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Wednesday, March 3
Vancouver Olympic Ceremonies: Where was the cultural diversity?
by
Todd
on Wed 03 Mar 2010 04:31 PM PST
Winter Olympics invited countries from around to the world to multicultural Vancouver, but cultural diversity was missing in the Opening and Closing ceremonies.
Apparently the opening ceremonies did feature performers of cultural diversity. But we missed it.
Only
before the televised official opening... ("Miss Jully Black to the back
of the bus please")... not "Canadian" enough to be televised.... and
February is Black History month in Canada!Read Vancouver Sun Pete McMartin's review of the opening ceremonieshttp
http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=195883fa-d774-4385-9365-2cda2e55e631
The Closing Ceremonies were promised to include more French content,
and to feature Canadian humour and myth-busting of Canadian stereotypes.
Vancouver's cultural diversity was represented in the hundreds of
jumping Grade 9ers holding snowboards in the opening sequence. My
First Nations 2nd cousin was there - his mother was very proud. But
all the featured performers were White - with the exception of K-OS.
And most of the volunteer performers of colour were dressed as hip-hop
dancers, instead mounties, lumberjacks and hockey players. Because
there are no Asian hockey players in the NHL - but that's another
Canadian Myth that's been busted since Larry Kwong played one game in
the NHL in 1948, 10 years before Willie O'Ree became the first black
hockey player in 1958.
A Few days later the same Pete McMartin quoted Tung Chan in an opinion piece -
Opinion - An Olympic Games as white as snow
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/Opinion+Olympic+Games+white+snow/2620782/story.html
But read the comments to the above piece, or to Craig Takeuchi's pieces in the Georgia Straight.
2010 Olympic closing ceremony: Why wasn't there any aboriginal content?
or
Vancouver 2010 Olympics: The Great White, er, Multicultural North?
Despite all the crowd cheering, street filling patriotism, when Canada
wins a gold medal hockey game, there is still a dark anonymous racism
that haunts all the internet comments, and rears its head at any hint
of "affirmative action" or ethnic inclusion.
This is the next story. This is the next stage of insight.
The aim of the Closing ceremonies was to have some fun, poking fun at
Canadian stereotypes, and doing some "myth busting." But one of the
myths that got reinforced is that Canada is White. Despite generations
of immigration from all around the world, Canada cannot find a
performer of colour good enough to speak at or perform at and during
the Closing ceremonies.
Would it have hurt Canadians if one of the chorus line lumberjacks,
mounties, or hockey players had been a shade of colour other than
white? Would we have heard a chorus of boos, if one of the mounties
had worn a turban?
We know that racial discrimination in sports can be cruel to kids growing up, so it can't be
a wonder why our top athletes are mostly White. But we have succeeded in
the Arts.
Where was Indo-Canadian comedian Russell Peters?
Canadians of multi-ethnicity are cool and sexy. What better examples
do we have than actors Kristin Kreuk of Smallville? or Lisa Ray of
Bollywood? Even Keanu Reeves primarily grew up in Toronto, despite
being born in Lebanon - but we didn't hold Steve Nash's birthplace of
South Africa against him.
First Nations actors Graham Green and Tantoo Cardinal were good enough
for "Dances with Wolves" but not for the Closing Ceremonies? And
Tantoo just received her Order of Canada too...
Our authors Joy Kogawa, Thomas King are amongst the most studied
authors in our Canadian high schools, colleges and universities. Wayson Choy and 7th generation descendant of Black Loyalists
George Elliot Clarke are also amongst our most loved - these four authors also are Order of Canada recipients.
We are not saying that Canada should enforce racial inclusivity
guidelines for its sports teams. But we are saying that the closing
ceremonies lacked the representation of Canada's population, and it
reinforced every sad stereotype of Canada. Alongside the Mounties,
lumberjacks, beavers and moose was the sad realization that Canada is
only populated by White people, despite multi-generations of accepting
people from all over the world.
And where are the bagpipes?
Canada's first Prime Minister, BC's first Premier, and Vancouver's
first mayor were all born in Scotland. Has the former largest ethnic
group of Vancouver so much assimilated into mainstream culture, that
they have forgotten their ethnic roots?
The SFU Pipes and Drums is the six time and current World Champion pipe
band. There are more bagpipers in Canada then there are in Scotland -
or is this a Canadian myth that we are not proud of?
Bagpipers have performed with Uzume Taiko, and Delhi 2 Dublin, - two
internationally recognized examples of cultural fusion music happening
in Vancouver. To me, these are the examples of performers that should
have been featured at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, demonstrating
how Canadians have come from all over the world, put aside our racial
differences, and blend our cultures, and our shared our histories
together.
