0:00:01.253,0:00:03.684
We will no longer hold people for CBSA [br](Canada Border Services Agency);

0:00:03.684,0:00:05.909
nor will CBSA ask us to.

0:00:05.909,0:00:08.338
They're aware of everything that's been going on,

0:00:08.338,0:00:13.378
and they understand that this [br]is not activity we will participate in.

0:00:14.748,0:00:18.751
We're just here to say that we think that the termination of the Memorandum of Understanding

0:00:18.751,0:00:22.763
and the directives that [br]Transit Police have submitted to

0:00:22.763,0:00:24.471
are a step in the right direction,

0:00:24.471,0:00:26.516
and we just want to ensure

0:00:26.516,0:00:30.843
that information sharing does not occur

0:00:30.843,0:00:33.185
between Transit Police and CBSA

0:00:33.185,0:00:35.600
and that we have oversight of these directives.

0:00:35.600,0:00:37.784
We're really glad to see these reforms

0:00:37.784,0:00:41.780
to hopefully make it so that folks without status

0:00:41.780,0:00:47.652
can access transit with less fear [br]of being reported to CBSA and deported.

0:00:47.652,0:00:49.522
The point that we want to bring up

0:00:49.522,0:00:53.442
is that we still have [br]tens of thousands of people in this region

0:00:53.442,0:00:56.670
who actually can't afford the bus fares.

0:00:56.670,0:00:59.274
Who structurally, because of low wages,

0:00:59.274,0:01:02.102
because of the welfare rates,[br]because of the high rents,

0:01:02.102,0:01:03.844
cannot afford to pay for transit,

0:01:03.844,0:01:08.169
which is a fundamental human right[br]and a basic public service that people rely on.

0:01:08.169,0:01:10.798
Those people, which includes many migrant workers

0:01:10.798,0:01:13.175
who are working often for very low wages

0:01:13.175,0:01:16.373
still don't have access without fear [br]to our public transit system.

0:01:16.373,0:01:20.048
They're still gonna have skytrain police with guns

0:01:20.048,0:01:25.731
being paid over $100,000 a year at a cost [br]to taxpayers of $32 million a year

0:01:25.731,0:01:27.233
checking their busfares.

0:01:27.233,0:01:30.778
And we'd really like to see [br]the Transit Police out of fare enforcement.

0:01:31.046,0:01:34.539
I want to start by acknowledging that we're here [br]on un-ceded Coast Salish territories,

0:01:34.539,0:01:36.961
and thank you for the opportunity to speak.

0:01:36.961,0:01:39.791
First of all I want to start by[br]congratulating everyone in this room

0:01:39.791,0:01:44.038
who has been part of making possible[br]the recent encouraging developments,

0:01:44.038,0:01:49.628
which is the termination of the Memorandum of [br]Understanding between Transit Police & CBSA.

0:01:49.628,0:01:53.464
All of us here have spent [br]hours and hours advocating on this issue.

0:01:53.464,0:01:56.477
And we do so because we care [br]very very deeply about this issue,

0:01:56.477,0:01:59.065
and we see it affecting our communities.

0:01:59.065,0:02:01.030
I think about Lucia Vega Jimenez,

0:02:01.030,0:02:03.646
who committed suicide and died in CB(S)A custody.

0:02:03.646,0:02:05.726
She was initially turned over to CBSA by Transit Police

0:02:05.726,0:02:11.812
in part because Transit Police officer Jason (Schuss) [br]believed that she wasn't originally from Canada.

0:02:11.812,0:02:14.147
And not only did she get a ticket for lack of fare,

0:02:14.147,0:02:15.895
but she was then detained by Transit Police,

0:02:15.895,0:02:20.394
and actually driven to the holding centre [br]by Transit Police, to do CBSA's work.

0:02:20.394,0:02:25.287
It was Lucia's tragic death that spurred a movement [br]within the community over 10 months ago.

0:02:25.287,0:02:29.329
In May and in June, conversations [br]among members of various groups

0:02:29.329,0:02:32.880
began to look at and to challenge Transit Police policy

0:02:32.880,0:02:35.674
in light of what became known to us in Lucia's death.

0:02:35.674,0:02:38.638
This includes groups like Mexicans Living in Vancouver, [br]who are here today;

0:02:38.638,0:02:40.595
BCCLA, who is here today;

0:02:40.595,0:02:42.972
Sanctuary Health, No One Is Illegal, Rainbow Refugee,

0:02:42.972,0:02:45.220
and many other organizations.

0:02:45.220,0:02:47.180
As we are witnessing all across this continent,

0:02:47.180,0:02:48.855
people are questioning the role of police,

0:02:48.855,0:02:51.613
and the impact of policing [br]on marginalized communities.

