B.C. minister 'cannot remain silent' about increasing anti-Asian hate crimes - South Asian English5/19/2020 WEB - Darpan Magazine - Vancouver, 15/05/2020 - News, English Anne Kang. Image Source: Darpan Magazine website Summary: British Columbia's minister responsible for multiculturalism says she can no longer remain silent about the rising number of hate crimes toward people of Asian heritage during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, Anne Kang says she is deeply saddened by the recent rise in physical and verbal attacks as well as an increase in vandalism. Kang says she is "compelled as a government representative, immigrant and British Columbian to speak out against these vicious acts." The Vancouver Police Department has reported that the number of anti-Asian, hate-related crimes spiked in April, with 11 occurring last month, compared with 12 for all of 2019. "Chinese Canadians have deep roots in this province," Kang says. "Over many generations, Chinese Canadians have worked alongside all British Columbians to build the vibrant, multicultural society we enjoy today" she added. Kang has called on victims or witnesses to report hate crimes to police and urges all B.C. residents to "stand together and condemn these actions that seek to divide." Meanwhile NDP MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale Bowinn Ma has also spoken on the importance of inclusiveness with a jump in anti-Asian hate crimes during COVID-19.
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By Muskan Sandhu Image Source: Philippine Canadian Inquirer COVID-19 has been hailed as the “great equalizer” by multiple influential entities including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s team, and American popstar Madonna. This statement presents only a part of the picture as the virus in itself may not be discriminatory, but its impact is mediated by a variety of pre-existing social identity markers, such as that of race, class, and gender, that often underlie discrimination. As racism rears its ugly head in Canada in the midst of a public health crisis, ethnic media reporting makes it amply clear that the virus’s repercussions are anything but a colour-blind phenomenon crashing through a vast expanse of a socially unmarked territory.
In the context of the Vancouver Police Department’s statement that it had “seen an uptick in the number of racially-motivated crimes,” the Filipino Post, a weekly Filipino newspaper from Vancouver, pointed out that “from Canada and the U.S. to Europe and across Asia, the global coronavirus pandemic has brought with it an increase in racist attacks and microaggressions against people of Asian descent.” The Punjabi BC Round Up on Zee TV Canada reported that in response to the increase in racist hate crimes, the BC government put together a committee to act against racism. Many Chinese media outlets in Canada denounced the role mainstream media reports may have played in fueling anti-Asian sentiment. The Global News piece on the alleged role of the United Front in exporting PPE from Canada to China was the focal point of these stories. BCbay, a Chinese newspaper from Vancouver, didn’t mince words in stating that “over the past 20 years, there have been too many mainstream articles smearing China and smearing the Chinese community in Canada.” Similarly, another Chinese newspaper from Vancouver, Van People, wrote that the “noble behaviour” of overseas Chinese people “rushing to send” PPE to China “was painted negatively by the story [in Global News], which misled and deepened the local community’s fear of Chinese Canadians, leading to racial discrimination against Chinese and Asian groups.” This Chinese media is also replete with discussions about whether Conservative MP Derek Sloan’s remarks questioning the loyalty of Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam were racist or not. The majority of Chinese outlets were quick to note that while Tam may warrant criticism, the allegations of her favouring China would not have been made if she were of a non-Chinese descent and thus were racist in nature. Chinese newspapers Sing Tao Calgary and the Dushi.ca Vancouver edition compared Sloan’s criticism of Tam with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s criticism to