This is the Canada that I am proud of - not the beer swigging garage
band party music that was featured - without any relevance to the
historic Olympic successes that we witnessed over the past 17 days
Saturday, February 20
More media stories about "lack of colour (and bagpipes)" in Vancouver 2010 Opening ceremonies
by
Todd
on Sat 20 Feb 2010 01:30 PM PST
Stories critical of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies are in Vancouver Courier and Georgia Straight blogs.Vancouver Courier: Allen Garr's Much is continuing to be written about the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremonies that took place with great hoop-lah on Friday February 12th, in BC Place Stadium. Yes, there were the Four Host Nations welcoming the world to their ancestral (and unceded) lands. Yes, there were Canadian Aboriginal peoples from all across the nation, dancing and drumming, while Bryan Adams and and Nelly Furtado took the spotlight and sang a new Adams' song "Beat the Drum." And then.... a show that has brought complaints from across the country, as Federal Minister James Moore has said "there wasn't enough French-Canadian content." Even Quebec Permier Jean Charest, as he sat next to
VANOC CEO John Furlong at a news conference Monday said, “Not at the level we were expecting,” said “It wasn’t
sufficient.”I admit that enjoyed watching the show. And my girlfriend and I watched
it twice... but we were also playing video and computer games during
the second time. But we cannot ignore that so many people are
speaking out, and to so is to risk great peril. Clearly there is a
schism in the understanding of what make's us Canadian... as understood
by new immigrants of both Asian and Celtic origins, as well as
multi-generational Canadians of First Nations, Asian, Celtic, Gaelic,
British, French and European heritage. Maybe like at Expo 67, we are discovering the point of how we see ourselves in the world, and in our own country. I
especially liked Shane Koyczan's poem. He is indeed addressing the
values that push us to do better, to be more inclusive, and to always
try harder - just like my personal hero Terry Fox, who is very dear to
me, as I hold the SFU Terry Fox gold medal, as a recipient "for courage
in adversity and dedication to society." Remember what happened after the Closing Ceremonies in Turin? Even
Premier Gordon Campbell criticized Turin closing ceremony display by
saying, “I thought there were lots of stereotypes that are not what the
new Canada is.” http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=8a6a6c72-05f7-4a8d-91a1-60f2ebe27219&k=96687Yes,
I too understand that we cannot please everybody all the time, and that
some cultural groups will cry foul. But my experiences are also tainted
by growing up in a deliberate exclusion of systemic racism, where my
born-in-Canada grandmother could not vote in this country until after
her brothers and cousin had been reluctantly accepted into the Canadian
Forces due to pressure from Great Britain, and then sent on "Suicide
Missions" to be behind enemy lines in Burma. For these reasons
I knew it was important to help save Joy Kogawa's childhood home from
demolition, where she was forced to leave at age 6 due to internment of
Japanese-Canadians. For these reasons, I know it is important
to support my cousin Chief Rhonda Larrabee whose mother's people had
their ancestral lands taken away from them, to create BC's first
capital city of New Westminster. And then to add insult, had their
reservation taken away, and their band name of Qayqayt was said to not
exist, because the people didn't live there anymore. If we don't
speak out on these issues, now - then it is like the silence that
watches the Japanese Canadians put on trains and sent away, or like
knowing that First Nations children are in Residential schools. We know
something is wrong, but dare not speak. I have tried to embrace
this country and it's foibles, despite hating the bagpipes when I was
little because it represented Colonialism. I speak better french, then
I do Chinese. I understand the the Ceremonies wanted to emphasize "The Land" rather than the cultural diversity. Even Margaret Atwood's great book "Survival" argues that there is indeed a distinct Canadian literature, with its own preoccupations, themes, and ideas specific to its history, geopolitics, and landscape. But that was so 20th Century... Now in the 21st Century, it is about the geopolitics, our cultural diversity, and our place in the global world. Yes John Furlong has done and amazing job with
VANOC. It is a very challenging, almost impossible task - But John
Furlong's terrible french pronounciation seems to be an apt metaphor
for VANOC's ceremonies team of understanding and including Canada's
multicultural history and culture. But come on VANOC.... We Are More!!!!
Wednesday, January 27
Daniel Lee Rest in Peace, 1920 - January 26, 2010
by
Todd
on Wed 27 Jan 2010 11:42 PM PST
Daniel Lee 1920 - January 26, 2010  Daniel Lee saluting at
the November 11, 2009 Remembrance Day ceremony in Vancouver Chinatown.
The Chinese Canadian veterans always attended the Victory Square
Cenotaph ceremonies, which Dan Lee also helped to organize, then they
would go to Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant to stay warm, before organizing the
Chinatown ceremonies at 12:30pm - photo Todd Wong
"To
be a good citizen you got to start at home. Otherwise, a nation is just
like a family.
Everybody got to be happy at home otherwise the nation
would be in trouble."
- Daniel Lee With sorrow... we share the news that Grand-Uncle Daniel Lee passed away this morning of January 26th, 2010. He had been in the Burnaby Hospital since Wednesday. His daughter Grace, she said it was quite sudden - his going into the hospital. I had been receiving reports from my mother Betty, as her mother Mabel (Dan's oldest sister at 99 years old) was visiting the hospital each day.Uncle Dan was born the 11th child of 14, the 5th son of seven to jeweler Ernest Lee, and Kate Chan Lee - the 2nd child, and 1st daughter of Rev. Chan Yu Tan. As a young child he spent some time living in Nanaimo with his grandparents Rev. and Mrs. Chan Yu Tan, after the early death of his father.
