Schema Magazine

The Canadians For Reconciliation will be hosting a conference about Chinese Canadian identity from a history of contributions and discrimination.

Saturday April 25, 2009
Newbern Memorial Alliance Church | Map
626 East 58 Avenue Vancouver
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Speakers include:

Panorama by FlungingPictures.
Left to Right:
1. Bill CHU
2. Frank HUANG Global Chinese Press
3. Charlie SMITH, Georgia Straight
4. Eric CHAN, MingPao Daily
5. Alden HABACON, Canadian Broadcasting CORPORATION
6. Victor HO, SingTao Daily

Background:

After a century of racism in British Columbia, things have indeed been improving for Chinese-Canadians. However as BC had been the worst province in pressuring the federal government to restrict Chinese immigration and employment and no action had been taken to acknowledge BC's century long racist history towards the Chinese, there is a need for the Chinese community to come and explore issues worthy of some thoughtful discussions.

For Chinese who have been here longer, there is a need for healing. For those who immigrated here within the last two three decades, there is a need to be made aware of what happened before so that they too can be sensitive to the pain of tens and thousands of Chinese who came before them.

However with a missing Chinese history in BC, how can our next generation find their roots in what's normally portrayed as a white colony? How can they be perceived as equals when current history and curriculum painted non-Chinese as founders and builders of this Province? With them being born Canadians, is it fair for some of them to hit a glass ceiling in their careers? On the other hand, the white population even a century and half ago had offered reasons why Chinese should be rejected from BC. Do Chinese know objectively how many of those criticisms are still valid today? How would that influence our choice between acting like a visitor or a citizen in BC? If one is wealthy, wouldn't one be able to be exempted from any discrimination related problems? Looking at the disappeared Chinatown in New Westminster and many Chinese historical sites in the Fraser Canyon, whose job it is to protect and preserve at least some of them? Once we take care of our needs, shouldn't we think about facilitating reconciliation with the non-Chinese population? How can inclusion of our history in BC support our identity as Chinese Canadians?

As an initial step towards a process of reconciliation between non-Chinese and Chinese citizens, CFR is inviting the general public to come together to:

• Learn about the missing pages in BC's history (www.fullofnews.ca)
• Allow Chinese and non-Chinese media representatives to explore and share views on the subject in the hopes of listening to each other and later shaping societal views.
• Allow Chinese and non-Chinese Canadians to offer questions/suggestions towards a bigger movement of reconciliation.
• Encourage our BC government to acknowledge and include the past history of Chinese in BC into high school curriculum.
• Invite the provincial election's candidates to come, to learn and to consider offering a pledge to the above.

Due to time constraint, there will not be continuous translation. For more information, please contact Bill Chu at ccia[at]shaw.ca.