The news of the ethnic cleansing of Canadian c-notes by the Bank of Canada hit like a bombshell last summer. It was revealed that an Asian-looking female figure was gentrified by the federal institution to appease Canadians who expressed xenophobic views in a focus group. The news went viral around the world, with Canada's reputation as a magnificent multicultural mosaic coming into question.
The Bank of Canada's official explanation, that ethnically neutral images were the rule, did little to pacify Canadians of both neutral ethnicity and visible minorities. Neither did the weak, vague apology issued by Bank of Canada governor Marc Carney.
In a second, more appropriate apology, Carney admitted this whitewash was a mistake, adding that the next iteration of bank notes would reflect the diversity evident in the Canadian population. (Now that Carney has announced his departure, some speculate that promise could expire.)
Today, it was revealed that not only were Asian features deemed unworthy of appearing on bank notes, but also Black, Aboriginal, South-Asian and Gay ones, as well. A pattern of institutionalized xenophobia is emerging, and it ain't pretty. Not just bank notes, but other national emblems such as the Canadian passport (lacking women and diversity), the upcoming Museum of Canadian History (feared to follow suit), the Federal and Supreme courts, and even national editorial boards seem to foster this doctrine of achromatic exclusion.
Canada's history is full of double-speak on values of equality, fairness, diversity and inclusion. On one hand, Canada pats itself on the back for abolishing slavery before the U.S.A.. On the other, Canada treated blacks so poorly that 2/3rds of them ran back South of the 49th parallel as soon as Lincoln proclaimed emancipation (before banning black immigration outright). Canada named an Asian to the post of Governor-General in the 90s, but we often omit that Asians-Canadians were the backbone of the 18th century Canadian economy, building the Canadian Pacific railroad, while being barred from voting until the 40s. Canada woos South-Asian immigrants and investors with great fanfare, yet there has been no apology in parliament for refusing the Komagata Maru ship when tropical temperature-accustomed "East-Indians" were deemed unsuited for the cold Canadian climate.
The Bank of Canada fiasco is only the latest incident in a long chain of slights, and an enduring reminder that the utopian multicultural mosaic we claim to espouse is more like a "vertical mosaic" where some are deemed suitable, while others are left on the cutting room floor of opportunity, representation, and the symbols of the country they love.
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get over it, theres far bigger problems in the world !
Let's get it right: Asian-Canadians did not 'build the CPR'. Imported Chinese labourers helped build approximately 300 km of the CPR between Hope and Craigellachie, BC, where the western section met the eastern section. The 3,000 km eastern section from Ontario to Craigellachie was built by gangs of 'navvies' of European descent, mostly Irish and English, whose expertise had also been the 'backbone' of 19th Century canal and railway-building that supported the economies of Britain, eastern Canada and the USA. 'Navvie' is derived from 'navigator', a term referring to skilled builders of transportation routes. The CPR in British Columbia was built by imported Chinese labour. All the rest of the CPR, approximately 90% of it, was not. It is true that most of the imported Chinese labourers lived under deplorable conditions arranged by their Chinese gang bosses, who also abandoned them in Canada after the railway was finished. Their place in Canada beyond that point is an equally unhappy story, as many of the navvies also remained in BC and there was serious competition for jobs, with the Chinese frequently having to work for very little just to survive, while being accused of undercutting the wages of the navvies. The rest of their history is well-documented, including discrimination against Asian immigration that lasted well into the 20th Century.
I grow ever more impatient with the newer members of our family.....
white - 80%
black - 2.5%
chinese - 3.9%
south asian - 4%
first nations - 2.2%
Would that have eliminated the discrimination?
"The person depicted above is approximately
white - 80%
black - 2.5%
chinese - 3.9%
south asian - 4%
first nations - 2.2%"
A pedantic point to be sure, but the failure to do even basic research casts the factual basis of the rest of this article into doubt
I can hardly criticize the Bank of Canada for steering clear of this political minefield. This author should reconsider her comments on this topic and concentrate on real discrimination issues!
Just my opinion!!
Thanks for your opinion. If this isn't "real discrimination", then I don't know what is.
Slavery. Th ethnic vote in the US prior to the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. The Jim Crow laws. Apartheid. That is what real discrimination is. In Canada, we have equality and affirmative action enshrined in the Constitution. I think it is a testament to today's values that the biggest racial issue we can come up with are the neutrality of images on a bank note. Your use of polarizing and flagrant words like xenophobic smacks of the dysfunction we see in the US.
If you want to advance minority issues, then I believe your other endeavours will bear more fruit. One has to admire people like Mike "Pinball" Clemons, who wants to project a positive role model for inner city minority kids without a stable family life or father figure. That kind of work will net positive results. Your article attempts to make a human rights case out of essentially nothing and appears as complaining for the sake of doing so.
I can empathize with the Bank of Canada with wanting neutral images to avoid issues like this and articles like yours written on the topic.
Just think. Our banknotes will become highly valued collectibles around the world, and we sure could use the boost to reduce the national debt.