“He was a community builder. He believed we can’t do the work we do without being in solidarity and building community with a human rights lens.” This is how Loly Rico, the Executive Director of FCJ Refugee Centre, described her husband, the late Francisco Rico-Martínez, during the ceremony of the 2023 Guthrie Award, presented posthumously this Wednesday by The Law Foundation of Ontario to the man who, always along with Loly herself, was Co-Director and soul of the FCJ Refugee Centre for 30 years, until his death in 2021.

“The name Francisco Rico-Martínez is synonymous with the rights of refugees,” said Linda Rothstein, the Foundation’s Board Chair, when the award was announced. “He devoted his life to ‘walking with uprooted people’ (the moto of the FCJ Refugee Centre), and used his passionate voice and empathy to inspire a more just, fair, and humane immigration system.” The Guthrie Award, the Law Foundation’s signature award, recognizes exceptional access to justice champions.

It was an inspiring and emotional evening for everyone attending the award ceremony, more than a hundred people including family, colleagues, friends, community members… All of them gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Francisco.

Loly Rico received the award on behalf of Francisco, accompanied by their daughter: “With Francisco, what you saw was what you got. He was the kind of person who truly walked the talk,” she said. “He believed that each person not only deserves a dignified life, but can also give a contribution to society. For some of my colleagues he became a mentor, a confidante, a friend, a teacher. Also, he was a person that always was pushing to the maximum. He believed that we could do more than an extra mile. At the same time, he was a community builder. He believed we can’t do the work we do without being in solidarity and building community with a human rights lens”, she added.

“Francisco believed that each person not only deserves a dignified life, but can also give a contribution to society”

In her speech, Loly honoured Franciso by reading the last letter he wrote to join the Department of Imaginary Affairs Canada. In this letter, Loly said, Francisco shared his vision for “a just world where we can all fulfill our dreams and live in dignity,” envisioning an utopian future for Canada as “a rainbow made of all colours of humanity living together”. “I had dedicated my whole life in Canada to influence the creation of policies, programs, and services for the integration on new Canadians, reinventing home and the desire of belonging under the concept of diverse persons, one community. I want to share my passion for what I do. My life’s work is for the rights and protection of refugees and precarious migrants in Canada or wherever they are,” Francisco wrote.

Francisco was also remembered by Sharry Aiken, President of FCJ Refugee Centre’s Board of Directors, Associate Professor at Queen’s University, Faculty of Law, and who supported Francisco’s nomination. “Through both his long tenure as Co-Director of the FCJ Refugee Centre, as president of CCR and his extensive pro bono contributions as a volunteer and activist, Francisco truly embodied the values the Guthrie award aims to recognize,” she said.

“As an advocate for refugees and other uprooted people, his life’s work was centrally focused on promoting access to justice and justice itself for the most marginalized and vulnerable residents of our province. His life and career embodied a deep and abiding commitment to service and making the world a better, more just place for everyone,” Aiken added.

Aiken highlighted that Francisco “organized rallies, spearheaded community fundraising drives, engaged in incisive policy advocacy and had a truly impressive record of finding a way around any legal roadblock. Through op eds in print media and countless appearances in news and public affairs programs, Francisco was a leading voice for refugee and migrant rights in Canada.”

“Francisco was also unfailingly kind, generous and compassionate – with clients, professional colleagues, friends and even his adversaries in government”

Francisco, Aiken said, “was also unfailingly kind, generous and compassionate – with clients, professional colleagues, friends and even his adversaries in government. That a few of those adversaries attended his funeral mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church speaks volumes.”

The life of Francisco was also honoured and remembered by FCJ Sister Lois Anne Bordowitz, former President of FCJ Refugee Centre’s Board of Directors. Sr. Lois Anne joined the Centre in 1996, working with Francisco, and she still volunteers in the office, and at the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre.

“One of the things that impressed me about Francisco was that he walked the talk when it came to his respect for women. He was always the Co-Director with his wife Loly, which had many implications, including equal salaries. He promoted many programs for women at the FCJ Refugee Centre over the last 30 years,” she said.

“Francisco was a great believer in the potential of a person and was able to help bring it about,” Sister Lois Anne remarked. “I will always remember him as a great friend and passionate advocate, who vowed to keep the door open for refugees,” she added.

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