1
00:00:01,253 --> 00:00:03,684
We will no longer hold people for CBSA 
(Canada Border Services Agency);

2
00:00:03,684 --> 00:00:05,909
nor will CBSA ask us to.

3
00:00:05,909 --> 00:00:08,338
They're aware of everything that's been going on,

4
00:00:08,338 --> 00:00:13,378
and they understand that this 
is not activity we will participate in.

5
00:00:14,748 --> 00:00:18,751
We're just here to say that we think that the termination of the Memorandum of Understanding

6
00:00:18,751 --> 00:00:22,763
and the directives that 
Transit Police have submitted to

7
00:00:22,763 --> 00:00:24,471
are a step in the right direction,

8
00:00:24,471 --> 00:00:26,516
and we just want to ensure

9
00:00:26,516 --> 00:00:30,843
that information sharing does not occur

10
00:00:30,843 --> 00:00:33,185
between Transit Police and CBSA

11
00:00:33,185 --> 00:00:35,600
and that we have oversight of these directives.

12
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,784
We're really glad to see these reforms

13
00:00:37,784 --> 00:00:41,780
to hopefully make it so that folks without status

14
00:00:41,780 --> 00:00:47,652
can access transit with less fear 
of being reported to CBSA and deported.

15
00:00:47,652 --> 00:00:49,522
The point that we want to bring up

16
00:00:49,522 --> 00:00:53,442
is that we still have 
tens of thousands of people in this region

17
00:00:53,442 --> 00:00:56,670
who actually can't afford the bus fares.

18
00:00:56,670 --> 00:00:59,274
Who structurally, because of low wages,

19
00:00:59,274 --> 00:01:02,102
because of the welfare rates,
because of the high rents,

20
00:01:02,102 --> 00:01:03,844
cannot afford to pay for transit,

21
00:01:03,844 --> 00:01:08,169
which is a fundamental human right
and a basic public service that people rely on.

22
00:01:08,169 --> 00:01:10,798
Those people, which includes many migrant workers

23
00:01:10,798 --> 00:01:13,175
who are working often for very low wages

24
00:01:13,175 --> 00:01:16,373
still don't have access without fear 
to our public transit system.

25
00:01:16,373 --> 00:01:20,048
They're still gonna have skytrain police with guns

26
00:01:20,048 --> 00:01:25,731
being paid over $100,000 a year at a cost 
to taxpayers of $32 million a year

27
00:01:25,731 --> 00:01:27,233
checking their busfares.

28
00:01:27,233 --> 00:01:30,778
And we'd really like to see 
the Transit Police out of fare enforcement.

29
00:01:31,046 --> 00:01:34,539
I want to start by acknowledging that we're here 
on un-ceded Coast Salish territories,

30
00:01:34,539 --> 00:01:36,961
and thank you for the opportunity to speak.

31
00:01:36,961 --> 00:01:39,791
First of all I want to start by
congratulating everyone in this room

32
00:01:39,791 --> 00:01:44,038
who has been part of making possible
the recent encouraging developments,

33
00:01:44,038 --> 00:01:49,628
which is the termination of the Memorandum of 
Understanding between Transit Police & CBSA.

34
00:01:49,628 --> 00:01:53,464
All of us here have spent 
hours and hours advocating on this issue.

35
00:01:53,464 --> 00:01:56,477
And we do so because we care 
very very deeply about this issue,

36
00:01:56,477 --> 00:01:59,065
and we see it affecting our communities.

37
00:01:59,065 --> 00:02:01,030
I think about Lucia Vega Jimenez,

38
00:02:01,030 --> 00:02:03,646
who committed suicide and died in CB(S)A custody.

39
00:02:03,646 --> 00:02:05,726
She was initially turned over to CBSA by Transit Police

40
00:02:05,726 --> 00:02:11,812
in part because Transit Police officer Jason (Schuss) 
believed that she wasn't originally from Canada.

41
00:02:11,812 --> 00:02:14,147
And not only did she get a ticket for lack of fare,

42
00:02:14,147 --> 00:02:15,895
but she was then detained by Transit Police,

43
00:02:15,895 --> 00:02:20,394
and actually driven to the holding centre 
by Transit Police, to do CBSA's work.

44
00:02:20,394 --> 00:02:25,287
It was Lucia's tragic death that spurred a movement 
within the community over 10 months ago.

45
00:02:25,287 --> 00:02:29,329
In May and in June, conversations 
among members of various groups

46
00:02:29,329 --> 00:02:32,880
began to look at and to challenge Transit Police policy

47
00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,674
in light of what became known to us in Lucia's death.

48
00:02:35,674 --> 00:02:38,638
This includes groups like Mexicans Living in Vancouver, 
who are here today;

49
00:02:38,638 --> 00:02:40,595
BCCLA, who is here today;

50
00:02:40,595 --> 00:02:42,972
Sanctuary Health, No One Is Illegal, Rainbow Refugee,

51
00:02:42,972 --> 00:02:45,220
and many other organizations.

52
00:02:45,220 --> 00:02:47,180
As we are witnessing all across this continent,

53
00:02:47,180 --> 00:02:48,855
people are questioning the role of police,

54
00:02:48,855 --> 00:02:51,613
and the impact of policing 
on marginalized communities.

