Toronto Youth Cabinet

August 21, 2007 - Toronto FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1,500 Torontonians tell Minister of Immigration to ‘Let Leo Stay’

Award-winning community activist Leonardo Zuniga and his supporters are calling on Minister of Immigration Diane Finley to stop his removal to Mexico, where he faces persecution due to his sexual orientation and threats against his life.

In addition to gathering over 1,000 online petition signatures and 500 hard copy signatures, Leo’s grassroots campaign has received support from MP Olivia Chow, MPP Cheri DiNovo, MPP George Smitherman, Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, Councillor Shelly Carroll, Councillor Adam Giambrone, Councillor Howard Moscoe, Councillor Kyle Rae, and Councillor Adam Vaughan.

On Wednesday, August 22nd at 11am in the Council Chambers of Toronto City Hall, Leo will deliver a personal message intended for the Minister of Immigration. He will be joined by MPP-Toronto Centre Rosedale, George Smitherman, Helen Kennedy, Executive Director of EGALE Canada, John Campey, Executive Director of Community Social Planning Council of Toronto, community supporters, and members of the Toronto Youth Cabinet, Supporting our Youth, and No One Is Illegal – Toronto.

"Leo has already contributed a great deal to our community as a human rights advocate and supporter," said Helen Kennedy, Executive Director of Egale Canada. "Now we have to focus our efforts on making sure he is not deported to Mexico where being gay is not an accepted way of life."

Xtra! Magazine recently published the story of Enrique Villegas, the Mexican refugee claimant who was murdered upon return to Mexico after the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board rejected his refugee protection claim in 2003. Villegas was found dead in his Mexico City apartment in April, 2007.

Since arriving in Canada, Leo has been active in the LGTBQ, Latino, and youth communities and has drawn on his own experiences as an LGTBQ immigrant youth to support those who find themselves in similar situations. Leo is the recipient of the 2006 David Barker Maltby Award for his photography work and received the 2007 Youth Line Award for Queer Youth Activism.

“As a country that prides itself on upholding human rights, Canada should not be deporting its human rights advocates,” said Gabriela Rodriguez Director of Council Relation of the Toronto Youth Cabinet. “In addition to working full-time, Leo has selflessly dedicated himself to promoting the rights of others. The fact that Leo has been treated so callously by the immigration system is further evidence that the discriminatory system itself is ‘un-Canadian’ and in need of a serious overhaul.”

In June of 2006, William T. Short of the Immigration and Refugee Board refused Leo’s claim on the grounds that his fears were not well-established. Ignoring the pervasiveness of homophobia in Mexico, including the fact that over 1000 gay men have been murdered in the past 10 years with little sign of justice, Short reported that Leo could simply move to another part of Mexico.

On July 12th, 2007, Leo organized an event at the 519 Community Centre attended by over 150 community members entitled the “Invisible Struggle” to highlight the conditions of LGTBQ people in Mexico and the barriers they face upon seeking asylum in Canada.

The Toronto Youth Cabinet is the official voice of Toronto’s 300,000 youth at City Hall since 1998.

For more information, please contact: Leonardo Zuniga – 416-312-0523, Ryan Hayes, Toronto Youth Cabinet – 416-655-0161, Suhail Abualsameed, Supporting our Youth – 416-924-0774

Website: www.leonardozuniga.ca
Petition: www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?004612

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/243329

IMMIGRATION
TheStar.com - News - Mexican refugee requests skyrocket
Mexican refugee requests skyrocket

Middle class wants to escape drug cartels, corrupt authorities
Aug 05, 2007 04:30 AM
Nicholas Keung
IMMIGRATION/DIVERSITY REPORTER

Manuel Lanveros could have come to Canada through normal immigration channels as a skilled immigrant.

Instead, the Mexican citizen simply hopped on a plane and asked for refugee asylum here because, he says, he couldn't afford to risk his life on the two-year wait.

An architect with 15 years of experience, Lanveros represents a new wave of Mexican refugees who contradict the desperate day-labourer stereotype: educated, upper-middle-class professionals who claim corrupt authorities are failing to protect them from drug cartels, abusive spouses or gay bashers.

According to the Immigration and Refugee Board, Mexican asylum claims have skyrocketed in a decade, from fewer than 1,000 a year to 5,000. For the past two years, Mexico has been Canada's top source country for refugee claims.

