Postering protest calls on MPs to bring in regularization

Staff at the constituency office of Member of Parliament (MP) Dan Vandal are in for a surprise Monday when they come in to work to find its windows covered with posters.

It's part of a national protest action organized by the Migrant Rights Network which took place at MP constituency offices across Canada.

Winnipeg organizer Michael Hewlett said it's about regularization, which is the process of giving people with temporary immigration status the same rights as permanent residents.

He said it's been 10 months since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to implement regularization in Canada, but it hasn't happened yet.

"The action were doing today is just to remind Trudeau's government about the promise that they made, so that they carry through with it," said Hewlett.

He adds that right now, undocumented migrants in Canada cannot access free health care services and are often taken advantage of by employers.

"So if that organization is being abusive and they want to report that, the organization can just say 'okay, well you're fired,' and then they're no longer allowed to be in Canada," said Hewlett. "So they're incredibly at risk without these rights."

He and a handful of protestors plastered bright yellow posters across Vandal's office at 213 St. Mary's Road, saying "regularize everyone," and "will you meet with migrants & act on our demand for status for all?"

Protestors are asking the government to quickly bring in a comprehensive regularization program, which would provide full and equal rights for all 500 thousand undocumented people in Canada.

They're also asking for permanent resident status for all 1.2 million migrants with temporary status.

Hewlett said he wants Vandal to know this issue is important to Manitobans.

"I saw that there wasn’t one already taking place in Winnipeg, so I just volunteered to go and print some posters and organize it," he said.