OPENING REMARKS....
...Over the years I've seen British Columbia dust off the welcome mat
for many world events - Expo in 1986, the Commonwealth Conference the year
after, APEC a couple of years ago, some presidential summits. The list is
endless.
So, why do we have so much trouble dealing with individuals who come
here and, want to stay?
BC is a large and growing population derived from other parts of the
world. It's home to people of many different origins, cultural traditions,
languages, ethnicities and religions.
English is the main language spoken here. Chinese and Punjabi are
number two and three.
Each year, almost 45-thousand immigrants from around the world arrive
in B.C. That's the entire population of the city I live in! Every year!
We are a province of immigrants.
Yet, over the years, Chinese immigrants have been discriminated
against. Japanese Canadians have been interned and, their property seized.
Indians on a ship that landed here more than 85 years ago weren't allowed
to come ashore and were turned back.
I think alot of people thought about that ship, the Komagata Maru, 16
months ago when ships full of Chinese migrants came ashore on BC's coast. I
think alot of people wondered if and, what had changed in the last eight
decades.
That same summer, a few weeks before the boats started to arrive,
Canada marked the re-opening of Pier 21 in Halifax.
Between 1928 and 1968, the Pier welcomed one million Europeans to
Canada. Their descendents are now scattered from coast to coast. While THAT
was a cause for celebration, what happened here in Vancouver is a source of
shame. Here, during those same years, racist government policies denied
entry to hundreds of thousands of Asians.
At CBC Vancouver we told THAT story. I'd like to show a short excerpt.
For Asians who actually made it to Canada, it was a passage of
perservance.
***PASSAGE OF PERSERVANCE, CBC Vancouver***
"BRITISH COLUMBIA HAS LONG LURED TRAVELLERS. TRANSPORTED TO HER
HARBOURS, HERE BRIEFLY, THEN GONE.
AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, TO THIS SAME PIER, THOUSANDS ARRIVED
WITH SIMILAR SHORTTERM PLANS - TO COME, GET RICH QUICKLY AND, GO HOME.
THAT CERTAIN GROUPS WERE NOT WELCOME HERE WAS A MATTER OF FACT AND A
MATTER OF OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT POLICY WHICH IS WHY, IF THEY WERE ALIVE TODAY,
THOSE IMMIGRANTS WOULD FIND THE LEGACY OF THEIR PERSISTENCE REMARKABLE."
It's crucial for reporters, producers, editors, publishers - in
whatever medium we're talking about - to understand how, or not, the needs,
interests and concerns of the many minorities are being served by their
supperhour news show or daily newspaper. They need to assess on a regular
basis if there is a problem.
I can only speak for CBC. I can tell you I've seen many efforts
designed to deal with this. There have been committees on diversity.
Committees on new audiences. Committees on...well, we're the CBC! We have a
lot of committees!
It's not an easy task. And, sometimes when you're trying to do
something good you end-up doing something not so good.
In 1984, for example, CBC had a program - not on TV, but a policy. It
was The Visible Minorities Program. That's what it was called! Designed to
get people on staff who would represent the diversity in the country. And,
no-one seemed to get it! What was wrong with that program. I couldn't
believe someone wanted to give me a job because of the way I looked and,
not because of my ability or talent or knowledge!
It's not an easy task.
In 1991, British Columbia had a provincial election. Four people of
Indian descent were elected to the legislature. One of them is now Premier
of the province.
I was the one in the newsroom where I worked in those days who thought
the election of four candidates of Indian heritage deserved special
attention. I worked on a feature item about these three men and one woman -
talking about their heritage and their Indian backgrounds. It was
interesting - certainly. It was educational. It stimulated alot of
discussion.
But, you know, given what we're discussing here today...until four or
whatever number members of an ethnic community are elected to government or
anything else, WITHOUT us making a big deal about it, we really haven't come
very far at all!
Media organizations have a great way the temperature of how the
community views what it's doing. They're called focus groups. It's a cross
section of people who watch a particular TV news show over a certain period
of time and, then tell us what they think.
So, what do they think when it comes to social capital and the media?
White respondents think things are reasonably good. That not much is
wrong. Non-whites think visible minorities are treated like foreigners by
the media. That visible minority groups aren't portrayed fairly. They're
upset race and religion are often linked to crime reporting.
It has almost become cliche when you read a story about drug-related
crimes, you are pretty much guaranteed the final line will be "police are
investigating if it's gang-related.
Crime reporting generates the most emotional and explicit responses
from miniority groups. When a suspect is of Indian or Asian descent it's
mentioned. The suspect was Chinese, Vietnamese, East Indian...a Sikh. Why
do viewers/readers need to know the religion of a suspect? Why do
viewers/readers even need to know the heritage of a suspect? If a suspect
or accused is white, reports rarely mention that. For example, it's highly
unlikely you will ever hear something like "Karla Homolka, a Christian...."
Representatives of minority communities says mainstream news lacks a
balanced coverage of their communities, of their cultural events - forcing
them to turn to ethnic language media outlets. Many also complain about the
lack of coverage of world news especially from their native nations and
regions.
There are solutions to these problems. There are things a newsroom can
do.
A newsroom can redefine and expand its concepts of what constitutes
news. Don't just assign negative stories about minorities and ignore the
positive ones. Don't send minority reporters out to cover race-related
stories and then assign white reporters to write the stories. Find out how
the minority reporters, editors, producers, photographers, etc., feel about
the coverage. Do they think it's fair and accurate? Before and after a
reporter covers a story they should have an informal checklist of a story's
culturalimplications.
Diversity is a longterm commitment to change. Don't just focus
on diversity when it's Diwali or Chinese New Year.
Management can conduct content audits that help bring the media face
to face with bias and points out institutional blind spots. How often are
minorities quoted? How many minority bylines are there? Where are stories
about minorities often played? Report/publish the findings.
Make diversity a company-wide commitment. Managers need to see
diversity as an asset. Hiring minorities as decision makers as well as
reporters will increase sensitivity and, produce a more informative and
interesting newspaper or broadcast.
News organizations can host race awareness seminars, develop diversity
forums on-line and have forums open to the public to educate readers about
how news organizations work.
Ask viewers/readers what they think about coverage, encourage open
dialogue with the community. Involve outside experts as stringers and
advisers in beat coverage.
Make an effort to prepare high-school and college students for
journalism careers and be sure the programs include people of colour. Help
high school and university journalism programs develop diversity curricula.
When you have changing faces facing change there is no shortage of
stories to tell. How to tell them though is continually under discussion.
I'd like to show you some more tape. Bits of various recent stories
done by CBC Vancouver. I know it's hard when you don't see the entire item.
But, I'd like to give you an idea of what can be done - what we are trying
to do - and, what we're up against in terms of politicians, government
policy and, attitudes.
It'll be upto you to decide how you think we're doing.
The excerpts from stories you're about to see deal with questions
about the refugee system. Do the wrong people get into Canada while
legitmate refugee claimants are mired in redtape? Is it a refugee systemthat's
not working?
We've looked at the impact of immigration on the Lower Mainland and,
taken the pulse of tolerance. The pulse is getting stronger but, has it
translated into newcomers having access to positions of power and influence
at the corporate level?
Over the years, we've tallied the costs and the benefits of
immigration. The majority of British Columbians believe immigration is good
for the economy. Until we talk about English as a second language. Almost
80% say it's time immigrants pay at least part of the bill to learn
English. 65% want English to be mandatory to gain entrance to Canada. ESL
is a hot button.
And, there are so many stories about how much immigrants take. We've
tried to do stories on what they GIVE back.
Please watch.
***CHANGING FACES FACING CHANGE - CBC Vancouver***
#1
"IT IS A SCENE PLAYED OUT IN VANCOUVER DOZENS OF TIMES A DAY. MORE
THAN 44-THOUSAND TIMES LAST YEAR. THAT'S HOW MANY IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
ARRIVED IN VANCOUVER IN 1996.
FOR MOST OF THEM, THE FIRST PORT OF CALL WAS HERE THE AIRPORT
IMMIGRATION OFFICE - A PLACE OF HOPE AND TREPIDATION. A PLACE WHERE
IMMIGRANTS ARE GENERALLY WELCOMED AND, REFUGEES FIND A COUNTRY WILLING TO
OPEN ITS ARMS TO THEM AT LEAST UNTIL THEY GET A HEARING.
ITS A TRADITION OF OPENNESS AND COMPASSION THAT MOST CANADIANS ARE
PROUD OF."
#2
"CONSIDER FOR A MOMENT HOW WE VIEW VANCOUVER. HOW WE SEE ITS PEOPLE.
HOW WE BOAST OF ITS DIVERSITY.
THE HISTORY AND THE FUTURE OF THIS PLACE IS LARGELY THE STORY OF A
QUILT OF CULTURES. WE SEE IT IN OUR SCHOOLS, ON THE STREETS AND, AT WORK.
SORT OF.
SORT OF BECAUSE THERE'S GREAT UNCERTAINITY ABOUT THAT WORKPLACE
DIVERSITY. NO QUESTION IT EXISTS ON THE FRONTLINES BUT AS YOU APPROACH THE
CORRIDORS OF POWER THE WORLD JUST SEEMS TO GET WHITER, WHITER AND, WHITER.
clip "IF I THINK ABOUT IT, THE PEOPLE WHO GENERALLY RUN THINGS YOU SEE
A LOT OF CAUCASIAN MEN."
clip "IT SAYS THAT THERE'S A GLASS CEILING FOR VISIBLE MINORITIES."
clip "THE DIVERSITY ISSUE HAS NOT WORKED ITS WAY UP YET."
#3
"THINK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. CONSIDER THE WORDS WE
USE.
clip "COUCH POTATO."
"THE SPELLINGS WE CHOOSE. THE ODD WORD COMBINATIONS. THE PERPLEXING
PRONOUNCIATIONS. THEN THINK ABOUT WHY IT MATTERS."
clip "EMPLOYMENT. I WANT TO GET JOB. I JUST WANT TO GET JOB."
"ABOUT HALF OF ALL IMMIGRANTS ARRIVE IN CANADA UNABLE TO SPEAK ANY
ENGLISH. BY THE TIME THEY GET HERE MOST IMMIGRANTS HAVE ALREADY PAID CLOSE
TO $1500 IN APPLICATION AND SETTLEMENT FEES. AND, BC REFORM MP JOHN
REYNOLDS HAS SOME STRONG IDEAS ABOUT WHERE SOME OF THAT MONEY SHOULD BE
GOING."
clip "GIVE THEM A $50 PACKAGE FROM BERLITZ, ANYBODY. SAY HERE - HERE'S
A COURSE. LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH BEFORE YOU COME TO CANADA."
#4
"IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL. BREATHTAKING ISN'T IT? BUT BENEATH THE BEAUTY
THERE'S SOME BITTERNESS.
clip "I JUST FEEL THAT IMMIGRANTS THAT YOU HAVE LET INTO CANADA SO FAR
HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE."
clip "THE REST IS WE HAVE A WELFARE SYSTEM WHICH IS CREAKING AT THE
SEAMS AND THREATENING TO BREAKDOWN."
clip "IT'S OVERLOADED THE TAX SYSTEM TERRIBLY AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
IT'S OVERLOADED ALL THE SYSTEMS WE HAVE. WE CANNOT GO ON LIKE THIS."
"CALLS FROM SOME OF OUR VIEWERS ABOUT IMMIGRATION. IT'S A PERCEPTION
OF THE IMMIGRANT TAKING. BUT THERE'S A REALITY THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY NOT
EVEN THINK ABOUT - A REALITY OF GIVING - A TELETHON TO RAISE MONEY FOR
CANCER RESEARCH AND THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL."
In Vancouver - ethnic communities of all heritages are great
fundraisers. From firsthand experience, I can tell you the efforts of the
Indian community and Chinese community in terms of Children's Hospital and
as you saw cancer research are extraordinary. Some of the most generous
philanthropists in this city come from those communities.
A few minutes ago, I touched briefly on the issue of Chinese migrants
who came here in the summer of 1999. It was July. It was one of the worst
handled situations when it came to government, officials, particularly
Canada Immigration. At first word of a vessel being spotted off the west
coast of Vancouver Island the department denied there was any such vessel.
Even though reports had come from American coast guard staff. Not long
before, an empty rusted freighter had been spotted before it sank in the
same area. Immigration officials refused to make any connections between
that ship and the one spotted now. Refused to say there may have been
people on the first ship too. That there may have been many other ships
like this one.
As we now know - the ship landed. And, three more afterwards. And,
what did we see? That landing fees still exist. Children handcuffed.
