for the press conference. We were joined by members of other groups (Caring for Social Justice, Valleyfield; West Island refugee volunteers; and Unitarian Universalists from the Eastern Townships). You can see more photos in the photo album on our Facebook page (click on the thumbnail or the link).
Making connections
We are reaching out to connect with other groups and agencies working for refugees. We are in regular contact with Plattsburgh Cares: we coordinate our activities at the border, and we attended each other's meetings. They have produced a flyer in five languages (English, French, Spanish, Creole and Arabic) which they distribute to people wanting to cross into Canada, and they provide a wide range of support to those wanting to flee the US or who are sent back to the US because of the STCA: safe shelter, legal advice, support at the border, some medical care (for more info see their website and facebook page). We have also met with Jean-Nicolas Beuze, the Canadian representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as well as with Denise Otis from the UNHCR Montreal office. They have produced a number of very useful one page info sheets for asylum seekers. We are also making connections with other groups in the region wanting to support refugees, like the Comité d'acceuil des migrants du Haut Saint Laurent and Caring for Social Justice in Valleyfield; and in Montreal, like the Comité acceuil des demandeurs d'asile au Québec (ADAQ), the Foyer du Monde, and a group of citizens in the West Island who help refugee families settle there. Some of our members are also active in Porchlight, a Hemmingford group that is sponsoring to Syrian refugee families, and we are participating in a cross-border group that looks at policies and realities of irregular border crossing.
We are reaching out to connect with other groups and agencies working for refugees. We are in regular contact with Plattsburgh Cares: we coordinate our activities at the border, and we attended each other's meetings. They have produced a flyer in five languages (English, French, Spanish, Creole and Arabic) which they distribute to people wanting to cross into Canada, and they provide a wide range of support to those wanting to flee the US or who are sent back to the US because of the STCA: safe shelter, legal advice, support at the border, some medical care (for more info see their website and facebook page). We have also met with Jean-Nicolas Beuze, the Canadian representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as well as with Denise Otis from the UNHCR Montreal office. They have produced a number of very useful one page info sheets for asylum seekers. We are also making connections with other groups in the region wanting to support refugees, like the Comité d'acceuil des migrants du Haut Saint Laurent and Caring for Social Justice in Valleyfield; and in Montreal, like the Comité acceuil des demandeurs d'asile au Québec (ADAQ), the Foyer du Monde, and a group of citizens in the West Island who help refugee families settle there. Some of our members are also active in Porchlight, a Hemmingford group that is sponsoring to Syrian refugee families, and we are participating in a cross-border group that looks at policies and realities of irregular border crossing.
New banners
Artist and artisan members of our group have produced new banners for our group:
Artist and artisan members of our group have produced new banners for our group:
This banner was made to hang in the trees visible to people crossing at Roxham Road, letting them know they were welcome here in Canada. It did hang there for one glorious week, with the cooperation of Roxham Road RCMP officers! After that, not surprisingly, it had to be taken down. We're looking into finding another placement where it would be visible to refugees.
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We use this portable canvas banner when we participate in activities such as community events or demonstrations. We put it up for the first time at our info meeting in Hemmingford in March 2018, and it served well during our 'peaceful presence' activities in May and June 2018. Since 2019, it has an addition at the top with our French name, Créons des Ponts.
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You can reach us at: bridgesnotborders.ca@gmail.com.