Organizers expected up to 3,500 people for a march and rally through the streets of Toronto, but only a few hundred supporters of undocumented Portuguese workers braved rainy weather on Saturday.
Chanting "support, don't deport," the crowd made its way from Queen's Park to Toronto city hall to cheer speakers who said Canada's "immigration system is broken."
Pity the turnout was not as expected, although on Friday, apparently, "about 1,000 Portuguese workers and their family members converged on Queen's Park".
But of course, the Harper government is indifferent:
Despite the protests and a level of public sympathy for deportees, the federal government appears to be unmoved.
The federal government has said there are no plans to provide amnesty to undocumented workers, regardless of their skills.
To me, it seems that a number of factors behind the Federal government's non-response. For one thing, I suspect they see it as a Toronto/GTA/Ontario issue, and Ontario looks to be at the bottom of their list of priorities. For another, I think the issues surrounding the "War on Terror"and the idea that Terrorists might be getting into the country are skewing attitudes towards all illegals.
However, the people we are talking about are (mostly) Portuguese, certainly not terrorists, and though they are here without the proper papers, they pay taxes and work hard and have given birth to Canadian citizens, who in many cases will also be forced to leave the country with them.
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