When Dan was 20 years old he tried to enlist in the Canadian Army, but was turned away because at that time they did not allow any Chinese Canadians. Instead, he went to aircraft mechanics school in Toronto and graduated two years later. By 1942, Chinese were allowed into the Army due to pressure from Great Britain. Dan Lee was one of the the first Chinese-Canadians accepted into the Canadian Air Force. Soon, he was joined in England, by his brothers Howard and Leonard, plus cousin Victor Wong, who were enroute to the Pacific Theatre to serve with the Army special forces.In the years after WW2, Dan Lee and his fellow Canadian born veterans would continue to face racial discrimination and prejudice. The were not allowed to join any of the existing Canadian Legions for veteran soldiers. They turned to the oldest veteran organization, the Army, Navy, Air Force Vets of Canada and were accepted to form their own unit - Pacific Unit 280. After
WW2, he and his fellow veterans and good friend Roy Mah, petitioned the
Canadian Government to gain voting rights for Chinese Canadians, and
also to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act. This was accomplished in
1947.
 But the challenges weren't over yet. Every year Uncle Dan
would write a letter to Ottawa asking for an apology for the Chinese
head tax and exclusion act. The Chinese head tax redress movement took on a larger significance after MP Margaret Mitchell brought the issue up in Parliament in 1984, and also when Prime Minister Mulroney apologized to Japanese Canadians in 1988 for the the government's interning of them during WW2.In the 1980's, Dan Lee would continue to work head tax apology issue. With Douglas Jung, a former veteran, lawyer, Member of
Parliament, and the Chinese Benevolent Association, they proposed that a
national organization be formed to deal with the Head Tax issue. Dan Lee became one of the founders of the National
Congress of Chinese Canadians(NCCC) and a national conference was held. After many years, an apology was finally made in Canadian Parliament by Prime Minister Harper in 2006.
In 1998, the Chinese Canadian Military Museum was founded. Dan Lee's air force uniform was one of the first displays.
 Chinese Canadian Military Museum Dinner November 7, 2009
top row: Bryan Larrabee, grand-nephew Todd Wong, Padre Wesley Lowe
bottom row: niece Rhonda Larrabee, Daniel Lee, sister Mabel Mar In 1999, we held the first Rev. Chan Legacy Family Reunion. Uncle Dan was a consultant for the committee. At the reunion, it was Dan Lee who gave the Elder Address, as he talked about his grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan.
In 2002, the Rev. Chan Yu Tan family was featured in the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum exhibit "Three Canadian Chinese Pioneer Families" - pictures of Uncle Dan and the contributions of himself and his brothers and cousin were included.
In 2007, Dan Lee is one of the lead stories in the film documentary Heroes Remember, produced by the Chinese Canadian Military Museum.Dan Lee's dedication to community service is exemplary. In 2004, Dan Lee received the Award of Merit from Dominion Command. It is one of the highest honours a veteran can receive. Uncle Dan told me that to receive an Award of Merit, you must first receive the Medal for
Appreciation, which he received in 1987. In 1999 he next
received the Award for Service.
And through all these years, Uncle Dan would sell poppies in downtown Vancouver for Remembrance Day, and help organize the Poppy Drive every November. He was one of the best sellers. He was also one of the organizers of the Victory Square Cenotaph Remembrance Day ceremonies. In 2004, Remembrance Day ceremonies began at the Canadian Chinese Pioneer Monument in Chinatown. The veterans of Unit 280 would attend both Victory Square and Chinatown ceremonies, even if it was raining and cold.
The contributions that Dan Lee made, will last and be remembered, while he will be missed.
We offer support and love to Uncle Dan, his wife Irene, and their children Vincent and Grace.
Peace & Blessings to all, Todd Wong - Vancouver
As part of his commitment to community, Dan annually organized the poppy campaign in Vancouver. It's not surprising
he was a top-seller. For his community efforts Dan has received many
veteran honours, such as the Award of Appreciation, and Award for
Service - but none higher than the Award of Merit from Dominion Command
in 2004. It's a fitting tribute to the grandson who evidently learned
his values and strong faith in community from his Methodist Church
pioneer, Grandfather Chan Yu Tan.See VIDEO of Daniel Lee from the Chinese Canadian Military Museum
www.vac-acc.gc.ca Daniel
Lee, one of three brothers to join the war effort, worked as an
aircraft mechanic and went on to a career of dedicated community
service in Canada.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53803790@N00/sets/72157623292987932/
Monday, December 7
Toddish McWong returns to Canada after 7 days in Scotland
by
Todd
on Mon 07 Dec 2009 01:37 PM PST
I am now back in Canada. It was an incredible learning experience for my first trip across the Atlantic to one of the most important cultural and historical ancestral homes for this country called Canada. Canada is probably the most Scottish nations outside of Scotland. Our first prime minister, many of our explorers, BC's first premier, Vancouver's first mayor - were all born in Scotland.
