New border security bills endanger refugee rights

This week on rabble radio, we share a clip from a recent episode of the Courage My Friends series featuring co-executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Karen Cocq, advocacy and media relations coordinator at The Refugee Centre in Montreal, Alina Murad and President of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, Aisling Bondy.

The three join Courage My Friends series host Resh Budhu to discuss Prime Minister Mark Carney's new border security acts, Bill C-2 and its questionable make-over with the recently tabled Bill C-12 and how they effectively rewrite Canada's approach to refugee rights and protections. If passed, what will these acts mean for those seeking asylum—and for Canada as a whole?

About our guests and the Courage My Friends series

Aisling Bondy is the current president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL), a national organization comprised of several hundred lawyers who practice in refugee law. She is the founder of Bondy Immigration Law and is a member of the Refugee Lawyers' Association, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, the Ontario Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association.

Karen Cocq is co-executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC), a membership-based organization of migrants. MWAC is the secretariat of the cross-country Migrant Rights Network, the largest coalition of migrant led organizations in Canada. She has been active in migrant justice and workers' rights organizing for 20 years.

Alina Murad is the advocacy and media relations coordinator at The Refugee Centre in Montreal. She leads policy research and advocacy initiatives addressing systemic barriers faced by refugees and asylum seekers in Canada. Follow them on Instagram @therefugeecentre and @pointofentrypodcast.

Listen to the full episode here. And, if you'd like to hear more from the Courage My Friends podcast series, please subscribe to Needs No Introduction. Available on rabble.ca, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

The Courage My Friends podcast is a co-production between rabble.ca and the Tommy Douglas Institute at George Brown College. Produced by Resh Budhu of the Tommy Douglas Institute, Breanne Doyle of rabble.ca and the TDI planning committee: Chandra Budhu and Ashley Booth. For more information about the Tommy Douglas Institute and this series, visit georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute.

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