Events

10:45 Manitoba Legislative Building, 450 Broadway

11:30 US Consulate, 201 Portage Ave

On Wednesday, May 17th, 2017, from 10:00am - 12:00pm, we are hosting for a youth-led city- wide rally to raise awareness about Islamophobia and to take action on US Immigration Ban.

My name is Palvi Saini and I'm a grade 12 student at the Seven Oaks Met School. I have been researching the Syrian civil war and the refugee crisis for my senior thesis project. With the issue being so complex, I didn’t know how to make a difference. The new US Immigration Ban directly affects refugees trying to escape the Syrian civil war and has led to a rise in Islamophobic behaviour. Also, the Safe Third Country Agreement means refugees coming to Canada from the US are not allowed to cross safely at official border crossings. They are being forced to make unsafe border crossings; putting themselves and their children at risk. Due to the ban and the agreement, we are sending innocent Syrians, along with others, back to the dangerous situations they have been trying to escape all along.

In order to raise awareness about Islamophobia and to take action against the Immigration Ban, the Met School Justice League and I are launching the #FearLessLoveMore campaign. We believe a lot of fear has been built up in people’s hearts so we want to celebrate our diversity and let local Muslims know that they are welcome here in Winnipeg.

There are three parts to the campaign: Outreach (school presentations), the #FearLessLoveMore Rally (coming together as a community to celebrate diversity), and Action (getting petitions signed to have The Safe Third Country Agreement temporarily suspended).

As this is a youth-led campaign, we want as many young leaders from our community involved to make this campaign a success. We will be marching from the Central Mosque, on to the Manitoba Legislative Building, then to the US Consulate. We will have motivational speakers to inspire us and also petitions to be signed to be sent to the House of Commons.

For more information please email [email protected] Seven Oaks Met School, 204-336-5050