Rally supporting migrant welcome centres planned for Sunday
Refugee613 says opposition to shelters for asylum seekers fuelled by misinformation
A refugee advocacy group is organizing a rally to support planned welcome centres for asylum seekers and to counter what they say is misinformation fuelling a campaign against the tent-like shelters.
Refugee613 is organizing a demonstration in Nepean on Sunday to show solidarity with asylum seekers and to support plans for two "newcomer reception centres" that aim to relieve pressure on Ottawa's struggling shelter system.
"Ottawa has a proud history of welcoming refugees and other newcomers," the group said in a post promoting the rally.
Plans to build two tent-like structures to temporarily house 300 asylum seekers have proved controversial.
The city has chosen a site in Nepean for the first centre, after Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo and Barrhaven West Coun David Hill tried to block them from coming to their wards.
Several hundred people protested in Barrhaven last week to oppose the shelters being built in the suburb.
Opposition fuelled by misinformation?
Louisa Taylor, director of Refugee613, says opposition to the plans has been fuelled by misinformation, something she hopes Sunday's rally can counter.
"If people don't understand what the reception centres are for and how they're going to work and why they are a good idea, then if someone is giving you a different version of the story, you might be inclined to believe it," she told CBC.
Concerns around safety were unfounded, she said.
"There's simply no reason to assume that because someone is a refugee that they are a danger to our society," she said. "Refugees are not people in trouble with the law, they are people who have left their home to seek a new home, just like many of the ancestors of the people who currently live in Canada."
Past waves of immigrants have contributed greatly to Ottawa, she said, adding that those who are coming now will integrate more successfully with a newcomer reception centre to assist them.
"What we are talking about is future residents of Ottawa, your future bank tellers, teachers, servers in a restaurant, construction workers, lawyers, doctors," she said. "They're here right now and they're struggling for housing and it is in our best interest to make sure that they get the best start possible."
Accusations of 'agitprop'
Taylor's view that misinformation online is fuelling opposition to the welcome centres is shared by Liberal MPP for Kanata–Carleton Karen McCrimmon.
On Tuesday, McCrimmon published a statement outlining what she described as "lies" about proposals to build one of the welcome centres in Kanata South, claiming that "instigators of this negative" campaign had "few or non-existent ties to our community."
"They specifically, selectively, and heavily targeted members of ethnic diasporas with their disinformation to create anger and fear," she said.
"These tactics or behaviours are commonly referred to as 'Agitprop,'" her statement continued. "'Agitation propaganda' is, and was, widely used in the Soviet Union to control populations. Fear and anger manipulate behaviours and opinions. It has also been adopted as a modus operandi by right- wing extremists in many parts of the world, including Canada."
McCrimmon's office declined CBC's request for an interview and would not provide further information about who she believes is behind the alleged campaign, or which communities she believed had been targeted.
Calling for clarity
Christina Clark-Kazak, a professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa who researches immigration policy, said McCrimmon's statement highlighted the need for broader consultation on the city's plan.
"There's a need for more clarity on this statement, because these are quite strong allegations, but I also think that there needs to be more information broadly by politicians, including at the city level ... but also from the province and the federal government," she said.
Valid concerns around the proposed welcome centres could be addressed by better communication, she said.
"There's a tendency to blame newcomers for a lot of structural problems that existed prior to increasing numbers of immigrants — things like housing, access to health care — these are structural problems that Canada needs to address for its own population," she said.
"And yes, when we have newcomers coming in, it does put a further strain on these services, but it's not the newcomers who are causing the problems in the first place."
Ottawa should be applauded for taking the initiative to fix a growing problem, Clark-Kazak said.
"They're stepping into a void sometimes where there's a blaming game, where different levels of government are blaming each other, and this city is actually taking action to try to address the issue at the local level."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
