Canada’s Romani community holds protest opposing Sun Media Corp.’s ‘must-carry’ application following Ezra Levant’s hateful on-air comments

As CRTC hearings begin, racist rant compels community to call for rejection of the application
and demand the firing of the Sun News Network commentator

News Release
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
For Immediate Release
TORONTO – On the same day Sun Media Corp. presented its case to the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC) regarding a mandatory distribution licence, Canada’s Romani community and supporters rallied today outside the CRTC’s Toronto office to urge the national regulator to refuse Sun Media Corp.’s application and to demand the media outlet fire Ezra Levant following his nationally broadcasted xenophobic anti-Roma commentary on the Sun News Network.

This giant billboard was spotted in the city of Miskolc, Hungary.

No phony refugees allowed: Canadian billboard in Hungary
5:58 pm, January 22nd, 2013

Credits: REUTERS/CHRIS WATTIE

DANIEL PROUSSALIDIS | QMI AGENCY

OTTAWA — New billboards in Hungary tell residents not to bother coming to Canada to file an unfounded refugee claim because the rules have changed and they’ll quickly be deported.

“People with unfounded claims will be deported faster,” warn the billboards, bearing the Government of Canada logo and directing people to the Citizenship and Immigration website.

Late last week, the billboards were placed in Miskolc, a city in northeast Hungary that is home to many Roma.

(…)

Christmas concert – Roma Art Center – Sunday, December 23 at 12:00 pm – SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY R.C. CHURCH

Dear members and friends,

Toronto’s Roma Community Centre is sending our best wishes for the holiday season to all of you and our families.

Hungarian, Latvian refugee claims among those to be fast-tracked as Canada unveils ‘safe country’ list
Tobi Cohen, Postmedia News | Dec 14, 2012 11:02 AM ET | Last Updated: Dec 14, 2012 5:18 PM ET

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney unveiled on Friday Canada’s new list of “safe” countries from which refugee claims will be fast-tracked.

OTTAWA — The federal government has unveiled a preliminary list of 27 countries Canada believes are unlikely producers of legitimate asylum claimants, touching off a wave of criticism from refugee advocates who say the new rules set to take effect Saturday are arbitrary, unfair, dangerous and illegal.

Jaroslav Mitac poses in his east-end townhouse on Friday. He’s a pastor at the Hamilton Gypsy Church,which serves Roma who fled the Czech Republic. (Cory Ruf/CBC)

Hamilton’s Roma community dwindles in face of new immigration rules
By Cory Ruf, CBC News Posted: Dec 12, 2012 7:00 AM ET Last Updated: Dec 12, 2012 9:08 AM ET
Jaroslav Mitac poses in his east-end townhouse on Friday. He’s a pastor at the Hamilton Gypsy Church,which serves Roma who fled the Czech Republic. (Cory Ruf/CBC)

An evangelical pastor, Jaroslav Mitac describes an unenviable task that has become a significant part of his job: consoling congregants before they’re deported.

“I talked with one family [Friday],” the 47-year-old said, speaking through an interpreter. “They were so unhappy because they had to go home on Monday.”

THE KLEINMANN FAMILY FOUNDATION IN COOPERATION WITH CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

DECEMBER 7, 2012

Goethe-Institut Montreal, 1626, Boulevard Saint Laurent, Suite 100, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2X 2T1

History Speaks: Do We Listen? Porrajmos, and the Resurgence of Anti-“Gypsy” Extremism

To persecute groups like the Roma is to persecute our own secret selves. To criminalize an entire ethnic group is to vandalize our own secret identities…In our hearts we know that we are all misunderstood, how easy then to turn against the weakest in our midst and blame them for all our ills. The Roma are in danger of becoming the scapegoats for our fears. The real crime is ours, the crime of turning their life into a waking nightmare.
Salman Rushdie