Dear Sir,
I am reacting to the President’s Report of the National Association of Japanese Canadians that was published in the May 2009 issue of The Bulletin.
Briefly, for the time that it takes to read a sentence, I harboured the hope that the Japanese Canadian community, as a community, had commenced the process toward developing a civic conscience going beyond the narrow parameters of Redress.
In her President’s Report of May 2009, the President of the NAJC commented on a recent talk given by human rights lawyer, Ros Salvador. After listening to the person (and I can only assume that if this person calls herself a human rights lawyer, her account of the position of the federal government with respect to the Khadr matter would be, at best, unflattering), the president of the NAJC provides the following observation:
(i)n speaking about specific issues that affect Canadians, such as Bill C-31 and the matters related to Omar Khadr, Ros added to greater understanding and awareness of these important issues.
And it stops there. That is it. No tiny step toward deeper reflection. No comment on the powers of state. What is the president’s message? If you robbed us of our livelihood and stripped us of our liberty, and sent us to internment camps over fifty years ago, shame on you. We will yell from the roof-tops for the next millennium about the terrible injustice that we suffered. But if you act unconscionably at the present time, regarding a topic that we consider too controversial, we will simply make the observation that “these are important issues.”
Undoubtedly, the Japanese Canadian community suffered terribly from the abuse of state power in Canada prior to, at the time of, and following WWII. Redress was an important step in addressing that abuse, and we must continue to be reminded of the reasons for Redress. However, is there any hope that the Japanese Canadian community will ever be able to offer its own experience, and add its own voice, in support of those who oppose the present abuse of federal government power in the Khadr matter, or controversial matters that arise in the future? By remaining mute or blind – for I cannot say whether it is out of fear or ignorance that the community remains silent – to contemporary government abuse, the stated altruistic concerns of the Japanese Canadian community for human rights rings quite hollow. By remaining mute or blind also relegates the Japanese Canadian community to irrelevance with respect to human rights issues.
Respectfully,
Peter Stieda, Lawyer, Ottawa
