Peretz Membership Endorses the "We're Better Together" Campaign in Support of Migrant Rights

At the Peretz Centre's Annual General Meeting on Sunday, January 25th, 2026, the membership unanimously voted to endorse the "We're Better Campaign" to counter rising anti-immigrant sentiment and divisive rhetoric from politicians, and to demonstrate and grow public support for immigrants and refugees in Canada.

Launched by the Canadian Council for Refugees in November 2025, the campaign is supported by over 200 organizations from Amnesty International to CUPE in order to strengthen and reinforce calls from across all sectors of society for a fair and welcoming immigration system that serves everyone in Canada. This is especially urgent as the federal government continues to slash immigration levels and newcomer support services, and introduce legislation like Bills C-12 and C-2 that threaten to militarize borders and roll back refugee protections.

In the words of Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada:

“The recently introduced Bill C-12 not only undermines the rights and dignity of refugees and migrants, but it is also harmful and divisive. Every person deserves to be safe from persecution and to be treated fairly, regardless of where and how one has arrived. Around the world, an authoritarian wave is rising, pointing to newcomers as the source of social ills. Canada can and must resist this tide and respect its international obligations, including the right to seek asylum through a fair and effective procedure."

The motion was brought to the Peretz AGM by the members of the Anti-Racism Taskforce, Annalee Yassi, Claudia Bulaievsky, David Catzel, Erica Mildner, Gyda Chud, Joanna Garfinkle. It passed with unanimous support, reflecting the continuity of the Peretz Centre's values from the time it was created in 1945 in response to the threat to Jewish culture and Yiddish language posed by the Holocaust and WWII.

Support the Campaign

Read the full text of the motion below.

---

Motion to Support for the "We're Better Together" Campaign

Whereas the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture is rooted in secular humanist Jewish values and a long-standing commitment to social justice, peace activism, and the concept of Doikayt ("here-ness"), which emphasizes that the struggle for equity begins in the community where we live;

Whereas the Peretz Centre has created an Anti-Racism Taskforce to provide policy proposals that strengthen our commitment to and capacity for action against racism;

Whereas the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) has launched the “We’re Better Together” campaign alongside other prominent organizations to build a broad coalition in favor of migrant rights and to oppose legislative rollbacks such as Bills C-2 and C-12, which threaten refugee rights and expand information sharing with the United States;

Whereas refugees and migrants and the children and descendants of refugees and migrants have consistently made up a large portion of our organization’s membership;

Whereas discrimination against refugees and migrants not only affects our members and our communities directly but also painfully recalls the longer history of Jewish migration and persecution in Canada;

Whereas signaling support for refugee rights as a secular humanist Jewish cultural centre is a small but positive step toward educating and engaging our membership and the wider community on this vital social issue;

BIRT (Be It Resolved That) the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture formally endorses the “We’re Better Together” campaign;

BIFRT (Be It Further Resolved That) the Board invites collaboration from interested members to determine specific, appropriate actions such as educational workshops or community dialogue, that align with this endorsement and the Peretz Centre’s mission.

---

To get involved in efforts to educate and raise support for migrants and refugees at the Peretz Centre, contact the Anti-Racism Taskforce at taskforce@peretz-centre.org.

Any individual or organization can sign up to support the campaign at bettertogethercanada.ca

Support the Campaign