And yet... Scotland is a country that is learning from Canada.
My trip was initiated because a life-size picture and video-interview of me were used in the photo exhibit This is Who We Are: Scots in Canada. I have written about the exhibit here: Toddish McWong arrives in Scotland for inaugural visit and reception at Scottish Parliament for "This is Who We Are". Here are my pictures from the exhibit and the reception at the closing of the event on St. Andrew's Day more »
Tuesday, December 1
Toddish McWong arrives in Scotland for inaugural visit and reception at Scottish Parliament for "This is Who We Are"
by
Todd
on Tue 01 Dec 2009 10:53 AM PST
This is my first ever trip to Scotland... and I almost didn't make it.
It's the year of Scotland Homecoming, celebrating the 250th Anniversary of poet Robert Burns, and the 2009 version of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was one of the listed events of Burns Suppers around the world.
Earlier this year, my photo was included in a web photo exhibit THIS IS WHO WE ARE, for Cultural Connect Scotland created by Harry McGrath - former director of the Centre for Scottish Studies at Simon Fraser University.
+ PICTURES more »
Saturday, October 17
Vancouver 2010 Aboriginal Art Exhibition features artists from across Canada
by
Todd
on Sat 17 Oct 2009 10:32 PM PDT
Over 50 artists were featured at the Vancouver 2010 Aboriginal Art Exhibition at Canada Place in Vancouver BC, Oct 17/18. It's a two day free exhibition with sales to the public. On Friday evening, a live auction of highlighted artworks was held with proceeds going towards the Vancouver 2010 Aboriginal Youth Legacy Fund. more »
Sunday, August 2
Blackthorn celtic music band at Fort Langley for BC Day!
by
Todd
on Sun 02 Aug 2009 02:51 PM PDT
Blackthorn is playing at Historic Fort Langley.
Blackthorn is comprised of some of my favorite musicians: Michael on guitar/vocals, Michelle on flute/pennywhistle/vocals, Tim on bass/bodrana and Rosie on fiddle/vocals. Blackthorn was our featured band at the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner.
Historic Fort Langley is the birthplace of BC, where Gov. James Douglas signed the proclamation almost 150 years and 9 months ago.
Monday,
Aug 03 | 6:30pm | Brigade Days
Fort Langley National Historic Site of Canada, BCBrigade
Days is held every year over the BC Day long weekend in August.
Historically, Brigade was when the fur trappers came down from their
trap lines to the fort, to trade, some took their annual baths and
looked for a new spouse, and in general caught up with friends they
hadn't seen since the year before. Blackthorn will be bathed and on stage Monday evening. |
AND NOW WE HAVE OUR OWN CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE...
Wednesday, July 1
John Ralston Saul says Canada is Metis/Aboriginal.... in nature - not English/French/Scottish....
by
Todd
on Wed 01 Jul 2009 10:00 AM PDT
John Ralston Saul says Canada is Metis/Aboriginal.... in nature - not English/French/Scottish....Here is John Ralston Saul's 2008 book about Canada: SUMMARY OF A FAIR COUNTRY (from his website):
"In
this startlingly original vision of Canada, thinker John Ralston Saul
unveils 3 founding myths. Saul argues that the famous “peace, order,
and good government” that supposedly defines Canada is a distortion of
the country’s true nature. Every single document before the BNA Act, he
points out, used the phrase “peace, welfare, and good government,”
demonstrating that the well-being of its citizenry was paramount.
"He
also argues that Canada is a Métis nation, heavily influenced and
shaped by aboriginal ideas: egalitarianism, a proper balance between
individual and group, and a penchant for negotiation over violence are
all aboriginal values that Canada absorbed. Another obstacle to
progress, Saul argues, is that Canada has an increasingly ineffective
elite, a colonial non-intellectual business elite that doesn’t believe
in Canada. It is critical that we recognize these aspects of the
country in order to rethink its future." http://www.johnralstonsaul.com/SUM_AFC.html
Wednesday, June 17
Paddles Up! New book on dragon boating by Torontonians Arlene Chan and Susan Humphries
by
Todd
on Wed 17 Jun 2009 11:56 PM PDT
 Arlene Chan has written a new book on dragon boating. Arlene paddles on a Toronto dragon boat team. Susan Humphries is past president of Dragon boat Canada. Arlene wrote a children's book on dragon boating, Awakening the Dragon. This book features chapters on various topics written by top coaches, paddlers, and organizers from across Canada. Vancouver coach Kamini Jain, former Olympic kayaker, has written the chapter on coaching. Here's a description from Kamini's website Description: Paddles Up!
provides an in-depth look at dragon boating from its beginnings in
ancient China to the modern-day prominence of Canadian teams on the
international scene, as told in the words of top coaches of men's and
women's teams, experts and enthusiasts, and sports health professionals
across Canada. Contributing writers include Mike Haslam, executive
president International Dragon Boat Federation; Matthew Smith,
president Dragon Boat Canada; Kamini Jain,
Vancouver; Albert MacDonald, Halifax; Jamie Hollins, Pickering; Matt
Robert, Montreal; and Jim Farintosh, Toronto. Through legends, history,
and traditions, to paddling tips and mental readiness, and from
choosing gear to exceptional achievements, a battery of Canadian
dragon-boat notables share their considerable knowledge in one
authoritative volume.
