legaleaseatckut

“Defund the Police” - we’ve heard it on the news, we’ve seen posters at marches for Black Lives Matter around the United States, and Montreal is no different. Over 40 organizations in Montreal have united in a Coalition that is calling for defunding the Montreal police service in order to achieve a safer society for all persons.

We chat with Jessica Quijano an organizer for the Defund the Police Coalition, with Alexandra Pierre from La Ligue des droits et libertés, as well as hear from Marlihan Lopez, Sandra Wesley, Janis Qavavauq, and Stephanie Germain.

Song credit: What's Going On by Stevie Wonder, & Self by Noname.

Image by: MTLBlog https://www.mtlblog.com/news/canada/qc/montreal/defunding-the-spvm-is-an-option-listed-in-montreals-budget-survey-for-residents

Covid19 has shown us that we are all connected: if one person is at risk, we are all at risk. At the same time, it has heightened the realities of existing exploitation, racism, and injustice in the immigration system and in labour, health care, policing, prisons, and social services.

Our guests this month argue that the current crisis presents an opportunity for radical transformation: to build a society where no one is left behind, where all are provided with full immigration status.

In this episode, we speak with Status for All organizer Muhamed Barry, Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees, and Hannah Deegan with the Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers.

Image credit: Solidarity Across Borders, https://www.instagram.com/p/CCOowSvHB4i/.

This episode looks at how people in Canada's prisons are affected by COVID-19, and the movement for decarceration. Lawyer Yavar Hameed talks about how COVID-19 put a spotlight on prison conditions. Anti-Carceral Group member Ted Rutland talks about the recent death of Robert Langevin -- who had been awaiting trial in a Montreal prison -- and the broader health crisis in provincial and federal prisons across Quebec and Canada.

Image: "ny state prisons" by AK Rockefeller is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

A recent report by the Correctional Investigator of Canada found that Indigenous over-incarceration in the federal system has hit a record high of 30 per cent. That number is expected to climb to 33 per cent in the next three years, yet Indigenous people account for only five per cent of Canada’s population.

In reaction to the report, criminal lawyers and advocacy groups have reiterated their calls for the federal government to mass pardon Indigenous inmates who are not locked away for violent crimes.

In this episode we speak to Lionel Chartrand and Max Silverman, lawyers who work with Indigenous peoples in Canada’s prisons.

Image credit: Office of the Correctional Investigator, https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/photo/Quebec/index_portcartier-eng.aspx

In this episode, we discuss why a world without immigration detention -- that is, the incarceration of non-citizens for immigration purposes -- is possible.

Julia Bugiel of the Policy Options podcast discusses the history and reality of Canada's immigration detention regime with Stephanie Silverman, Harsha Walia, Souheil Benslimane and Sharry Aiken.

We then turn to an interview with lawyer and writer Petra Molnar, who unpacks the legal workings of immigration detention and why abolition is necessary.

Unist’ot’en House member Karla Tait speaks to Wet'suwet'en law, its recognition under Canadian law in the historic Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa decision, and how members of the Wet’suwet’en nation continue to resist despite the colonial state-backed injunction imposed on their territory.

Donate and support the camp here: unistoten.camp/support-us/donate/ & actionnetwork.org/fundraising/unistoten2020legalfund.

In this show we focus on Québec's Loi 21, a bill banning public servants from wearing religious symbols. Lawyer Eric Mendelsohn discusses the purpose of challenging the law on constitutional grounds, despite the fact that the law contains the Notwithstanding Clause. The clause is a Canadian constitutional provision that essentially allows governments to violate rights so long as they admit to the violation. We then hear from law and social work student Rachelle Rose on the research she's done on racial profiling in collaboration with the organization Head and Hands. Finally, McGill Law Dean Robert Leckey discusses the potential right of Loi 21's victims to compensation.

Criminal defense lawyer Arij Riahi walks us through some scenarios with police and what to do when caught in the criminal justice system.

We hear from Jerry Alexandre about the recent class action on racial profiling launched against Montreal police by the Black Coalition of Quebec.

Migrant justice organizer Romina Hernandez Gomez discusses sanctuary cities and the limits of Montréal's "sanctuary city" policy.

Toronto-based immigration consultant and No One is Illegal member Macdonald Scott provides perspective on the ties between policing, racism, the law, and the marginalization of undocumented immigrants.

Finally, we report from a Solidarity Across Borders demonstration in St. Henri against Lemay, an architecture firm building a new migrant prison ("immigration holding centre") in Laval, Qc.

Project Genesis is an organization that advocates for people living below the poverty line. In this episode, organizer Sheetal Pathak and member Ines discuss why Quebec’s poorest are calling for changes to the welfare system.

Housing organizer Olivier Prud'homme-Richard of POPIR Comité logement, who tells listeners what tenants should know if they’re planning on moving this July 1.

Photo courtesy of FRAPRU (Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain).