The Hong Kong Chinese Community
The Hong Kong Chinese community is an affluent, educated, and swelling population in the Greater Toronto Area. The enigma is why they have only made marginal inroads into the political arena.
Olivia Chow, a Metro councilor representing the Downtown ward says "this community has potential to be very powerful...it's nowhere near its potential."
Chow is the highest-profile Hong Kong expatriate to win elected office in the
GTA. Others include Tam Goosen, Soo Wong, Carrie Cheng, and Peter Lam.
Many are convinced that the reason is because Hong Kong "is a colonial place where they had no say in government whatsoever." "In Hong Kong, there's never been any democratic procedure until a few years ago." "Chinese culture through thousands of years has never had an elected-representative type of
Western democracy system. So it's not a surprise...(Hong Kong) is not a place where people exercise their democratic rights." There is a very common belief that you should not offend or challenge authority.
People have lost a lot of confidence in politicians because of poor examples provided by ongoing tensions between Communist China and nationalist
Taiwan. "We have to educate them and tell them politics in North America and
Canada is very different from what they saw of politics in Hong Kong and China."
Dr. Joseph Wong, whose community activism has earned him the Order of
Canada, thinks that despite changes in Chinese attitudes, fear is still an obstacle towards political evolution. People are not afraid to demand for equal rights but the so-called mainstream politics and elected office is still baffling to the Chinese. The Chinese community's history in Canada also plays a major role in its reluctance to venture into politics. Following the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the federal government imposed a heavy head tax on new Chinese immigrants. Only from the late 1960s and early 1970s, the
Trudeau government liberalization of immigration that Chinese people came to
Canada from Hong Kong. In 1979 , he organized a demonstration to urge the federal government to admit more "boat people" - community members were appalled.
"Don't rock the boat" was exactly what they said. They said that Canada had given them a shelter and they should not demand any rights.
Later that year, W5 - a CTV public affairs program - aired a segment called Campus Giveaway, which was about Chinese students taking over Canadian universities and leaving Canadian students out in the cold. Within 2 to 3 months, there were 16 anti-W5 committees. The protest eventually forced W5 to offer an unqualified apology. Those 16 groups went on to form the Chinese
Furthermore, the issues of representation in the House of Commons are even more evident in terms of the alienation of certain provinces. Western Canada has experienced political alienation due to the dominance and influence of Ontario and Quebec over policy-making as both provinces contain the founding Cultures of Canada (Miljan, 2012, p. 53) Also, the fact that Ontario and Quebec make up more than 60 percent of Canada’s population attracts policymakers to those provinces while marginalizing the interests of westerners (Miljan, 2012, p. 53). Thus, policymakers will favor Ontario and Quebec as these provinces harbor the most ridings as well as the bigger electors’ base. In fact, Western Canada is also underrepresented in both the House of Commons and the Senate when compared to the Maritime provinces as the Maritime provinces are overrepresented compared to their population. Also, many western Canadians are turned off by the federal government as they have been alienated from major political action and discussion due to low representation (Canada and the World Backgrounder, 2002). In other words, Ottawa does not address the needs and hopes of Western Canada
Canada has undergone a wealth of changes in the past fifty years, many of which have progressed this country from loyal soldiers of Britain to prominent world bankers. Through the evolution of legislature, economic policy, and the actions of the Canadian Forces, Canada’s global image has developed since the end of World War II. Canada’s current global image, an amalgamation of actions in the past fifty years, demonstrates Canada to be an independent entity of substantial belief in people’s well-being and equality, strong economic policy that is widely regarded, and a military that is equal parts peacekeeping and combatant forces.
Canada has been claimed to be a country of democracy and fairness, where majority rules and everyone gets a say. Though this is evident in some areas of Canada, in The House of Commons and in the political background it is not. Members of Parliament are not as powerful as they are said to be and due to party discipline, the amount of power they actually have is very limited. Party discipline has taken Members of Parliament and trained them to obey whatever the leader of the Party and their whips say, just like seals. There are several arguments supporting this issue, such as Members of Parliament are forced to vote in whatever way their Political Party wants them to, even if they do not agree with the decision. This is seen in plenty examples of Members of Parliament complaining about decisions made and not being informed about certain legislation. Another argument would be the contrast of power between the Prime Minister and Members of Parliament. The amount of power the Prime Minister and his or her leaders supresses Members of Parliament to do what they wants regardless of what power each Member of Parliament has. Also, Members of Parliament cannot make any significant change by themselves. There are many Members of Parliament that want to make personal changes in society, but cannot because party discipline makes sure they stay focused on the main party’s agenda. These arguments will prove that Members of Parliament are called to do what the parties ask and obey without hesitation. Party discipline has taken over democracy in the Political realm and has made Members of Parliament have no power or control over the decision made. Politics in Canada trains Members of Parliament to be seals.
Newman, Garfield, Bob Aitken, Diana Eaton, Dick Holland, John Montgomery, and Sonia Riddoch. Canada: A Nation Unfolding. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 252-53. Print.