illustrate how one was racist and the other wasn’t. The Markham-based Iask website wrote: “Unfortunately, just like in the U.S., when a politician sees how a racist dog whistle can mobilize votes, especially votes from xenophobic groups of people, they're bound to learn from Trump and keep blowing the dog whistle. Conservative leadership candidate Derek Sloan is clearly such a politician.” Limited Chinese news outlets, however, sympathized with Sloan. Vansky, a Chinese newspaper from Vancouver, said that: “To determine whether Sloan is actually guilty of racial discrimination, we need to understand why he brought this topic up in the first place. Is it the expression of racial superiority? Or a political-ideological attack? If there is no evidence that Sloan said this out of racial superiority, he cannot be accused of racial discrimination, at most he can only be blamed for his indifference, misjudgment, or paranoia.” The racism brought about by the pandemic isn’t limited to just the Chinese community. The discrimination against Filipino workers at the Cargill meat plant, who contracted COVID-19, is an example of the inequality borne out of the intersection of race, class, and resident status in Canada. Philippine Canadian News, a Filipino newspaper, reported that “Many Filipino workers and residents sent a letter to the company asking that the plant be closed so that safety measures could be put in place, but no actions were taken.” This inaction eventually caused the largest coronavirus outbreak in Canada. Consequently, as reported by Philippine Canadian Inquirer, Filipino people were not allowed to enter grocery stores or banks, and worse, blamed for spreading the virus. On Red FM 106.7 The Evening Show, a Punjabi radio show from Calgary, the host commented that the poor economic standing of the migrant workers did not allow them the freedom of choice to quit their jobs because of dangerous working conditions. A guest doctor on the show added that since “companies want to make a profit and cut costs, they don’t care about how immigrants or temporary workers live,” that is, in group housing. Another host on the show noted that, “Since the workers at the plant are temporary foreign workers, they are afraid to speak up because it may cost them their job and consequently their permanent residence.” These factors coalesced together to lead to an unfair stigmatization of the Filipino community. The virus, if anything, has laid bare the deep inequalities present in our society and remains far from being the “great equalizer.” Alberta’s anti-racism advisory council member speaks about racism in the province - Cantonese5/13/2020 RADIO - Fairchild Radio FM 94.7 Focus - Calgary, 11/05/2020 - COMMENTARY, Cantonese Summary Translation: Teresa Woo-Paw and Forest - Teresa Woo-Paw, former MLA, active member of Alberta’s anti-racism advisory council and president of the Action Chinese Canadians Together Foundation, was invited to speak about the current racial discrimination behaviour in Alberta and Canada. The host, Forest, brought up that the recent Cargill plant outbreak caused the Filipino community to be discriminated against. Since the plant was mostly occupied by Filipino workers, the Alberta community blamed the outbreak on them. Woo-Paw said it is a growing phenomenon across Canada. Forest is wondering if Canada has any plans to address this situation. Woo-Paw’s foundation is currently working with the Chinese senior community to gather support and create education materials for Albertans. This will help Chinese Albertans know what resources they have if they are experiencing racism. Woo-Paw also wants to take this opportunity to engage Caucasian community members to teach them how to be allies of the Chinese when they see racist behaviour occur. With the provinces slowly reopening, Woo-Paw said they will continue monitoring the situation by seeing if companies will stop hiring racialized employees after the pandemic. She also said it is important to promote the mechanism of reporting a complaint. Most Chinese Canadians are afraid to report an incident because of the fear of retaliation by the abuser. Woo-Paw said the reporting mechanism is also critical to inform all levels of government on priorities of addressing racism in the province.
