Media Advisory
Press Briefing on the Helen Gavaghan story
Friday, September 30th, 8:30am
Outside the Palais de Justice (Notre Dame Street entrance), Montreal
With: friends and supports of Helen Gavaghan; Legal counsel
Helen Gavaghan and her daughter Pearl were detained by Montreal police on September 16th. The pair were forced to flee England in 2008, after the family court system in that country failed to protect Pearl from harm.
by: Rachel Avery and Dan Kellar
"No one is illegal, Canada is illegal!"
-No One Is Illegal - Vancouver/Coast Salish
As the Harper government continues to hold 492 Tamil refugees in detention on unfounded, racially-based suspicions, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews continues to make clear the racist, anti-immigrant motivations of his department and this Conservative administration. Over the past week, four men have been arrested and three of them charged as part of a 2-year investigation entitled "Project Samosa". Because of their ethnicity they have been demonised in government rhetoric, and presented as guilty before they have been able to face trial. This troubling discourse has been supported and furthered by mainstream media and public commentary. We must continue to counter such narratives and challenge the xenophobia they encourage.
