Migration Conversations

Meet Betsy Kane, an immigration lawyer who is a certified specialist in Canadian citizenship and immigration law. In our conversation together we talk about the challenges of practising immigration law during the pandemic, how difficult it is to keep up with the constant and ongoing changes made to immigration policy and programming, and the future problems or implications to some of the measures being imposed right now on people on the move.

Meet Michael Molloy, former Ambassador of Canada to Jordan and a former public servant with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration. Mike oversaw the resettlement of Indochinese refugees in Canada in 1979-80 and is the author of Running on Empty: Canada and the Indochinese Refugees, 1975-1980. In this episode we talk about the creation of the refugee resettlement program in Canada, and how law and policy can be created and deployed in quick, flexible and innovative ways to respond to crises

Meet Will Tao and Lou Janssen Dangzalan, two immigration lawyers in Canada. In our conversation we talk about the Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) Grounds application in the immigration regime, how it has become more than a failsafe mechanism and why it can be the most important solicitor work an immigration lawyer can do today. In this episode, we talk about discretion, the labour involved in putting together H&C applications, and how it can be both rewarding for your client but a sign that the immigration system needs to fill a gap.

Meet Ebrahim, a Black, stateless person who was in a Canadian prison for six and a half years even though he has never been convicted of a crime in Canada. In this episode we talk about why Ebrahim came to Canada, how he was arrested and detained for immigration-related reasons, and how he was denied release 72 times in a row before he was freed. Ebrahim will tell you how this experience has changed him and what he hopes for in the future.

Meet Montana Adams, a talented Indigenous playwright from Akwesasne. In this episode we talk about her play, "My Good Friend Jay", how she interrogates the colonial borders that cut through her community's territory, how borders are arbitrary yet imposing, and how these borders affect their daily lives. Along with this episode view her play here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xbZyLNme0s). You can also read Audra Simpson's book Mohawk Interruptus: political life across the borders of settler states for more information.

Jacqueline Bonisteel is an immigration lawyer in Ottawa and an expert in the economic class in the immigration system. She gives us a primer on the various permanent resident programs currently in place and we talk about some of the opportunities but also challenges migrants face in accessing the economic class. We also discuss our hopes for the future development of this rapidly and ever changing area of law.

Thelma is not her real name, but her experiences are. In this conversation, Thelma talks about how she came from Jamaica to work in Canada’s agriculture sector as a temporary foreign worker. She talks about the labour, conditions but also the injuries she suffered, and has a passionate plea about calling for permanent residence for migrant workers, and the ability to bring their families with them when they come to Canada to provide the essential services of putting vegetables on our dinner table.

This is part 2 of a two-part episode where we speak with Mary Jane and Milanie, two former migrant caregivers and Aimee, an advocate with Migrante Ottawa, a cause-oriented organization that promotes the rights and welfare of Filipino migrants in Canada. We talk about the essential work Mary Jane and Milanie did to care for Canadian children and elderly, the conditions that they were subject to and their heartbreaking separation from family. They express the importance of advocacy and support provided by grassroots organizations like Migrante. We discuss how immigration law and the design of the temporary foreign worker program shaped their lived experiences.

This is part 1 of a two-part episode where we speak with Mary Jane and Milanie, two former migrant caregivers and Aimee, an advocate with Migrante Ottawa, a cause-oriented organization that promotes the rights and welfare of Filipino migrants in Canada. We talk about the essential work Mary Jane and Milanie did to care for Canadian children and elderly, the conditions that they were subject to and their heartbreaking separation from family. They express the importance of advocacy and support provided by grassroots organizations like Migrante. We discuss how immigration law and the design of the temporary foreign worker program shaped their lived experiences.

Meet Roisah, a previously stateless person, now Malaysian citizen. When I first met Roisah, she was on the precipice of becoming a legal adult in Malaysian law and was racing against clock to obtain citizenship before she became ineligible as a result of no longer being a minor. We talk about how she discovered she was stateless at a government counter when she was 12 years old, what she had to endure, what kinds of administrative work and advocacy she did, and the performances she had to give in order to obtain citizenship.