Last year in June 2008, the author Arlene Chan contacted me. She wrote:
I found your name
on your amazing Gung Haggis Fat Choy website. What interests me is your
personal passion for dragon boating. The book project that I am
co-editing with Susan Humphries, past President, Dragon Boat Canada, . I'm assembling photos as well as
testimonials.
If
you're interested, I'd love to get a testimonial from you about what
the sport means to you. The idea is to have about 20 testimonials that
will be interspersed throughout the book. It's not to promote your
team, rather, to let others know how and why dragon boating has been a
passion for paddlers and coaches, like you.
This is what I originally sent to Arlene, most of it is printed on page 27: Dragon boating is about team tribalism. You can join a tribe that you
can belong to. It might be a competitive team, a corporate team, a
recreational team, a breast cancer team... or a team that promotes
multiculturalism. That's our team. We wear kilts, have lucky Chinese
coins on our team jersey. We eat Asian foods and Scottish haggis -
sometimes combined. It's become more than just being social... It's
become a family.
Here's a picture of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team that appears on page 23. This is from the 2007 Vancouver Taiwanese Dragon Boat Race. I am drumming. Emilie is our flag puller learning out over the dragon head. This photo is by my friend VFK whom I introduced to Arlene to be included in the book, as well as photographers Ben Lee and Heather Mclaren - photo VFKI discovered more about Arlene. She is a librarian with the
Toronto Public Library and had written two previous books, The Spirit of the Dragon: The Story of Jean Lumb, a Proud Canadian Citizen and The Moon Festival: A Chinese Mid-autumn festival. When she told me she also organized a fundraiser dinner for the Jean Lumb Foundation, I had to ask, "Jean Lumb... the first Chinese Canadian woman to recieve the Order of Canada? I know her daughter, Janet Lumb in Montreal... we met in Ottawa for a conference. I introduced Janet to Sen. Vivienne Poy (the first Chinese Canadian senator) " It's a small world. Arlene told me that Janet is her younger sister. Back in 2002, I was working for the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society. Janet is the founder and organizer of Access Asie, the Montreal version of Asian Heritage Month Festival. Sen. Poy is the patron senator of Asian Heritage Month in Canada, having had it proclaimed in parliament. Sen. Poy's husband Dr. Neville Poy had an aunt in Vancouver... who married my grandmother's eldest brother. "Auntie!" I called her. You can purchase Paddles Up! on Amazon.ca here: http://www.amazon.ca/Dragon-Boat-Racing-Canada-Paddles/dp/1554883954or contact Kamini Jain in Vancouver http://www.rightangleperformance.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=74
Thursday, June 11
3 Asian Canadians appointed to new BC Liberal Cabinet: Ida Chong, John Yap and Naomi Yamamoto
by
Todd
on Thu 11 Jun 2009 11:57 PM PDT
Ida Chong, John Yap and Naomi Yamamoto were all appointed to BC Cabinet, creating the largest Asian representation ever, along with Kash Heed who is South Asian.
Naomi Yamamoto, the first Japanese-Canadian, is sworn into the new BC Cabinet on June 10th 2009, by Hon. Steven Point, the first Aboriginal BC Lt. Governor. Ida Chong (Oak Bay)
Minister of Healthy Living and Sport. Chong is the first Canadian born Chinese-Canadian BC MLA. Previously she had been minister
of small business, technology and economic development and minister
responsible for the Asia-Pacific Initiative in the last term. I first met Ida at the BC Community Achievement Awards last April. In August, Ida and I were two of 16 BCers voted into the BC Royal Museum's "The Party" display for the "Free Spirit" exhibit celebrating the 150th Anniversary of BC. see:
Royal BC Museum invites 6 new people to "The Party"
John Yap (Richmond Steveston)
Minister of State for Climate Action. Yap was born in Singapore. He has been active with many community organizations. Our paths have crossed with his support of the Chinese Canadian veterans of Pacific Unit 280.
Naomi Yamamoto (North Vancouver Lonsdale)
Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations. The first ever Japanese-Canadian MLA in BC. Naomi's parents had been interned during WW2. She beat out Don Bell, the former North Vancouver District Mayor and Member Parliament for the constituency nomination. Active in the North Shore community, she has been president and manager of the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce for the past 2 years, and has also previously been chair of the BC Chamber of Commerce. While I've never met Naomi, I have known her sister Donna for many years through her theatre work.
Kash Heed (Vancouver Fraserview)
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor GeneralHeed is a Simon Fraser University alumnus where he
completed his BA and MA at Simon Fraser University part-time. Formerly with the Vancouver Police Department, he was appointed Chief of the West Vancouver Police Department in 2007. While with the Vancouver Police, he was also head of the drug
squad, led the Indo-Canadian gang task force and launched the COMPSTAT
system, using computer technology to track crime.
