Behind the Laibar
Singh case - Editorial
(The
following article is from
the January 16-31,
2008
issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles
can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in
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ON, L8P 2H3.
People's Voice Editorial, Jan. 16-31, 2008
Efforts to whip up demands
for the deportation of Laibar Singh have unfortunately met with some
success, despite his broad support from the South Asian community and
many labour and progressive groups. One reason is that the corporate
media and the Canadian state's immigration bureaucracy have hidden the
facts of this case from the public (for details, readers can visit
http://supportlaibar.blogspot.com on the Web).
It is
crucial to grasp the wider
context around this issue. This is not simply a debate around one
individual - it is an attempt to redefine Canada's immigration and
refugee policies in a fundamentally anti-human direction.
For many
years, Canadian
immigration policies have been designed to attract wealthy
entrepreneurs who will not become a so-called "burden on society." But
since the corporate ruling class also needs to maximise extraction of
profits from low-paid labour, it resorts to "temporary foreign worker"
programs, bringing in groups of workers who must later return to their
country of origin. The result is a separate caste of workers within the
Canadian economy, a sub-group with extremely limited rights. For the
capitalist class, this policy has the benefit of pitting Canadian
workers against immigrants, at the expense of both groups. This policy
takes on increasingly ominous overtones as the US and its allies use
their military might to seize oil and other resources around the world.
The racialization and demonization of immigrant communities within
Canada is a necessary part of the drive for imperialist war on the
global scale.
The push to
deport Laibar Singh
is not an attack against one man. It is part of a deadly racist
campaign against all workers of colour in Canada, which must be
resisted by the entire labour movement and all progressive and
democratic forces.
Found
at:
http://www.peoplesvoice.ca/Behind_the_Laibar_Singh_case_-_Editorial.html