With the defeat this spring of a U.S. immigration bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for undocumented migrants – and the increasing hostility of many Americans – observers worry that Mexicans hoping for a safe haven will instead file claims in Canada.

Francisco Rico-Martinez, of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) Refugee Centre, says 85 per cent of the advocacy group's clients are now Mexicans. As many as 15 new cases arrive at his door each week.

"My concern is we're going to be swarmed by Mexicans in the U.S. who don't have status there and can come to the border because they don't need a visa to come to Canada," says Rico-Martinez, himself a refugee from El Salvador. "We're starting to get calls from Mexicans in the States, five to six a week, hoping to file refugee (claims) in Canada. But we may not even know half of the Mexicans here who are without status, because they don't need visas to come."

Anticipating a continued influx, the refugee board is now treating Mexican cases as a top priority. Some cases are heard within six months, compared with the more typical 12 to 18 months.

Last November, the board even sent a fact-finding mission to Mexico, "to address information gaps related to witnesses of crime and public-sector corruption, women victims of violence, and victims of discrimination or violence based on sexual orientation." In February, the researchers issued guidelines to help adjudicators make decisions.

Advocates argue that most Canadians view Mexico through the benign lens of a tourist – as a free, democratic country – and fail to recognize how corruption there can leave people vulnerable to crime. That blind spot, they say, is reflected in the high rates of rejection for Mexican refugee claims. "Our concern is whether Mexicans can get a fair hearing, when most people simply assume they are economic migrants," says Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees. "And we've seen our share of prejudice against the Mexicans."

Lanveros says he, wife Trisya and daughter Andrea, 8, fled to Toronto in March last year after a drug-trafficking ring demanded at gunpoint that he help them smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

"This bad guy paid me to build a big house for him in Hidalgo. One night, I left my laptop in the house (still under construction). When I went back, I caught them moving bricks of cocaine. There were more than 100 of them in many plastic bags," Lanveros recalls. He went to the state police for help, "But the cops said they needed me to bring evidence to them. That's impossible for me to do," explains Lanveros, whose son, Ruben, was born in Canada last year.

"And they asked for $150 to protect me. They just wanted my money and were not interested in protecting me."

Though he even provided immigration authorities with a copy of a police report from Mexico, Lanveros's refugee claim was rejected earlier this month.

Mary Jo Leddy, of Toronto's Romero House, says the Lanveros case isn't untypical. Since last spring, the resettlement agency has received a growing number of educated, professional Mexicans who "don't fit the image" of typical economic migrants.

"We've had lawyers, engineers, people working for non-governmental agencies, accountants and architects. They are the ones who do well in their country and can afford the plane tickets to Canada," she notes. "Their stories always relate to the collapse of the country to drug cartels. The issue is always about the lacking state protection due to the corruption situation there."

Mauricio Guerrero, a spokesperson for the Mexican Embassy in Ottawa, insists many of the new arrivals are "economically and socially driven," and that his government does safeguard citizens against corruption and drug lords.

"The reason we are seeing more Mexican refugees in Canada is related to the dishonest coyotes who are promoting Canada to people who want to immigrate here. They leave Mexico for Canada with the idea of a better experience, a better life," he says. "The government is on the right track to fight against drug dealing and corruption."

Leonardo Zuniga's refugee claim – on grounds of persecution because of his sexual orientation – failed in June last year.

He says Mexican authorities adopt laws and policies to crack down on corruption, discrimination and criminal activity that look good on paper.

But, "the reality is we have a big corrupt government. People simply do things in front of you, blatantly asking you for money. It's not just gay people; even straight people have no rights," says the 25-year-old, who studied marketing in university and now works as a mailroom assistant in Toronto. "People think, we have a gay pride parade in Mexico City, then it's safe. They don't know many gay people get killed in Mexico. It's a very macho country," adds Zuniga, whose claim was denied because the refugee board believed the state there could protect him.

"I think people here only have superficial knowledge about Mexico."

Citizenship and Immigration Canada says department officials meet with Mexican authorities on a regular basis, and the refugee board is being guided by three "persuasive" decisions issued last October.

But those decisions are themselves controversial, says Gerri MacDonald, president of the Refugee Lawyers Association of Ontario. All three were negative rulings, based on claims 18 to 30 months old.