PRINT - Filipino Post (Weekly) - Vancouver, 05/05/2020 - ARTICLE, 1/4 page, 1st Top, English Summary: From Canada and the U.S. to Europe and across Asia, the global coronavirus pandemic has brought with it an increase in racist attacks and microaggressions against people of Asian descent. In normally tolerant Canada, a recent survey in the nation’s biggest cities, said they do not believe it’s safe to sit next to an Asian or Chinese person on a bus if they’re not wearing a mask. Four percent of respondents said they think all Chinese or Asian people are carrying the COVID-19 virus, while 10 percent said they “were uncertain about that,” according to research from the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice. Susan Eng, the director of the CCNC-SJ, says with results like this, it’s not surprising we are seeing an increase in anti-Asian racism. “Canada’s leaders must stand up and unequivocally denounce every such racist incident and ill-informed belief, lest this behaviour is deemed acceptable and others are invited to do the same,” Eng said in a release. Vancouver Police Department said it had seen an uptick in the number of racially-motivated crimes, with almost half of cases in March reported as anti-Asian as the province marks Asian Heritage Month in British Columbia. Image Source: Filipino Post website
PRINT - Toronto Caribbean - Brampton, 04/05/2020 - Article, p.12, English Image Source: Toronto Caribbean website Summary: Janiece Campbell - Justicia for Migrant Workers (J4MW) is a volunteer advocacy group for migrant workers. They help to bring awareness to the community and the exploitive conditions that the indentured labourers work under. For nearly 20 years, the group has been addressing the systematic inequalities that these workers face, some of which have heightened amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign workers are employed typically for up to 8 months through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) to assist with significant labour shortages. In recent weeks, a community in Leamington, ON shamed migrant workers online for their lack of applying social distancing standards. This prompted the Ontario Provincial Police to upload a YouTube video in an attempt to educate workers of their responsibility to socially distance in public. Failure to follow the rules will result in tickets or fines. On your next trip to the grocery store, before you pick up those crisp apples, remember the temporary migrant workers who are being used for a permanent labour demand.
WEB - Sing Tao Vancouver - Vancouver, 06/05/2020 - News, Chinese Image Source: Sing Tao Vancouver website Summary Translation: No byline - The Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society has been tapped by the province to help communities deal with hate activity and racism amid what the B.C. government describes as a rise in attacks against people of Asian heritage. Executive director David Lau said the group "is very proud to lead the important work being done in B.C. communities to stop the spread of racism and end the recent spikes in hate crimes." The society has been given $240,000 for the year. The group hopes to meet with community leaders from around the province. B.C.'s Minister of Citizens' Services Anne Kang said recent allegations of racially motivated attacks toward people of Asian heritage during the COVID 19 pandemic have been very concerning.
WEB - Philippine Canadian Inquirer - National, 06/05/2020 - NEWS, English Summary: Joanna Belle Deala - A young Asian woman was suddenly punched in the face by an unidentified man while she was just standing at a bus stop in downtown Vancouver, according to Vancouver Police. In a media briefing on Tuesday, May 5, Sergeant Aaron Roed, media relations officer for the Vancouver Police Department, said the assault happened last April 12 near Granvill and West Pender Streets. In the footage released by the authorities, the suspect was seen walking towards the direction of the 22-year-old woman when he suddenly punched her in the face, making the victim fall to the ground. The motive behind the assault is yet to be identified. Although this happened amid the rising reports of incidents of discrimination and unfair treatment against people with Asian heritage as they are being wrongfully blamed for the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Roed said they refuse to speculate on the suspect’s motive. “This is why we want to identify the attacker, so we can rule anything out and find out if this is a hate crime,” he said. Roed said the VPD’s diversity and hate crime department is already working with major-crime detectives on the assault. Image Source: Philippine Canadian Inquirer website
Link to the original article: http://www.canadianinquirer.net/2020/05/06/unidentified-man-punches-young-asian-woman-in-the-face-in-vancouver/ WEB - Van People - Vancouver, 04/05/2020 - ARTICLE, Chinese Image Source: Van People website Translated Summary: Wu Wei - Every May is Canada’s Asian Heritage Month. Unlike in previous years, May this year coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, causing celebrations, exhibitions and performances to be cancelled. Cabinet Minister Bardish Chagger issued a statement on May 1 announcing the start of Asian Heritage Month. The theme of this year's Asian Heritage Month is "Asian Canadians: Unity in Diversity." Chagger’s statement said that Asian Canadians come from more than 20 countries and each has a unique culture. Chagger also said she was disturbed by the reappearance of discriminatory and racist words and actions. All Canadians should fight back and resist xenophobia and racial discrimination, whether online or in real life. She said that despite being unable to participate in or organize events, we can still work hard to understand the history of Asian Canadians.
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