President’s Report

In last month’s Bulletin, Ron Nishimura announced that he was stepping down from the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association due to personal health concerns. Ron has devoted many years of service to the Japanese Canadian community and has played a prominent role in the community as president of the JCCA. On behalf of all the JCCA Board, let me express my gratitude to Ron for his several years of carrying much of the load for us in our efforts to play a meaningful role in the community. We wish him well in his road to recovery and look forward to his continuing advice and assistance in the years to come.

As Ron’s replacement as president of JCCA, I will try my best to come close to devoting the same amount of time that Ron did as president. I am grateful to the hard working directors on the Board of JCCA. I am also grateful to the summer students we have with us and for the volunteers who assist with our annual activities. This includes, in particular, help with our booth at the Powell Street Festival. By working together, we can enjoy the fellowship that comes with involvement in such activities while we make a positive contribution to the community.

These are particularly busy and interesting times for the JCCA and many other Japanese Canadian organizations. For example, under the leadership of Mary Kitagawa, we could recently celebrate the granting of UBC degrees to Canadians of Japanese heritage who were unjustly deprived of graduation in the 1940s when they were interned by government authorities. We also recently celebrated the book launch of Tatsuo Kage’s Uprooted Again: Japanese Canadians Move to Japan After World War II.

I am pleased by the spirit of cooperation shown by other organizations in the Japanese Canadian community. I have already met with many of them to discuss common interests. One common interest is to see that The Bulletin continues to flourish. It is a publication that means a great deal to the community. Our future includes the continuing success of The Bulletin. It also includes the continuing success of our fellow community organizations contributing in their own ways to the betterment of society. I want to be a part of all this.

Gary Matson
President, GVJCCA