今天，总理Justin Trudea将在众议院(House of Commons)正式道歉，那时在102年前，除去22名居民和1名病人外，加拿大政府拒绝Komagata Maru的376名印度乘客下船。总理说，“作为一个国家，我们永远不要，也不应该忘记这一天，加拿大政府对锡克族的偏见。”来自一名老移民顾问Timothy Edward Leahy的信件，提出了一种新的诉求，您觉得可行吗？
A TRUE APOLOGY
This week, the Prime Minister apologized in the House of Commons for the refusal, exactly 102 years earlier, to allow the 376 Indian passengers on the Komagata Maru to disembark (except for 22 who were already residents and one who was fatally ill). “As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not”, said the Prime Minister.
Some have urged Justin Trudeau, not just to apologize for the “incident” but, rather, for a race-tinged immigration policy, continuing through World War II. While that suggestion has merit – one need only recall the infamous “none would be too many” retort from the director of immigration when asked about admitting Jews while Hitler was exterminating them – the real issue in my mind is not whether the Prime Minister will apologize about historic racism but whether the current Minister, the Hon. John McCallum, will rectify the discreditable policies of his predecessor, Jason the Magnificent.
The 350 Indians who were turned away are long dead, but the 96,000 Asians, whose files Jason Kenney and his acolyte, Chris Alexander, had terminated – while Jason Kenney was wooing Irish to come here – are very much alive. They waited patiently in the immigration queue for years only to have Jason the Magnificent terminate their files so that he could crown himself the Great Administrator and boast that, on his watch, the migration trains ran on time. If one adds in the dependants, we are talking about over 200,000 Asians – primarily Indian, Chinese and Filipino – in whose face the door to Canada was slammed.
If this Government wishes to make amends for past race-based immigration policies and show that integrity matters at Immigration Canada, it will do more than apologize to 350 ghosts: it will reopen the terminated files, including those of 16,000 multi-millionaires, keen on investing in Canada.
It would be fitting to do so because it was the Prime Minister’s father, at the urging of his classmate at the London School of Economics, His Highness the Aga Khan, who welcomed to Canada the ethnic Indians, whom Idi Amin was expelling from Uganda. The effort his then minister, Bryce Mackasey, and staff on the ground was truly remarkable and laudable. Their altruism knew no bounds.
When Pierre Trudeau, whom I greatly admired, died, I was amazed by how many young people, who were not even alive when he was the prime minister, queued to pay their respects. The answer came when a reporter asked a young ethnic Indian why she was there: “Because” she readily relied, “if it were not for Pierre Trudeau, I would not be here. I would not be in Canada”.
If the current Minister wishes insight into the rescue mission his predecessor oversaw, he need only ask his Parliamentary Secretary, Arif Verani, because he was amongst those for whom Pierre Trudeau opened the door to Canada, the door Jason Kenney slammed in the face of over 200,000 Asians, Africans, Hispanics and others. So, please, Mr. McCallum, breathe life into the apology by restoring the faith these 200,000 people had in Canada before Jason Kenney, in pursuit of his dream to be ensconced at 24 Sussex Drive, shattered. (by Timothy Edward Leahy，416-226-2882, TEL@ForefrontMigration.ca)
