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Canadian meekness |

Dou
Collins

IT STARTED with a little
letter in the Richmond
Review about a girl who had
found it impossible to get a
job. And it has ballooned
into an important story.

The headline over the letter
read: “No Chinese language means
few job offers,” and a Mr. M.
Obzera described how his daughter
could not find employment
“because Cantonese or Mandarin
are a prerequisite for getting a job
in Richmond these days.”

It was very much like the tale of
~ the child who said that the Emperor
'-had no clothes, Everyone knew he

‘was naked but stating the obvious
was a shock to all concerned.

In no time at all the Review was
in the thick of a fight. Some people
-— mainly the Chinese — said the
letter should never have been pub-
lished. Others came out of their
closets and said “about time.”

Thanks to your friendly Liberal
government and the Tory govern-

"ment that preceded it, 40% of the
‘inhabitants of Richmond hail from
Hong Kong, China or ‘Taiwan. It
has a Chinese MP in the person of
Liberal Raymond Chan, and shop-
ping malls that look as if they had

“been lifted straight out of Hong
Kong.

: Mr. Obzera went on to say:

’ “People who were born and raised
~. in Canada are no longer able to get
jobs even with their qualifications,
because it appears that every job
available cut there today in our
. immediate vicinity wants
~ Cantonese or Mandarin ..

“Who is running this country
and where are we living?” he
asked. .. |

_ For uttering such a heresy he
was of course denounced as a you-

~ know-what.

ne mailbox

NDP playing

policy games.

. Dear Editor:

I strongly disagree with the recent
decision of the. current provincial
government to allow casinos on
native Indian reser under: another
expansion of the NDP gaming policy.

‘Gambling, supported by the gov-

emment, is an encroachment that —

“. will be almost impossible .to stop.
The concept of casinos on Indian
lands only is wrong. If there are ben-
efits to gambling this should be open
ito all areas of the public sector, not
just one section.

If there is to be an expansion of
gambling in British Columbia there
should be a full public enquiry as to

» the ramifications of such a policy.
Daniel M. Jarvis, MLA
North Vancouver-Seymour

on the
other hand

But Review columnist Dave
McCullough wrote that “the
patronizing and ugly accusations”
that followed the Obzera statement
shouldn't be allowed to obscure
two important facts. :

The first, he said, was that the
ability to speak Cantonese or
Mandarin was an over-riding con-
sideration for many local employ-
ers in Richmond. Secondly, unilin-
gual job hunters felt angry and
betrayed.

Calling people racists for speak-
ing out “was an attempt to stifle
debate.” He then amazed me —
these being tender times — by
quoting a person who had said that
“responsibility for the problem lies
directly in the laps of the Canadian
government that engaged in a
shortsighted and reckless immigra-
tion policy.”

To criticize Obzera and others
who felt victimized was arrogant

. and unproductive, concluded the

columnist,

“Their plight is real and it is
shared by many thousands of peo-
ple who are looking for work but
can’t find it because they don’t
speak that second language.”

Some people had pointed out

that Canada’s official second lan-
guage is French, not Cantonese or
Mandarin. But a fat lot of good that
would do anyone in Richmond.

More of the same is on the way,
not just in Richmond but in the
whole of the Lower Mainland,
including the North Shore.

Full-page advertisements in the
papers have been showing “top
achievers” in real estate and car
sales in which most of the faces
were Chinese or East Indian. Why
were they so successful? It’s obvi-
ous, Because of mass immigration
they can pump their own markets.
Like deals with like.

Meanwhile, Harry Fan stated in
the Vancouver Sun that Vancouver
is ‘‘a great place.” There are, he
claims, 600 Chinese doctors in the
metro area, 200 lawyers, 1,500 (he
claims) Chinese teachers in the uni-
versities, 200 non-profit Chinese
associations, and so on.

Plus three Chinese dailies that
“are sometimes thicker than the
English dailies," and 14 Chinese
who have been nominated to con-
test the next provincial election.

It is clear to everyone except the
culturally blind that Ottawa long
ago invited the world to take over
this country.

It is also clear that the immi-
gtants support their own in employ-
ment (how many whites do you see
working in the hundreds of Chinese
restaurants?) and in politics. How
else do you think that Richmond
elected Raymond Chan?

Needless to say, white politi-
cians zo on legislating against their
own with affirmative action and
curbs on free expression.

Should the immigrants be
blamed for all this? Of course not.
Blame Ottawa's “mosaic madness.”
And Victoria’s, And our own meek-

_ hess.

» mind. That's the key to’

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