If you are planning to join us for the caravan for any of the caravan stops below, please register here!
LEAMINGTON Sunday Sept 4
Workers general meeting and dinner in the birthplace of Justice For Migrant Workers.
WINDSOR Monday Sept 5- Tuesday Sept 6
Look for us in the marching in Windsor Labour Day Parade and afterwards in the Fogolar Furlan Club BBQ!
CHATHAM Wednesday Sept 7
Join the caravan for a discussion and screening of Migrant Dreams from 7-9 pm at UNIFOR Local 127, 405 Riverview Dr, Chatham.
BLENHEIM Thursday Sept 8
Event for J4MW farmworker members
*** Fundraiser for the Caravan in Toronto, check out the details here!
LONDON Friday Sep 9- Saturday Sept 10
For Friday Sept 9, there will be a dinner to receive the Caravan, details TBA.
On Saturday Sept 10, the Harvesting Freedom campaign will visit the farmers market, details TBA.
In the evening, the caravan will host a discussion, meal and screening of Migrant Dreams, details here.
TILLSONBURG Sunday Sept 11
Event for J4MW farmworker members
BRANTFORD Wednesday Sept 14
The caravan will host a community/classroom discussion from 2:30-4pm at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford Campus, Room OD-110, hosted by Janet McLaughlin. Documentary filmmaker Aaraon Diaz, members of the community and Caravan will discuss local issues, including a recent fire which destroyed the dwelling of area farmworkers.
SIX NATIONS Wednesday Sept 14
The caravan will visit and have a gathering with the Six Nations community.
LYNDEN/BRANTFORD Thursday Sept 15
Community dinner, film screening and discussion at Langford School House from 6-9 pm. The address is 1694 Colborne Street East.
SIMCOE Friday Sept 16
Event for J4MW farmworker members
WOODSTOCK Saturday Sept 17
The caravan will visit the local Farmers Market from 10am- 12pm at the Woodstock Fairgrounds, 875 Nellis Street, Woodstock
GUELPH Saturday Sept 17-19
On Sept 17, there will be a film screening of Migrant Dreams. Director Min Sook Lee, Nandita Sharma and members of the caravan will join in a community panel/Q&A, moderated by Janet McLaughlin, following the screening. RSVP on the Facebook event
On Sunday the 18th, the Caravan will honour the life and work of Professor Kerry Preibisch in Guelph.
On Monday Sept 19 we will pay a community visit to the WSIB office at 9 am to demand justice for injured migrant farmworkers! They are located at 100 Stone Road West, Guelph.
WATERLOO Monday Sept 19
Harvesting Change all day event, featuring Professors Nandita Sharma, David Griffith, Leigh Binford, Janet McLaughlin and Jenna Hennebry in a morning academic panel, lunch, and a community panel featuring NDP MPP Catherine Fife, employer Jennifer Pfenning and Justicia/caravan organizers. Click on this event page for more details. Registration is required.
KITCHENER Tuesday Sept 20
UNIFOR Aboriginal and Workers of Colour Committee will be hosting the Caravan for a community gathering. The event will take place from 5:30 pm at UNIFOR Local 1106 Union Hall, located at 1600 Wabanaki Drive, Kitchener.
ST CATHARINES Wednesday Sept 21
The Harvesting Freedom Caravan will be in Brock University watching documentary films Migrant Dreams and hosting a community discussion from 5-8 pm. We will be in room 258. Brock is at 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way Street, St Catharines.
BEAMSVILLE Thursday Sept 22
Event with farmworkers from the Niagara region
HAMILTON Friday Sept 23- Sat Sept 24
On Saturday Sept 24 we will attend the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. wa! It will be at New Visions Church at 24 Main Street West from 7 pm to midnight.
On Saturday Sept 24 we will attend the Hamilton Farmers’ Market, details TBA.
ST CATHARINES Saturday 24
Justicia is also hitting the Niagara Wine Festival to demand justice for migrant vineyard workers! Get in touch if you want to take part (harvestingfreedomcampaign@gmail)!
TORONTO Sunday Sept 25
Rise up and come out to the Harvesting Freedom Caravan action in Toronto while enjoying a pancake breakfast!
Later in the day join us for the Toronto screening of Migrant Dreams!
Help the Caravan close the day at Black Creek Community Farm event with food, hang outs and performances!
DURHAM Monday Sept 26
Join the Caravan from 6-8 pm for a community event and documentary showing of Migrant Dreams at the West Front Atrium of Trent University Durham Campus, located at 55 Thornton Road South, Oshawa, ON
There will also be a dinner for farmworkers.
COBOURG Tuesday Sept 27
The Harvesting Freedom Caravan will be marching through Cobourg at 3 pm, start up location TBA.
In the evening, we hope you can come to a community forum from 5:15- 6:30 pm at Horizons of Friendship at 50 Covert Street, Cobourg.
The campaign will also host a dinner and workshop for farmworkers later in the evening.
KINGSTON Wednesday Sept 28- Thurs Sept 29
On Wednesday, the Caravan will host a community conversation from 2:30-4 pm at Queens University as a part of the Cultural Studies Seminar Series, details TBA.
Thursday Sept 29 we will host another conversation from 1-2:30pm at Mackintosh-Corry Hall D214, Queens University as a part of the SNID series.
More details on the Kingston stop coming soon!
OTTAWA Oct 1-3
On Saturday Oct 1, the Harvesting Freedom will be part of the One World Film Festival, details TBA.