"It raises the perception that some in the system want to reduce the number of positive decisions for Mexicans," complains MacDonald, whose group asked the refugee board to withdraw the decisions, to no avail. "It also undermines the legitimacy of the fact-finding mission."

The FCJ Refugee Centre's Rico-Martinez thinks it's only a matter of time before Canada imposes visa requirements on Mexicans, as it did on Zimbabweans and Argentines when it felt a need to curb the inflow of refugees.

"But we can't have a blank-cheque solution that discriminates (between) people who need to come for protection (and) those with resources to come," he says. "To address the issue, Canadian officials need to reach out to the Mexican public and educate them about our immigration and refugee system."

One key area both governments need to tackle, says the embassy's Guerrero, is the "coyotes" who thrive on the ludicrous business of selling the Canadian dream to Mexicans.

Gay man killed after refugee claim denied
CRIME / Murder in Mexico
Tamara Letkeman / Xtra West / Friday, July 06, 2007

http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=1&STORY_ID=3287&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2

Friends of a former Vancouver resident murdered in Mexico whose refugee claim was rejected by Canada are claiming he was killed because he was gay, and calling into question this country's attitude toward queer refugees seeking asylum.

Enrique Villegas, 35, was found dead in his apartment in Mexico City Apr 7, just over four years after his refugee claim — which he made based on his sexual orientation — was denied by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).

Mexican police say the murder was the work of drug traffickers, as reported by Univision.com, a Spanish-language news website, but close friends of Villegas in Vancouver are not convinced.

"He was sweet. He didn't smoke, he didn't drink. He was a very clean person, very healthy," says Martina Cordero, who knew Villegas for seven years.

"The police linked the murder to drug trafficking because many of Mexico's drug dealers are from [the state of] Sinaloa, where Enrique was from," says Alfredo Serrano, who also knew Villegas for seven years.

Villegas was also shot in the back of the neck, a style of execution favoured by drug dealers, adds Serrano.

But he and Cordero — who spoke on the phone to Villegas every day until shortly before his death — believe their friend's sexual orientation was a key factor in his murder.

Serrano describes how, a few days before he was killed, Villegas told him he had started "dating" someone, a homeless man without a job. Serrano says Villegas, who "wanted to help everyone all the time," told him he had taken the man to his restaurant to help him do some work, and planned to take him to his apartment afterwards. That was the last time they spoke.

Four days later, Villegas' body was discovered.

"According to the doctors, he was dead for two or three days," Serrano says. "There is no chance that somebody broke in. [The murderer] had to be somebody he let in. He was living in a very secure apartment complex."

Serrano and Cordero believe the man in question latched onto Villegas once he found out he was gay in order to exploit him.

"In Mexico it can be dangerous for people to reveal they are gay. When you say something different to other people, they try to take advantage of you," Serrano says. "We are very sure there is a link with this guy without a job, without a place to stay."

Despite repeated attempts, a police spokesperson could not be reached in Mexico City for comment on the case.

Majority of queer Mexicans not granted refugee status, group says

Villegas, who lived in Vancouver for several years, returned to Mexico after Canada rejected his refugee claim in February 2003.

"He felt so sad," says Serrano. "He came here because he said he felt safe here."

The IRB will not release the details of a particular claimant's case, but Chris Morrissey, a local immigration consultant, says refugee claims made by queer Mexicans are usually denied.

"The majority of cases have not been successful," says Morrissey, who is also a volunteer with the Rainbow Refugee Committee, a non-profit group offering support to queer refugee claimants.

Morrissey explains that in order to be granted refugee status, claimants must prove, among other things, that they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their country. Morrissey says this can be difficult for Mexicans as there is nothing in Mexican law that prohibits having sex with same-sex partners.

"Much of it depends on whether you have personally been threatened and if it would continue if you went back to your country," she says. "You have to be able to demonstrate this."

Melissa Anderson, senior communications advisor for the IRB, says Mexicans who are being persecuted because of their sexual orientation have the option to move to another region of their country where they will presumably be safe.

"There is a persuasive decision that argues homosexual refugee claimants have an in-country flight alternative in Mexico City to escape persecution for their sexual orientation," Anderson says.