Missing cabinet after winning 3 straight election is Richard T. Lee (Burnaby North). I'll try to identify the Scottish-Canadians appointed to cabinet - but it's a harder task because the while Mac's are usually Scottish and Mc's are usually Irish, they are sometimes interchanged. Many Scottish-Canadians don't necessarily disclose their Scottish ancestry because Scots have long been part of BC's mainstream political culture and history. First BC Governor James Douglas' father was Scottish, even though Douglas himself was born in Guyana to a mother who was a Free Black. Current BC Premier Gordon Campbell claims Scottish ancestry, though I have yet to find a picture of him wearing a kilt.
See links:
Georgia Straight: Vancouver tops the charts in Premier Gordon Campbell's cabinet
Tuesday, May 26
Tailor Made documentary about Wong family tailor shop is re-broadcast on Knowledge Network
by
Todd
on Tue 26 May 2009 09:34 PM PDT
Watch "Tailor Made - the last Chinese tailor shop in Vancouver Chinatown"
'Tailor Made' is being broadcast again in BC on Knowledge Network on the following dates:
- May 26/2009 10:00PM
- May 27/2009 2:00AM
- May 27/2009 7:00PM
http://tvschedule.knowledgenetwork.ca/knsch/KNSeriesPage.jsp?seriesID=101539&seriesTitle=tailormade"Tailor Made"is a wonderful documentary about the last tailor shop in Vancouver Chinatown. It opened in 1913. It made most of the zoot suits in Vancouver during the 1940's. Sean Connery's picture is there with the tailors Bill and Jack Wong. It's a Chinatown success story, that mirrors the history of Vancouver Chinatown, as the original tailor had to pay a head tax to come to Vancouver, as his two sons fought for Canada during WW2 when Chinese weren't allowed to vote, as his sons were unabled to get hired as UBC graduated engineers due to still prevailing racist sentiments, and how the youngest son became one of Vancouver's leading philanthropists and cultural leaders.
Bill Wong the tailor loves to attended the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner. His son Steven
paddles on our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. This is a
wonderful documentary that received a standing ovation at the Whistler
Film Festival.  Bill
and Jack's younger brother Milton Wong is one of Vancouver's important
figures, and former chancellor of SFU, and known as the "grandfather of
dragon boat racing" in Vancouver. Both Milton and Steven were
interviewed for a German public television documentary addressing
multiculturalism in Vancouver. The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat
team was featured too! Check out: http://wstreaming.zdf.de/zdf/veryhigh/071219_toronto_vancouver.asxMy
own family has known the Wongs for many year, my aunts and uncles went
to school with many of the Wong family members. My uncle Laddie works
as a tailor at Modernize Tailors. In 2004, both the "Wong Way"
dragon boat team and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team
participated in a workshop to carve dragon boat heads at the Round
House Community Centre. 
Check the Modernize Tailors Website:
http://www.modernizetailors.blogspot.com/
Tuesday February 12, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld
TAILOR MADE A naïve apprentice and a hot, young master tailor are both interested in taking over a legendary tailor shop in Vancouver's Chinatown, but they'll have a hard time convincing the hard-working Wong brothers to retire.
Modernize Tailors opened in 1913, and in the 1950s Bill and Jack Wong
took over from their father. Over the years, they've created suits for
all occasions and for customers from all walks of life-from lumberjacks
and new immigrants to movie stars like Sean Connery and politicians
like Sam Sullivan, then Mayor of Vancouver. Now, a newer
generation is looking to make their mark and take over the Modernize
Tailors legacy. But will the 85-year-old Wong Brothers ever stop
working? Tailor Made was directed by Len Lee and Marsha
Newbery, and produced by Marsha Newbery of Realize Entertainment Inc.
It was commissioned by CBC Newsworld. Knowledge Network: Tailor Made http://tvschedule.knowledgenetwork.ca/knsch/KNSeriesPage.jsp?seriesID=101539&seriesTitle=tailormade
'Tailor Made' is being broadcast again in BC on Knowledge Network on the following dates:
- May 26/2009 10:00PM
- May 27/2009 2:00AM
- May 27/2009 7:00PM
Saturday, May 16
Gung Haggis Fat Choy, a scholarly take as alternative to the "Scottish Discursive Unconsious"
by
Todd
on Sat 16 May 2009 03:16 PM PDT
A New Perspective on the Scottish Diaspora
Source: www.arts.gla.ac.uk
Dr. Leith Davis of SFU Centre of Scottish Studies, writes that "Gung Haggis Fat Choy" bucks the trend of "Scottish Discursive Unconscious."
She writes: "In his contribution to the recent volume on Transatlantic Scots, Colin McArthur comments on what he calls the "Scottish Discursive Unconscious," a restricted range of "images, tones, rhetorical tropes, and ideological tendencies, often within utterances promulgated decades (sometimes even a century or more) apart"...