Different states have various ways of ruling and governing their political community. The way states rule reflects upon the political community and the extent of positive and negative liberty available to their citizens. Canada has come a long way to establishing successful rights and freedoms and is able to do so due to the consideration of the people. These rights and freedoms are illustrated through negative and positive liberties; negative liberty is “freedom from” and positive liberty is “freedom to”. A democracy, which is the style of governing utilized by Canada is one that is governed more so by the citizens and a state is a political community that is self-governing which establishes rules that are binding.
One of the core values of Canada is diversity. Canada has very diverse cultures that have
Canada is a society built on the promise of democracy; democracy being defined as “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” In order to operate at full potential, the people of Canada must voice their opinions and participate fully in the political system. This is why it’s shocking to see that people are becoming less engaged in politics and the voter turnout has steadily been declining over the last 20 years. This lack of participation by Canadians is creating a government that is influenced by fewer people, which is detrimental to the democratic system Canada is built on.
The Chinese immigrant experience has traveled through times of hardships, under the English man. They have struggled to keep themselves alive through racism, work, and acceptance. Although many have come to Canada for their lives’ and their children’s to be successful, and safe. It could not be just given until adversity gave them the life they hoped to one day life for. In the starting time of 1858, the Chinese community had started coming to different parts of Canada considering the push and pull factors that had led them here. Because of the lack of workers in the British Columbia region, the Chinese were able to receive jobs in gold mining. Most Chinese were told to build roads, clear areas, and construct highways, but were paid little because of racism. The Chinese today are considered one of the most successful races in Canada because of the push and pull factors that they had come across, the racism that declined them and the community of the Chinese at the present time.
The Chinese people first immigrated to Canada in hopes of making a fortune to bring back to their homeland. Many of the first Chinese immigrants left in the 1860s because of the decaying Fraser River Gold Rush; the reason why the Chinese moved there in the first place. Building the Canadian Pacific railway required many people, something not available at the time. Many workers came from the United States, where they constructed the Union Pacific Railway. Canadians grew displeased by the growing amount of Chinese immigrants, who they felt lived far too differently. This was the start of the racism and hatred for the Chinese. Although the Chinese Pioneers were critical contributors to the advancement of Canadian society, they were never perceived in that way.
Canada experienced the revolution of changing politics and new ideologies, it was a necessary wave
Canada and China are very different States and are run by very different forms of government. The basic underlying difference between the two governments is the location of sovereignty in the counties. In China it seems as though the people do play a large part in the government, but after studying it, it is evident that the power really rests with the Communist party and the dictatorship. While in Canada the people popularly elect their representatives who elect their Prime Minister.
Chinese-Americans authors Amy Tan and Gish Jen have both grappled with the idea of mixed identity in America. For them, a generational problem develops over time, and cultural displacement occurs as family lines expand. While this is not the problem in and of itself, indeed, it is natural for current culture to gain foothold over distant culture, it serves as the backdrop for the disorientation that occurs between generations. In their novels, Tan and Jen pinpoint the cause of this unbalance in the active dismissal of Chinese mothers by their Chinese-American children.
The Asian American community in the contemporary period face a lot of race relation issues which all interconnect within each other. Asian Americans face the basis of “Model Minority” that purportedly whitens Asians leading to the belief that there are no issues such as racism and poverty within the Asian American community. With that, they face the issue that there is no racial discrimination against Asian Americans due to the racial barrier being contextualized within a “black or white” framework. Another problem they face is mainstream America’s lack of awareness to the diversity of the Asian population, which causes a lot of misperceptions and misdirected racial hatred towards certain ethnicities within the Asian race. This causes the Pan-Asian community to not be supportive, unwilling to support each other, in order to avoid racism by avoiding being associated with that ethnicity just because they look alike. This causes the Asian American community and the ethnic groups within to be invisible to the American community as they lack organization and unification to have their voices heard.
The population of the United Sates of America is about 310 million people and Asian Americans make up about 14 million people, or 4.8% of the total population. Like any group of immigrants or minorities they have felt the effects of prejudice and discrimination. Over the years several groups have developed to try and stop the prejudice and injustice displayed towards Asian Americans. Two groups that will be looked at are the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) and the Committee of 100, from the early 1990’s to the present.
...n of their cabinet, while others may choose to create a new political path without consulting the views of their party. Mellon thinks that the Canadian government is under dictatorial scrutiny, whereas Barker contradicts this belief. The idea of a prime-ministerial government is certainly an over exaggeration of the current state of Canada. There are too many outside and inside forces that can control the powers the Prime Minister of Canada. Furthermore, there are several outside sources that indicate a good government in Canada. The United Nations annually places Canada at the top, or near the top of the list of the world’s best countries in which to live. These outcomes are not consistent with the idea of a one ruler power. Canada is not ruled by one person’s ideas, suggestions, and decisions, but by government approved and provincially manipulated decisions.