55
00:02:51,613 --> 00:02:54,023
From police inaction 
on missing murdered Indigenous women,

56
00:02:54,023 --> 00:02:57,972
to police impunity being raised by 
the Black Lives Matter south of the border,

57
00:02:57,972 --> 00:03:01,129
or the killing of Naverone Woods.

58
00:03:01,129 --> 00:03:03,113
Migrants without permanent legal status

59
00:03:03,113 --> 00:03:05,661
are some of the most vulnerable 
members of our community.

60
00:03:05,661 --> 00:03:07,578
They're often vilified in the media,

61
00:03:07,578 --> 00:03:09,370
but migrant workers and non-status people

62
00:03:09,370 --> 00:03:11,080
are the ones taking care of our children,

63
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,915
growing our food, serving us food, 
growing our food,

64
00:03:13,915 --> 00:03:15,961
building our homes, pumping our gas.

65
00:03:15,961 --> 00:03:21,314
Refugees are fleeing war, persecution and 
unimaginable and horrendous levels of violence,

66
00:03:21,314 --> 00:03:22,765
often escaping paramilitaries

67
00:03:22,765 --> 00:03:25,355
and arriving here seeking some level of safety,

68
00:03:25,355 --> 00:03:28,481
only to question whether they can ride transit safely,

69
00:03:28,481 --> 00:03:31,223
just to get to and from work 
like Lucia was doing.

70
00:03:31,223 --> 00:03:35,225
So in memory of Lucia Vega Jimenez and the 
thousands of other migrants in our community,

71
00:03:35,225 --> 00:03:37,317
public transit should not be a border checkpoint.

72
00:03:37,317 --> 00:03:39,438
There are far too many lives at stake.

73
00:03:39,438 --> 00:03:41,227
(Next speaker) Lucia is just one of the cases.

74
00:03:41,227 --> 00:03:46,610
I hear many cases around the time 
I remember since 6 years ago,

75
00:03:46,610 --> 00:03:54,409
about immigrants that were sent back just because 
they didn't have a fare in the skytrain.

76
00:03:54,409 --> 00:03:59,739
Immigration didn't look at them when 
the Olympics were starting

77
00:03:59,739 --> 00:04:04,985
and they were needed in order to construct 
and create infrastructure that we didn't have;

78
00:04:04,985 --> 00:04:08,141
but once that was done, they didn't matter.

79
00:04:08,141 --> 00:04:12,485
So I heard a lot of members that were sent back.

80
00:04:12,485 --> 00:04:18,094
I heard hard working people that was contributing 
enormously to this country sent back.

81
00:04:18,094 --> 00:04:22,612
I heard people that was in risk sent back.

82
00:04:22,612 --> 00:04:26,531
People with humane cases sent back.

83
00:04:26,531 --> 00:04:28,429
Over a $2.50 fare.

84
00:04:28,974 --> 00:04:30,640
I want to congratulate everybody in this room

85
00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:35,891
for working to end the Memorandum of Understanding
between CBSA and the Transit Police.

86
00:04:35,891 --> 00:04:37,867
That's an important step,

87
00:04:37,867 --> 00:04:41,585
and as has already been said, that's a first step.

88
00:04:41,585 --> 00:04:46,008
I personally as a transit user, 
and I think many of the people in the room,

89
00:04:46,008 --> 00:04:48,965
would like to get clarity about 
what that process is going to look like,

90
00:04:48,965 --> 00:04:58,471
and how we're going to ensure that there is adequate
separation between CBSA and the Transit Police.

91
00:04:58,471 --> 00:05:01,881
We need to keep in mind the real realities

92
00:05:01,881 --> 00:05:11,388
of what criminalizing, scrutinizing, racially profiling, detaining and deporting people,

93
00:05:11,388 --> 00:05:14,708
of how all that stuff affects them.

94
00:05:16,032 --> 00:05:20,409
This is real, these policies are very very real.

95
00:05:20,409 --> 00:05:26,244
People are being deported, people are fearful,

96
00:05:26,244 --> 00:05:33,829
people are going as far 
as Jimenez and my uncle went.

97
00:05:33,829 --> 00:05:36,347
(same speaker continues) We're happy about 
some of the changes you've made,

98
00:05:36,347 --> 00:05:38,016
some of the concessions,

99
00:05:38,016 --> 00:05:39,818
but we need to see that they're implemented.

100
00:05:39,818 --> 00:05:42,092
We are all gonna hold you to it,

101
00:05:42,092 --> 00:05:48,310
and we just want to see the end 
of detentions and deportations.

102
00:05:48,310 --> 00:05:53,107
So please, to everyone here, 
and to everyone who couldn't be here,

103
00:05:53,107 --> 00:05:57,499
but who's still involved, 
and who cares about this issue,

104
00:05:57,499 --> 00:06:03,512
let's keep fighting, let's keep pushing for 
the end of detentions and deportations,

105
00:06:03,512 --> 00:06:08,152
and let's ensure that public transportation 
is not a border checkpoint. Thank you.

106
00:06:08,152 --> 00:06:10,386
[APPLAUSE]