0:02:51.613,0:02:54.023
From police inaction [br]on missing murdered Indigenous women,

0:02:54.023,0:02:57.972
to police impunity being raised by [br]the Black Lives Matter south of the border,

0:02:57.972,0:03:01.129
or the killing of Naverone Woods.

0:03:01.129,0:03:03.113
Migrants without permanent legal status

0:03:03.113,0:03:05.661
are some of the most vulnerable [br]members of our community.

0:03:05.661,0:03:07.578
They're often vilified in the media,

0:03:07.578,0:03:09.370
but migrant workers and non-status people

0:03:09.370,0:03:11.080
are the ones taking care of our children,

0:03:11.080,0:03:13.915
growing our food, serving us food, [br]growing our food,

0:03:13.915,0:03:15.961
building our homes, pumping our gas.

0:03:15.961,0:03:21.314
Refugees are fleeing war, persecution and [br]unimaginable and horrendous levels of violence,

0:03:21.314,0:03:22.765
often escaping paramilitaries

0:03:22.765,0:03:25.355
and arriving here seeking some level of safety,

0:03:25.355,0:03:28.481
only to question whether they can ride transit safely,

0:03:28.481,0:03:31.223
just to get to and from work [br]like Lucia was doing.

0:03:31.223,0:03:35.225
So in memory of Lucia Vega Jimenez and the [br]thousands of other migrants in our community,

0:03:35.225,0:03:37.317
public transit should not be a border checkpoint.

0:03:37.317,0:03:39.438
There are far too many lives at stake.

0:03:39.438,0:03:41.227
(Next speaker) Lucia is just one of the cases.

0:03:41.227,0:03:46.610
I hear many cases around the time [br]I remember since 6 years ago,

0:03:46.610,0:03:54.409
about immigrants that were sent back just because [br]they didn't have a fare in the skytrain.

0:03:54.409,0:03:59.739
Immigration didn't look at them when [br]the Olympics were starting

0:03:59.739,0:04:04.985
and they were needed in order to construct [br]and create infrastructure that we didn't have;

0:04:04.985,0:04:08.141
but once that was done, they didn't matter.

0:04:08.141,0:04:12.485
So I heard a lot of members that were sent back.

0:04:12.485,0:04:18.094
I heard hard working people that was contributing [br]enormously to this country sent back.

0:04:18.094,0:04:22.612
I heard people that was in risk sent back.

0:04:22.612,0:04:26.531
People with humane cases sent back.

0:04:26.531,0:04:28.429
Over a $2.50 fare.

0:04:28.974,0:04:30.640
I want to congratulate everybody in this room

0:04:30.640,0:04:35.891
for working to end the Memorandum of Understanding[br]between CBSA and the Transit Police.

0:04:35.891,0:04:37.867
That's an important step,

0:04:37.867,0:04:41.585
and as has already been said, that's a first step.

0:04:41.585,0:04:46.008
I personally as a transit user, [br]and I think many of the people in the room,

0:04:46.008,0:04:48.965
would like to get clarity about [br]what that process is going to look like,

0:04:48.965,0:04:58.471
and how we're going to ensure that there is adequate[br]separation between CBSA and the Transit Police.

0:04:58.471,0:05:01.881
We need to keep in mind the real realities

0:05:01.881,0:05:11.388
of what criminalizing, scrutinizing, racially profiling, detaining and deporting people,

0:05:11.388,0:05:14.708
of how all that stuff affects them.

0:05:16.032,0:05:20.409
This is real, these policies are very very real.

0:05:20.409,0:05:26.244
People are being deported, people are fearful,

0:05:26.244,0:05:33.829
people are going as far [br]as Jimenez and my uncle went.

0:05:33.829,0:05:36.347
(same speaker continues) We're happy about [br]some of the changes you've made,

0:05:36.347,0:05:38.016
some of the concessions,

0:05:38.016,0:05:39.818
but we need to see that they're implemented.

0:05:39.818,0:05:42.092
We are all gonna hold you to it,

0:05:42.092,0:05:48.310
and we just want to see the end [br]of detentions and deportations.

0:05:48.310,0:05:53.107
So please, to everyone here, [br]and to everyone who couldn't be here,

0:05:53.107,0:05:57.499
but who's still involved, [br]and who cares about this issue,

0:05:57.499,0:06:03.512
let's keep fighting, let's keep pushing for [br]the end of detentions and deportations,

0:06:03.512,0:06:08.152
and let's ensure that public transportation [br]is not a border checkpoint. Thank you.

0:06:08.152,0:06:10.386
[APPLAUSE]