"There are indeed traces of the Scottish Discursive Unconscious at work in Vancouver....
"Gung Haggis Fat Choy takes many of the features of traditional Burns nights and gives them a non-traditional twist...The "Address to the Haggis" morphs into the "Rap to the Haggis," featuring Joe MacDonald and Todd Wong with a synthesized beat maker in the background." more »
Sunday, April 12
A Gung Haggis Gaelic Easter Greeting...
by
Todd
on Sun 12 Apr 2009 11:47 PM PDT
It's been too rainy and cloudy for me to go skiing at Silver Star this weekend. So I kayaked on Kalamalka Lake and helped walk the doggies up in Kalamalka Lake Park, where the snow still lies. Yesterday I went to Village Green Mall in Vernon, where people were buying Chocolates and in the food court, an Easter show for families consisted of trying to fit 12 members of the Vernon Girls Trumpet Band into a giant balloon. (photos to follow). After a week of Tartan Day/Scottish Week activities... and not having any Chinese food in recent memory... I am beginning to question my Easter heritage. Even though my great-great-grandfather was a Chinese United Church Minister, I never went to United Church for Easter. For many years, I was a member of Celebration of Life Centre, and Centre for Spiritual Living - both New Thought Churches. The only Chinese cultural event that I can think of, is giving Red Eggs at a dinner, one month after a baby is born. But this isn't necessarily related to Easter, except perhaps as a reminder of sucessful fertility in relation to Spring fertility rituals. I remember one childhood Easter where we received Easter baskets in Honolulu. There were always lots of Chocolate bunnies for Easter as a child, but the Honolulu baskets had the little fluffy toy chick decorations... That was cool. No grass skirts on Easter bunnies back in the 60's though. The Gung Haggis dragon boat team paddled this morning to Granville Island for Hot Chocolate and Coffee, and found some Easter Eggs. This is becoming a team tradition. My Irish-Canadian writer friend Terry Glavin sent me this email message, and a link to his website:
Gung Hay Beannachtaí na Cásca Fat Choy, comrade.
TG
Wednesday, April 1
Picture of Toddish McWong appears in Vancouver Sun article about Jason Kenney's views on Canadian identity, diversity and not giving money to specific immigrant cultural groups
by
Todd
on Wed 01 Apr 2009 11:55 PM PDT
This picture was created while Todd Wong was involved with the local CBC television performance special "Gung Haggis Fat Choy", based on the concepts of his annual Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner. This picture was reproduced in the Vancouver Sun today uncredited... even though it was first used by the Vancouver Sun, Dec 21, 2004, in the Mia Stainsby article "Have a taste of 2004". Recently, Jason Kenney waded into the discussion about Canadian identity, and immigration language classes, when he talked with editors at the Calgary Herald:
New Canadians, says Kenney, "have a duty to integrate." Further, he says, "We don't need the state to promote diversity. It is a natural part of our civil society."
more »
Monday, March 16
Jack Layton likes bagpipers following St. Patrick's Day parade for Vancouver's Celticfest
by
Todd
on Mon 16 Mar 2009 11:54 PM PDT
It's not everyday, you meet an important Canadian parliamentary leader in a pub on St. Patrick's Day... - but Jack Layton was in Vancouver for Celticfest and the St. Patrick's Day Parade
 Todd Wong, Jack Layton, Allan McMordie, Trish McMordie - photo T.Wong/T.Lam We had spent 3 hours in the cold preparing and walking in the parade
with the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Pipe & Drums, and Gung Haggis Fat
Choy dragon boat team, carrying a parade dragon, lion head masks and
dragon boat paddles. We were cold, and in need of warm food and
carbohydrate replenishment. Jack Layton, federal NDP leader had been in the parade too. He often
comes in August for Vancouver's Pride Parade. Jack said he was also in Vancouver to attend an event for Don Davies, MP for Vancouver Kensington.
I've known Don for a few years, when he first introduced himself to me at one of Meena Wong's dim sum luncheons (coincidence: Meena had been an assistant for Jack Layton's wife Olivia Chow in Toronto). Jack's wife is Chinese-Canadian MP, Olivia Chow, and they are also friends of Canadian author Joy Kogawa. Wow... Jack and Olivia are a real inter-cultural couple on a national scale! Very Gung Haggis! I had dim sum with Olivia in 2007, at one of Meena Wong's dim sum socials with Chinese head tax activists, see: Dim Sum with Olivia Chow in Vancouver
I asked Jack, if he had Scottish ancestry, which he affirmed. It was on Robbie
Burns Day, January 25th 2003, he became
federal leader of the NDP (New Democratic
Party"). If Robbie Burns was the ploughman's poet, then Jack Layton must be the workers' parliamentarian.