"Persuasive decisions" have been identified by the IRB as being of persuasive value in developing jurisprudence. Decision-makers are encouraged to use them in the interest of consistency.

'It's not okay to be out in everyday life'

Anderson pointed Xtra West to RefLex, the IRB's legal periodical, which offers summaries of refugee claims. The decision to deny many queer Mexicans' claims is based on the idea that Mexico City is becoming increasingly tolerant of queer culture.

"A well-organized gay movement has achieved a significant level of acceptance in one of Mexico's most Catholic and conservative cities," states a decision made Feb 25, 2005. "Though both the city and the state are governed by the centre-right and generally gay-hostile National Action Party (PAN), a political accommodation has been reached, significantly improving conditions for the city's homosexual population."

But Pat MacDiarmid, who also volunteers with the Rainbow Refugee Committee, says despite increased tolerance, Mexico can be a dangerous place for queers.

"In theory, it's not against the law to be queer, but it can be quite oppressive — it's not okay to be out in everyday life," she maintains. "They can court danger just by being themselves."

Queer refugees allege harassment by Mexican police

Serrano and Cordero are both familiar with this scenario, having both successfully claimed refugee status here after fleeing alleged police persecution in Mexico. Serrano says he left his country with his partner after police began harassing them and extorting money from them after they were seen leaving a gay bar in Mexico City.

Cordero left after police allegedly threatened her life when they discovered she was transgendered.

"The police can make your life a nightmare," claims Serrano, who worked as a reporter in the pressroom of the Mexico City police department for 11 years. "They see you as a resource to get money. They threaten to tell your family or your boss."

Although they believe they have information that could shed light on Villegas' murder, Serrano and Cordero say it is useless to contact Mexican police.

"When they find out the victim was gay, they say gay people deserve that," Cordero alleges.

'Don't be yourself, and you'll be okay'

Rainbow Refugee Committee volunteers say the people deciding the fate of queer refugees in Canada do not fully understand the implications of being queer in Mexico.

El-Farouk Khaki, an immigration lawyer who specializes in refugee claims based on sexual orientation, says the IRB tends to be more sympathetic to queer claimants from countries where homosexuality is illegal, but cases involving applicants from countries like Mexico are more tenuous.

"We need to look beyond what social advances have been made to the overall human rights situation to see how rights have improved for gay people," Khaki told Xtra in January. "Most Latin American countries have amazing constitutions, but that doesn't mean [they are] enforced."

"It has been determined by the powers that be that Mexico is friendly," says Morrissey. "Many people who go to Mexico don't perceive that people are persecuted over sexual orientation."

MacDiarmid concurs, adding that some tribunal members seem to think queer refugees will be able to go back to their countries and live without incident, provided they "be more discreet."

"It's like they're saying, if you don't flaunt it, you'll be fine. You've got to wonder how it's okay to suggest to someone: 'Don't be yourself, and you'll be okay.'"

So near and yet so far
IMMIGRATION / Queer & trans refugees face similar threats but separate struggles
Candace Joseph / Xtra / Thursday, July 05, 2007

In Toronto being trans and being queer are clearly two different, if potentially overlapping, experiences. But the distinctions between queer and trans become less meaningful in places where homophobia is more prevalent.

"For 20 years back home I've been facing discrimination from society, even my own family," says Mexican-born Leonardo Zuniga, who is currently seeking refugee status in Canada. "I'm kind of an effeminate person, so even if I was pretending not to be gay, it's not something I was able to do... to stay in the closet."

It is queers who push gender roles, above and beyond loving people of the same gender, who are more likely to be the targets of discrimination and violence.

"The roles that we apply to gender is the basis of homophobia," says immigration lawyer and activist El-Farouk Khaki. "Women and men who are queer and who violate those gender norms are the ones that are the most victimized."

Khaki, whose immigration practice focusses on queer, trans and HIV-positive people fleeing persecution and women fleeing violence, has been filing refugee claims for more than 12 years. Through his experience he has concluded that trans people are often less able to escape persecution than other queers.

"A gay man or a lesbian woman or someone who is bisexual can pass [as straight] in many cases whereas trans people have a harder time passing for their chosen genders."

Shadmith Manzo, also from Mexico, came to Canada because she was afraid of what would happen if she came out as trans.

