Life in Jane and Finch: A Product of Apartheid, but also of Resistance

In the late hours of Monday, 11 February, the tragic news of a young child killed by gunshot hit the news with “Jane and Finch” becoming front and centre in headline after headline. As a community mourns, dozens of ‘internet warriors’ have also gathered, but instead of commemorating the life of a young man, they have come together to sling racist vitriol at a community that has suffered tremendously through oppression and marginalization. Even considering the ‘low-level’ of discourse that often characterizes the comment sections of various news outlets, the comments that have followed this tragedy have been especially notable for its violent and vulgar nature – for the sole reason that this is not Rosedale; this is not Forest Hill; this is Jane and Finch, a neighbourhood with one of the highest concentrations of racialized people in the country. All that which would be unacceptable and inappropriate when directed […]

‘Welfare Fraud’ – So What?

Reposting from one of my facebook arguments: Nathan, you have mentioned a great deal that is problematic – time is limited, so I will just focus on the point regarding welfare fraud. Outside of the fact that your neighbours’ financial status is really none of your business, this is really an issue of framing and by removing the context, its quite easy to paint a picture for the purpose of reinforcing problematic discourses. So, let’s bring back the context … rates of fraud in the welfare system is 20x less than the rate of fraud in the income tax system. The emphasis in public discourse and in your discussions on welfare fraud is but an example of poor bashing, a non-issue made into an issue.  But, really, if we take another step back, even this fact is besides the point. If there was really widespread welfare fraud … so what? […]

Not Welcome: A Critical Analysis of Ableism in Canadian Immigration Policy from 1869 to 2011

Wong, E. H. S. (2012). Not Welcome A Critical Analysis of Ableism in Canadian Immigration Policy from 1869 to 2011. Critical Disability Discourses/Discours critiques dans le champ du handicap, 4.https://cdd.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cdd/article/view/34877 A Foucauldian discourse analysis of Canadian immigration policies and state practices reveals the ableist foundations of the Canadian nation-state. Throughout much of Canadian history, people with disabilities have been excluded through the immigration system. People with disabilities are often times prohibited from obtaining legal status, and even when status is obtained, it is often marked with precariousness. In order to contextualize ableism in the immigration system, I argue that borders are socially constructed, serving to segregate the labour market and to create precarious circumstances for workers in the contexts of capitalism and neoliberalism. These foundations of the Canadian immigration system, which have existed throughout Canada’s history and can be seen in today’s policies, serve to pathologize, playing a major role in the […]