Layton's views of social democracy, probably
best represent Robert Burns's similar views - more
than the other federal leaders. Burns was such a progressive thinker of the Scottish enlightenment, that many of his views were not published until after his death - they would have been considered "that radical". Remember that during Burns' time, happening around him was the American Revolution, and the French Revolution, as Modern Democracy emerged. But 250 years later they fit very much into a social democratic world. Layton's great-granduncle, William Steeves, was a
Father of Confederation. Layton's own grandfather
Gilbert Layton was a cabinet minister in the
Quebec provincial government, and his father
Robert Layton was a Member of Parliament and
cabinet minister. Just as Jack Layton was preparing to leave the pub, our bagpipers started playing some songs. Jack took out his cell phone and started videoing them, then recorded a Happy St. Patrick's Day message. Maybe this will appear on his web page. I used my camera to record the action.
Check it this video:
 
Allan McMordie, Patricia
McMordie, David Murray -
bagpipers
Filmed by Jack Layton,
Tuesday, January 27
Photos from 2009 Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner
by
Todd
on Tue 27 Jan 2009 06:22 PM PST
Gung Haggis Fat Choy is always a wonderful event for photographs. Special thanks to our incredible photographers Patrick Tam, Lydia Nagai and VFK.
If you like their photos, please contact them and purchase them. We have asked them to put "water marks" on their photos, so that we will advertise and promote them.
They help us with our event, because they believe in the community work and social consciousness raising that we do. + PICTURES more »
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2010 GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY Dinner
January 31, 2010
Contact Firehall Arts Centre:
phone 604.689.0926
2010 prices
SINGLE TICKET
$60 + $5 service charge = $65
Student price is $50 + $4.50 = $54.50 (must show student high school or university ID)
Children's price is $40 + $4.00 = $44 (ages 13 and under).
Reservations for tables of 10
$600 + lower service charge
WHAT: GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner - 12th Annversary Dinner, celebrating 251st Anniversary of Robert Burns' birth + incoming Chinese New Year of the Tiger.
WHEN:
6PM January 31 2010, SUNDAY
doors open 5pm, Dinner 6pm
WHERE: Floata Chinese Restaurant,
#400-180 Keefer St.
Media Inquiries
Call Gung Haggis Productions / Todd Wong
direct: 778-846-7090
email: gunghaggis at yahoo dot ca
CULTURE:
Our Performers
create something special for us every year with traditional and contemporary performances featuring everything in-between and beyond!
FOOD: A quirky fusion/mix/buffet of
Scottish Canadian and Chinese Canadian culture 10 course Chinese banguet dinner
2004 - The debut of Gung Haggis Won-Ton
2005 - Haggis lettuce wrap!
2007 - Haggis dim sum appetizer buffet
2008 - Scotch tastings! + debut of Gung Haggis parade dragon!
2009 - debut of Gung Haggis Fat Choy Pipes & Drums band + auction of 37 year old special edition Famous Grouse whisky + scotch tastings of Famous Grouse, The Macallan and Highland Park.
Watch for more surprises in 2010!
Description of 2009 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner
co-hosted with CBC News anchor Gloria Macarenko and Media colunist Catherine Barr
featuring performers: bagpiper Joe McDonald and Mad Celts, Silk Road Music's Qiu Xia He and Andre Thibault, Opera Soprano Heather Pawsey and DJ Timothy Wisdom, BC Book Prize winner Vancouver poet Rita Wong + poet traslator Tommy Tao, Playwright Adrienne Wong and a scene from "Mixie and The Half-Breeds"
Description of 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner
co-hosted with Media colunist Catherine Barr
featuring performers: , celtic band Blackthorn, bagpiper Joe McDonald and Brave Waves, Ji-Rong Huang on erhu, Film maker Ann-Marie Fleming, Vancouver poet laureate George McWhirter, Playwright Grace Chin and a scene from "The Quickie"
Description of 2007 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner
co-hosted with CBC Radio's Priya Ramu,
featuring performers:
Silk Road Music,
Heather Pawsey,
Brave Waves,
Leora Cashe,
No Luck Club,
Dr. Ian Mason (Burns Club of Vancouver)
Lensey Namioka - Author "Half and Half"
Margaret Gallagher,
"Twisting Fortunes" (sneak preview of play)
Description of 2006 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner
with co-host with CityTV's Prem Gill
featuring performers:
Rick Scott & Harry Wong, The Shirleys, Joe McDonald & Brave Waves, Sean Gunn, author Joy Kogawa,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team
for lots of summer fun, fitness and friendship. We are a social team full of cultural vigor, that likes to eat.
We have been featured on television, local, national and international. We have a unique and internationally famous fundraiser dinner event.
We practice starting March
Sunday 1:30 pm -3:30 pm
Tuesday 6pm-7:45pm
We meet at Dragon Zone clubhouse - just south of Science World in Creekside Park above the Aquabus and dragon boat docks.
Our coach Todd Wong has 15+ years of experience including novice, recreational and competitive levels, and both community and corporate teams.
Our 2008 season took us to races in Burnaby, Vancouver, Vernon, Vancouver Taiwanese race, UBC, Ft. Langley.
It was our strongest team ever and we are proud of our race performances.
For more information:
Click on
Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team information
phone: 778-846-7090
e-mail: gunghaggis at yahoo dot ca
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