"I tried to hide [being trans]," says Manzo, "but you cannot hide it very well and then you have people threatening you, trying to blackmail you, even sometimes close people, and then you have to be careful of everybody and then eventually it governs your life.

"For me at a certain point I developed a lot of anxiety and a lot of problems. I reached a point where I realized my life in Mexico was practically drowning my existence."

At the time that she left Mexico Manzo says that there were incidents of trans people being murdered, their bodies found on the outskirts of the city. People would make fun of them, she says, "And say, 'Oh, this happened because it was a homosexual.'"

Zuniga agrees that in Mexico there is the dominant thinking that victims of homophobic or transphobic violence have somehow brought it upon themselves.

"Police say, 'Oh, it's just a passionate crime,'" says Zuniga. "Because this person was homosexual it was like it was something that he or she deserved."

On Thu, Jul 12 Zuniga will present a forum on the realities of life for queer and trans people in Mexico. The event, to be held at the 519 Community Centre, will include information taken from the recently published Homo-fobia: Odio, Crimen y Justicia (Homophobia: Hate, Crime And Justice) by Fernando del Collado, which documents the more than 1,000 queer and trans people who were killed or went missing in Mexico from 1995 to 2005.

"I called this event Invisible Struggle because I'm going to try to talk about all these thousands of people murdered," says Zuniga. "There's injustice for all these people."

The forum will also touch on the struggles that refugees face when they come to Canada.

"I'll try to raise awareness of queer refugees in Canada who are struggling on a daily basis with the [immigration and refugee] system," says Zuniga, who is currently waiting on the outcome of an application to let him stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Zuniga has already been denied refugee status once. His first claim was on the basis of persecution due to sexual orientation, which was complicated by the fact that he was on the run from an abusive boyfriend.

"The situation with ex-boyfriend forced me to leave," says Zuniga. "It was really hard. My life was in danger and I was completely alone, isolated, all by myself. I wasn't able to ask my family for help because I wasn't sure how they'd react. There is in Mexico the machismo culture and the Catholic religion and my family was very religious. I felt that I had no choice [but to leave]."

But at an immigration hearing in May 2006, Zuniga's first refugee claim was denied. "[The Immigration And Refugee Board member] reported he had not found well-established fear. That I wasn't a person in need of protection.

"[He said] 'Mexico City has 25 million people so your ex-boyfriend will not find you there. It's a very open city right now... so you won't face discrimination there.'"

The trouble with proving persecution is something that Manzo is also familiar with. In 1994 Manzo claimed refugee status in Canada on the basis of persecution related to gender identity. But her claim was rejected. On Aug 12, 1998, less than a week after she married her partner, Crystal Manzo Chavez, Shadmith was taken from her apartment and detained at a facility in Malton.

"The only reason I came here was to a have a right for living a life for who I am and then you go to this journey where all of a sudden, you are misunderstood.... You are treated like a criminal," she says, describing her detainment. "You feel like it's so unbelievably unfair and [you feel] isolated and misunderstood. It's a very anguished and very painful time. It was very dehumanizing in many ways because you are treated like a product, not an individual. You are treated like a number, not like a person."

Manzo appealed to the federal court offering evidence supporting her claims of persecution in Mexico. But a risk assessment officer determined that while transsexuals were discriminated against, they were not persecuted. After 17 days in detention, Manzo was deported back to Mexico. She was eventually granted landed immigrant status on the basis of her relationship with her partner.

Part of what complicates the process of claiming refugee status in Canada as a Mexican is that the country is in the process of becoming more accepting of sexual diversity — at least in theory.

In November 2006 civil unions in Mexico City were legalized, allowing same-sex couples to register their relationships and providing them with inheritance rights and other benefits normally given to spouses. Earlier this year David Sanchez Camacho of the Democratic Revolution Party planned to submit a bill amending Mexico's constitution to include the rights of transsexuals, and to change civil laws to ensure that they can change their names and genders.

"Even a few months ago there was passed into different states civil unions of same-sex couples," says Zuniga. "But that's paper. I don't need papers in my life. I need reality."

Although trans and other queer refugees face many similarities in their struggles to be allowed to stay in Canada, their particular challenges once here are unique.

