PROMINENT JAPANESE-CANADIAN COMMUNITY LEADERS CONDEMN STEPHEN HARPER’S DIVISIVE SPEECH

Prominent leaders in the Japanese-Canadian community say it was wrong-headed of Conservative leader Stephen Harper to try to play politics with an ancient historical wrong.

“By raising the issue of Japanese Canadian internment, Mr. Harper is resorting to cheap political shots at deceased politicians rather than face the inconsistency of his position on human rights,” said Professor Audrey Kobayashi of Queens University. Dr. Kobayashi has been a National Director of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, a member of the team that negotiated Japanese Canadian redress, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Japanese Canadian National Museum and Archives.

“Japanese Canadians are keenly aware of the injustices of the past, and of the politicians who perpetrated them. But the Japanese Canadian redress agreement was not written based on cheap political shots and retribution. When Brian Mulroney announced the settlement in Parliament in 1988, he received a standing ovation because MPs from every party recognized that the guarantee of human rights transcends partisan politics. It was a sincere acknowledgement of past injustices, and a blueprint for a future in which no Canadian should suffer injustice or be deprived of human rights because of the actions or his or her government. Bill C-38 should form part of that better future.”

Judy Hanazawa of the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens' Association Human Rights Committee agrees.

“Harper's rejection of same sex civil marriage is regressive - a step backward to times not so long ago, when civil rights were denied to Aboriginals, Blacks, and Asians based on race,” said Ms. Hanazawa. “Although the fight against racism and racial discrimination is far from over, supporting Bill C-38 for equality rights in marriage for same sex partners IS today's civil rights struggle.”

- 30 –