On Sunday Oct 2nd, save the date to be a part of THE CARAVAN BIG FINALE in downtown Ottawa, details to be announced really soon! Help us mark this historic 800km trip to the capital to demand Justice!
We will CLOSE the caravan and leave Ottawa on Oct 3rd, so stay tuned for those details!!!
Contact us at harvestingfreedomcampaign@gmail.com!
Harvesting Freedom Caravan Launches this weekend!
We are READY to start the Historic Harvesting Freedom Caravan with a J4MW worker member General Meeting and Launch in Leamington, Ontario this Sept 4th! Leamington is significant in this struggle because is the self-proclaimed Tomato Capital of the country and it’s also the birthplace of this Farmworker Movement and of Justice For Migrant Workers. Yearly the town receives between 6 and 8 thousand migrant workers who pick our fruits and vegetables.
This Labour Day (Sept 5th), farmworkers, allies and giant Justice Vegetables will march in the Windsor Labour Day parade and will stay and talk to people at the Fogolar Furlan Club in the afternoon. Come support if you are in the Windsor area!
Our allies will also be marching in the Toronto Labour Day parade to make sure labour doesn’t forget about the real struggles that many racialized workers still face in this country.
Simcoe Sept 16
Kitchener-Waterloo Sept 19
St Catharines Sept 21, 24
Hamilton Sept 23, 24
Toronto Sept 25 main Caravan action and hang out at Black Creek Community Farm
Durham Sept 26
Cobourg Sept 27
Kingston Sept 28-29
Ottawa Oct 1-3
Come help us launch the Harvesting Freedom Caravan in Leamington and Windsor on September 4th, 5th and 6th!
August 2016
Send us an email if you want to participate or can support the caravan! We need all hands on deck to ask the government of Prime Minister Trudeau to grant Permanent Residence upon arrival to farmworkers! Caribbean and Mexican farmworkers have been putting food on our table for 50 years now. 50 years of injustices is enough!
Contact us at harvestingfreedomcampaign@gmail.com and on our Facebook Page.
Join the Harvesting Freedom caravan from September 4th to October 3rd!
August, 2016
Justice for Migrant Workers and the Harvesting Freedom Campaign will be embarking on a caravan starting in Leamington, Ontario on September 4th, 2016 and traveling to its final stop in Ottawa on October 2nd and 3rd. The caravan, consisting of migrant workers and allies, will be making several stops and solidarity actions in towns across Southern Ontario along their route.
These are some of the cities and towns we will be crossing! More details and Facebook events coming soon!
Windsor Sept 5-6
Simcoe Sept 16
Kitchener-Waterloo Sept 19
St Catharines Sept 21, 24
Hamilton Sept 23
Toronto Sept 25 see the Facebook event here!
Durham Sept 26
Cobourg Sept 27
Kingston Sept 28-29
Ottawa Oct 1-3
If you are in any of these places and want to come, help out or just receive updates, send us an email at harvestingfreedomcampaign@gmail.com.
Justicia condemns OIPRD’s report for perpetuating racist policing
July, 2016
Support Ned Peart (hearing postponed until the Fall 2016)!
March 2016
This is Ned Peart. He was crushed to death by a tobacco kiln while working as a migrant farmworker in Ontario. His family together with Justicia for Migrant Workers have been fighting for over 10 years to change the laws so these kinds of accidents don’t happen again.
The hearing for his case was scheduled for March but was postponed until the Fall of 2016. We will need your support then and we will keep you updated! Help us pack the courtroom and also show our support to Mr. Peart’s family!
Migrant Workers Deserve To Be With Their Families Too!
February 12, 2016
Join Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) in visiting the office of Immigration Minister John McCallum to demand the right for migrant farmworkers to be with their families this Family Day. We will go to the Immigration Minister’s office this Friday to demand that migrant farm workers be able to receive Permanent Immigration status when they arrive to Canada. Help us ensure that not one more Family Day passes where migrant workers cannot be with their partners and kids.
We will be meeting at Minister McCallum’s constituency office (7750 Birchmount Road Unit 21-22, Markham, Ontario) at 10 am on February 12th, 2016. Rides will be departing from 720 Spadina Ave in Toronto at 9 am. If you need a ride, or you can drive people, please RSVP to at harvestingfreedomcampaign@gmail.com
J4MW’s action at Minister McCallum’s office is part of the Harvesting Freedom Campaign, which marks 2016 as the 50th anniversary of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). The campaign will include actions throughout the year to call for Permanent Residence status for migrant farm workers and will culminate in a historic Pilgrimage on to the nation’s capital in October.
Hope to see you on Friday,
The Harvesting Freedom Campaign by
Justicia For Migrant Workers
4th Anniversary of the Hamstead Tragedy –
February 6th, 2016
Migrant farmworkers asked Trudeau for Permanent Residency in Canada
January, 2016
‘Justice is 50 years overdue’, migrant farmworkers call for real change in 2016
WHAT: Media Briefing to launch historic ‘Harvesting Freedom’ caravan to Ottawa
WHEN: 10 am, Monday, January 25, 2016.
WHERE: Charles Lynch Room, Centre Block of Parliament, Ottawa
WHO: Justice for Migrant Workers (J4MW) is a grassroots advocacy group composed of migrant workers and allies, based in Toronto, Vancouver, and Mexico City
J4MW will held a press conference at 10 am in the Charles Lynch room in the Centre block of Parliament. Following the press conference, migrant workers visited the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to urge him to grant migrant farm workers Permanent Residence Status on Landing.