Headlines to inflame already heated negative attitudes. Secret efforts to
deport the migrants.
Please roll the video.
***CBC Vancouver***
#1
"THIS IS THE BOAT EVERYONE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT. RUNDOWN, RUSTED OUT
AND LOADED WITH PEOPLE."
clip "INITIAL REPORTS RIGHT NOW AND, THESE ARE VERY INITIAL. IS THAT
THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 190 PEOPLE ONBOARD BELIEVED TO BE FROM FUJIAN
PROVINCE IN CHINA. AMONG THE GROUP ARE 31 WOMEN. AND, THERE'S A POSSIBILITY
THERE ARE SOME JUVENILES ONBOARD. AT THIS TIME IT'S NOT BELIEVED THERE ARE
ANY YOUNG CHILDREN IN THE GROUP."
LAST NIGHT, A SEARCH AND RESCUE LABRADOR HELICOPTER TOOK OFF FROM THE
PORT HARDY AIRPORT. THE RCMP AND COAST GUARD MEMBERS ABOARD HEADED OUT TO
THE NO-NAME SHIP. BUT BY THIS MORNING PORT HARDY WAS NO LONGER THE INTENDED
DESTINATION FOR THIS VESSEL AND ITS CARGO. OVERNIGHT IT HAD TRAVELLED TOO
FAR SOUTH."
#2
"FROM THE FIRST OF FOUR BUSES THEY YELL OBSCENITIES. THIS IS HOW SOME
OF THE 90 CHINESE MIGRANTS ON THEIR WAY TO DEPORTATION SAY GOODBYE FROM
PRINCE GEORGE WHILE IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS, IN VANCOUVER, PAINT A DIFFERENT
PICTURE.
clip "AND, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE WAS LOTS OF SMILES AND
ALOT OF PEOPLE HAPPY TO BE GOING HOME."
Just like when two people meet and exchange names and details of their
lives, we too have to learn about one another - our backgrounds, beliefs,
cultures, hopes.
It's acceptance that brings us a sense of sharing, a common environment
of belonging instead of feeling alienated, isolated or, threatened.
When people feel at home in their surroundings their natural impulse
is to contribute to the community in a positive way.
And, experience shows that is precisely what they do.
***PASSAGE OF PERSERVANCE - CBC Vancouver***
"CANADIANS OF ASIAN DESCENT COULD NOT VOTE UNTIL 1947. THEY WERE
BARRED FROM THE PROFESSIONS AS WELL.
AFTER THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOUR, JAPANESE FAMILIES HERE WERE
ROUNDED UP AND SENT TO INTERNMENT CAMPS.
IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE LATE 1960S UNTIL RACE WAS NO LONGER A BARRIER
TO IMMIGRATION.
TODAY, IN THE SAME INDUSTRY THEIR FATHER ONCE STRUGGLED TO SURVIVE IN
THE UPPAL BROTHERS NOW PROSPER. THAT SO MANY PERSISTED SO LONG TO ENSURE
THIS KIND OF FUTURE IS LOST ON NONE OF THEM.
clip "IT'S THE OLDTIMERS WHO CAME HERE IN 1906 AND 1907 THAT REALLY
DESERVE THE CREDIT. THEY SOWED THE SEED THAT WE'RE NOW REAPING. TODAY,
PEOPLE THINK THAT IT'S A RIGHT TO COME TO CANADA. I SAY AND, MY FATHER
WOULD SAY THE SAME, THAT IT WAS A PRIVILEDGE AND AN HONOUR."
Not a right but a priviledge and an honour.
That's why when people join us from aboard it's important that we both
find ways to express reciprocal acceptance.
When I talked about the Komagata Maru - the men who were held under
naval guard for two months before the ship was required to leave. It was
escorted out by gunboat. I didn't mention a couple of things.
One - that happened right here in this harbour. Right outside this
very hotel.
Later today, if you're outside admiring the view - think of
those men and, the people who fought on the shore committee for their
release. And, think of one other man. Because, obviously at somepoint, at
sometime, someone came to Canada so I could be here today. Think of a man
who travelled from India one year before the Komagata Maru got here and,
proudly made BC his home.
That man was my materal grandfather.
And, his journey and life here was my family's passage of perservance.
