Canadians for Reconciliation and New West council will discuss historical treatment of Chinese
After raising concerns earlier this year about the City of New Westminster's reluctance to recognize its Chinese heritage and past discrimination, a group called Canadians for Reconciliation will finally have a chance to speak to Mayor Wayne Wright and the members of city council.
On Monday (June 1) at 3 p.m., CFR will have a dialogue with municipal politicians in committee room number two at New Westminster City Hall.
Last February, CFR raised concerns that New Westminster secondary school was built on top of an old Chinese cemetary. The New Westminster school district responded by sending a delegation to Vancouver's Chinatown to discuss this issue with a few Chinese Canadian organizations.
CFR felt that this wasn't sufficient, and created a Web site to seek responses from across the province, and then submitted its findings to the school district in late March.
Since then, CFR has researched the history of New Westminster's past treatment of Chinese residents. Its spokesperson, Bill Chu, has spoken publicly about how the city was the "epicentre" of racism against Chinese Canadians in B.C.
CFR claims that it attempted to reach Mayor Wright in late March and that he didn't respond. CFR claimed it also contacted Coun. Jaimie McEvoy to consider "appropriate redemptive actions", and on April 4, CFR e-mailed the mayor and council requesting the same thing.
CFR says that on April 22, New Westminster sent back a one-line e-mail acknowledging receipt of the message.
On April 25, CFR held a forum sponsored by six media outlets to look at the impact of historical discrimination on the Chinese Canadian identity.
CFR states that it made several more calls to the mayor's office, and in the third week of May, CFR received an invitation to speak to council.
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Comments
I'm sure that the Asians have discriminated against the others (do the Tibetians come to mind). Do they make reconcilliation with the past? I haven't seen it and I doubt it will happen. All I can say is get on with life!
Canadians, in general but specifically the cultural majority, are the beneficiaries of an economically and socially healthy environment today. We got here by dint of what our forefathers did - whether we care to look closely at that history or not. In some cases, brave people fought hard to win us individual rights and freedoms. In others, some groups were abused or exploited for gains, or simply out of small-mindedness and prejudice.
You can deny your history if you want - that's part of your rights and privileges in this free society which was built by someone's sweat and labor. And you can deny the needs of your neighbors, if listening compassionately to them seems like too much to ask you. However if we are going to continue to grow as a healthy, dynamic society, it would seem inevitable that we have to come to grips somehow with each of our stories and support everyone to become strong enough to contribute.
With grace and good fortune, hopefully we get to a day when everyone feels welcome, acknowledged, appreciated, and whole.