Angry in the Great White North

Quick, someone get Stephane Dion a computer, an internet hookup, and the URL for Wikipedia pre-programmed as the home page for the browser.

Stephane Dion has no clue.

I'm sorry, but there is no way to say it in a kinder way. Absolutely clueless.

Watch this video of Stephane Dion addressing the Chinese Canadian Liberal Association. I apologize for the sound quality -- you can hear everything Stephane Dion says.

The section of interest is just before the half-way point. After mangling the name of the association in French several times, Stephane Dion asks the audience if they are proud of a list of notable Canadians of Chinese descent, mostly to tepid response. He asks if the audience is proud of Arthur Lee, who Dion claims to be the first Chinese Canadian Member of Parliament in 1974, serving under Pierre Trudeau.

Here is the clip:

It took that long to elect a Chinese Canadian, notes our Opposition Leader with the PhD. Says Dion, "It took time, eh? Only 1974, the first one." Dion then puts on a face that seems to suggest that Canadians not of Chinese descent ought to feel somewhat ashamed for not being liberal enough in 1974.

I don't feel ashamed. Why? Because it didn't take until 1974! The first Chinese Canadian MP was Douglas Jung, who was elected in 1957. I had no problems finding this out. Why did Stephane Dion and his brain trust miss that one? Could it be willful ignorance?

Douglas Jung joined the Progressive Conservative Party in the early 1950s. He had vowed not to join the Liberal Party of Canada because of its racist legislation against Chinese in the past. Jung was elected as an MP in 1957, representing the riding of Vancouver Centre, under the John Diefenbaker government.

So Stephane Dion and the Liberals ignore the trailblazing efforts of Douglas Jung because it would be embarrassing to bring up that element of Liberal Party history, especially in front of a room full of Chinese Canadians who are supposed to be Liberal supporters.

More than anything, this is why I loathe liberals. Their view of the truth is that it is something plastic and relative, to be shaped and squeezed into whatever form suits their purpose.

Stephane Dion did not have the guts to stand in front of a group of Chinese Canadians, Liberals in fact, and tell them the true history of one of their proudest sons.

Or Dion was simply ignorant.

But then Stephane is also deaf. In the House of Commons, MP Jim Abbott made this pronouncement on June 8:

Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago on June 10, 1957, Canada's first Asian Canadian was elected to Parliament. As a Conservative, Douglas Jung was nicknamed the “Giant Killer” when he took out the Liberal minister of defence in that election. It was just one milestone in his notable career in Canadian public life.

Born in Victoria in 1924, the two term MP was the first Chinese Canadian to argue a case before the B.C. Court of Appeal and serve Canada at the United Nations. Despite not being recognized as an official citizen of Canada, Douglas Jung enlisted in the Canadian Forces in World War II.

The patriotism that he and his fellow Chinese veterans displayed ultimately paved the way for the repeal of the Chinese exclusion act, and to full citizenship rights for Chinese Canadians. Chinese Canadians continue to be leaders in many fields of Canadian life.

I call on members of the House to join me in celebrating the achievements of Mr. Jung in this place five decades ago.

Three days later, on June 11, Meili Faille of the Bloc Quebecois joined in noting this important anniversary:

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the election of Douglas Jung, the first Canadian of Chinese origin to be elected to the House of Commons for the riding of Vancouver Centre.

Every step of Mr. Jung's career set a precedent in relations to improve racial tension. Mr. Jung was the first member of Chinese origin to sit in the House of Commons and to represent Canada at the United Nations and he was also the first Chinese lawyer to argue before the British Columbia Court of Appeals.

This anniversary gives us an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of Mr. Jung and Canadians of Chinese origin of his generation who managed to have the Chinese Exclusion Act repealed and who successfully advocated for the creation of a special immigration program, inviting people of Chinese origin who had entered Canada illegally to come forward and have their status regularized.

My colleagues in the Bloc Quebecois join with me in calling on this 50th anniversary to continue to guide our actions toward harmonious relations between parliamentarians of all origins.

Stephane Dion was definitely present in the House on June 11.

As far as I can tell, no Liberal MP stood in the house to make note of Douglas Jung's achievement.

And Stephane Dion, despite having been present when Meili Faille spoke to Douglas Jung's place in history, decided to ignore him altogether a few weeks later, and instead offer his place in history to Arthur Lee, a one-time Liberal MP from the seventies.

Chinese Canadians, whatever their political affiliation, ought to feel insulted.

No, that's too exclusive. All Canadians are slighted when our most senior politicians seem ignorant of our history, or worse, are willing to rewrite it for political expediency.

Addendum: If you really feel like piling it on, you could say that by ignoring Douglas Jung, either through ignorance, sloppy research, or embarrassment, Stephane Dion has insulted veterans.

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