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Chinese and South Asian communities are expected to greatly influence the resu
VANCOUVER, (AFP) - [size=-1]Chinese and South Asian communities are expected to greatly influence the results of the June 28 federal election, for the first time changing dramatically the face of the nation's politicians and politics.
AFP/File Photo
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Their numbers have increased steadily in the past three decades to nearly one million each, representing half of Canada's four million visible minorities, and they are asserting their collective political clout like never before. A record 28 Canadians of South Asian descent and nearly a dozen Chinese-Canadian candidates of various political stripes vying for parliamentary seats.
"Their mere presence in Parliament will have a profound change in how we see ourselves," said University of British Columbia political scientist Richard Johnston.
"We're getting used to seeing Asian faces in prominent places, as leaders of the community."
While some of this is the result of efforts from within these communities to make their voices heard, some is also the product of aggressive recruiting tactics by the major political parties who saw ethnic groups tend to cluster geographically and hold the balance of power in many districts.
"We're hearing more about issues (relevant to ethnic minorities) in this election because political parties want to solicit their votes," said incumbent Libby Davies, campaigning with a Cantonese-speaking politician to help her appeal to the 30 per cent of Chinese-Canadians in her Vancouver district. She is up against a high-profile Chinese candidate.
It has led to the first political advertisements in Mandarin and Cantonese on national television, a major English-language daily newspaper running special sections on the election in English, Chinese and Punjabi to reach a broader audience, and the selection of the first Cantonese-speaking candidate, Jack Layton, as leader of a major federal party, the New Democratic Party.
"Jack is known as Mr. Chow in the local Chinese community," joked his wife, Olivia Chow, who tought her language to her husband. Olivia Chow, who came from Hong Kong when she was 13, is also a candidate in this election.
Pundits predict the number elected to office June 28 will double to more than 10. While still only a fraction of the 308 seats in Parliament, their input will likely affect negatively Canada's relationship with the United States and sway domestic policies on issues such as same-sex marriage, immigration, and the recognition of foreign professional credentials to make it easier for immigrants to find work here.
"New Canadians generally agree with (former Prime Minister) Jean Chretien's decision not to join the war in Iraq (news - web sites). On the domestic side, they tend to be more family-oriented, more traditional on issues like the definition of marriage or the role of women," Johnston said.
But getting involved in politics has created some discord between the candidates and their communities. Muslim candidate Itrath Syed was criticized by local religious leaders for defending her party's position on same sex-marriage, for example.
"Muslims in Canada must be clear that we cannot demand our own equality in Canada, our own rights to be who we are while also calling for the rights of others to be restricted. If the principle of equality under Canadian law is compromised, it will be compromised for all minority communities," she countered in an email to supporters.
Eventually, these moral questions will probably lead to a fragmentation of the communities and cause them to stop voting in blocks, Johnston predicts. And, so this election may be their first and last big chance to make their votes count.
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发表于 2004-6-22 13:57
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