"Issues around gender and sex are very different to issues around sexuality," says Rachna Contractor, the coordinator of Among Friends, a three-year program to improve access to services for queer and trans immigrants and refugees in Toronto. "It's two different communities. They get lumped together for obvious reasons, but someone's gender identity is not the same as their sexual identity."

Contractor says there exists a level of transphobia within Toronto's queer scene. "I think that the queer community is a place where there's a lot of internalized homophobia, but [also] a lot of transphobia, a lot of sexism. There's a lot of racism, there's a lot of classism.

"I think what happens in communities that are marginalized is that it's almost like, 'Here's my piece of the pie and you can't come in and I'm not going to share it with you'.... It's almost like your power is on the backs of others so sometimes the queer community doesn't want to look at the trans people, the gender piece because, 'No, we've already gotten our power, now why do we want to take on your issue?'"

Khaki agrees that there is transphobia among queers, as well as homophobia among trans people.

"I think that many gay and lesbian people don't understand what makes a person transsexual," says Khaki. "They can understand not fitting into a gender norm and maybe it's a discomfort that most gay and lesbian people have with the visibility of somebody who is trans.... One would hope that your own experience of exclusion or disadvantage would make you more sensitive to others, but I think that human experience tells you otherwise."

In addition to possible discrimination within the queer scene, trans people face unique difficulties around accessibility to hormones, treatments and surgeries, says Suhail Abual Sameed, coordinator for Newcomer/Immigrant Youth Project. Sex reassignment surgery was removed from Ontario's health coverage in 1998.

It can also be a challenge to find trans-positive employers, he adds. "To find employers that are friendly enough to youth or to immigrants or to refugees is one thing. To find one that is friendly enough to trans people who are all these things, we can't even imagine how difficult that is or how problematic."

But for both queer and trans refugees there is the process of navigating the refugee system and the possibility of being taken advantage of along the way.

"They often don't know that there's a process which allows them to apply on the basis of sexuality. They wait for a while and that affects their cases. If they do know the process they look for a lawyer because they don't have connections and they often stumble onto really bad lawyers who take advantage of them and that's a very common situation."

Because of their lack of resources and support systems, refugees, particularly young ones, may do things that put their health at risk, says Abual Sameed.

"Lots of them meet older people within the community who sometimes take advantage of them and they go and do things to them sexually that are unsafe and, even though it's not safe, they will jeopardize that and compromise that safety for the sake of making a connection to somebody and making a new friend or thinking that this person might help them."

So then with all of the hardships and upheaval that queer and trans refugees face, is it worth it? Zuniga and Manzo certainly think so.

"Many people say, 'Why not lie? You have a much better life if you just lie,'" says Manzo. "But again, could you live without yourself? Could you just cover an existence without being you?"

"I love my country but if I can't be free, if I can't be Leonardo in Mexico it doesn't make sense to me," says Zuniga. "I want to be without fear of persecution, without fear that my life will be in danger."




Invisible Struggle takes place Thu, Jul 12 at the 519 Community Centre (519 Church St) beginning with a photo exhibit at 6:30pm. There will be a short film at 7pm and then the forum at 7:30pm. The petition asking the minister of immigration to let Leonardo Zuniga stay in Canada is available at Leonardozuniga.ca.

www.Leonardozuniga.ca

A message from:
Colleen French
Communications and Networking Coordinator
Canadian Council for Refugees

"Hello and thank you for continuing to contact senators in your region
asking them to support Bill C280, calling for the immediate implementation
of the Refugee Appeal Division!"

On 12 June, Senator Yoine Goldstein rose and spoke to the bill, opening
debate at second reading in the Senate. Other Senators MUST rise and speak
to the bill during second reading, however. After a few sittings, if no
one has spoken to Bill C280, it will be removed from the Order Paper and
our efforts to have the Refugee Appeal Diviaion implemented will be lost.

We know that several Senators have expressed their support for the
Bill. Senators that may be particularly favourable of speaking to Bill
C280 include: Vivienne Poy (Ontario), Sharon Carstairs (Manitoba), Lucie
Pépin (Québec), Claudette Tardif (Alberta), Mobina Jaffer (British
Columbia), and others in the Atlantic region and elsewhere.

Please contact these senators and others you have already been in touch
with and ask them to voice their opinions in the Senate chamber! It is
more important now than ever to take action. Contact details for senators
can be found online at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/senate/isenator.asp?Language=E