What is the Redress Express, and what does it have to do with racism? 2007 is a significant year for anniversaries in Asian-Canadian history: 1907 - 100 year anniversary of the Chinatown riots by the Anti-Asiatic League 1947 - the end of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the beginning of franchise rights including voting for Canadians of Chinese ancestry. ~~~~~~~~~~ - Sid Chow Tan is now an "Artist" after his brief 5 minute talk & 10 minute video presentatsion of the journey of Head Tax Redress; Hank Bull (curator plus) stated that "If Sid's video isn't art, then I don't know what is!" - Victor Wong had an excellent talk on Head Tax & Redress titled "True Grits, Kwan Gung and Luck: The Inside Stories of the Head Tax Redress Campaign"   more »

Dim Sum with Olivia Chow in Vancouver


Olivia Chow and Todd Wong (center) with Barry Morley (left) and Mary-Woo Sims (right) - photo Todd Wong Collection

Olivia Chow came to Vancouver, ditched husband Jack Layton, and attended Meena Wong's monthly Dim Sum networking lunch at Rich Ocean Restaurant.  Actually, Jack Layton attended the Pride brunch, as Jack and Olivia attend Pride parades across Canada.  Meena has known Layton and Chow from her time living in Toronto, and is now continuing to handle communications and community building in Vancouver's Chinese language community for the NDP.  I've known Meena since 2002, when soon after arriving in Vancouver, she came to help volunteer for Asian Heritage Month events organized by explorASIAN.


Meena Wong and Olivia Chow addressing 40 people at Rich Ocean restaurant on Saturday- photo Todd Wong

The crowds came out to welcome Olivia to Vancouver.  Libby Davies MP for Vancouver East, dropped in to say hello.  COPE organizer Mel Lehan and his wife attended. Victor Wong, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council was in town.  Sid Tan, Sean Gunn and Ron Mah of the Chinese Head Tax Families Society attended.  Even Faye Leung dropped in.  In all there were about 40 people.

I had a nice chat with Olivia.  Meena had seated us at the same table.  I knew she would be interested in hearing about the CBC documentary Generations: The Chan Legacy.  And she was also very interested to learn more about Gung Haggis Fat Choy - which she would love to attend, if and when I bring my Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner to Toronto.


Olivia joins Vancouver's head tax descendants for a picture: standing: ??, Mary, Ron Mah, Olivia Chow, Sid Tan, Faye Leung, Todd Wong; sitting: Sid Wong, Sean Gunn, Victor Wong (executive director of Chinese Canadian National Council) + head tax redress supporter  Mary-Woo Sims.

The federal NDP was the first national party to recognize the importance of redress for Chinese Canadian head tax issue.  Olivia recognized that it was Margaret Mitchell who first brought the issue to Canadian Parliament in 1984.  Olivia also supported the calls for Chinese Head Tax redress, as head tax became an issue in the 2006 federal election.  She also supports and inclusive redress that would honour every head tax equally, not just for the surviving head tax payers and their spouses, but also the head tax certificates that were left in the hands of the daughters, sons and grandchildren when the original head tax payers couldn't live to see the federal apology by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Powell St. Festival 2007 - Always lots to see and do!


Is this Todd Wong?  He's wearing a Gung Haggis Fat Choy shirt and he's Chinese-looking...  I tlooks like he's hawking haggis won-ton...

Noooo!!!!  It's Todd's friend Walter Quan... and he is holding up his famous sushi and won-ton cnadles that he sells at the Powell Street Festival every year.

Lots to see and do at the Powell Street Festival.  Great arts, entertainment, history and culture displays.  It integrates traditional and contemporary Japanese-Canadian cultures with the Downtown Eastside and the historic sites of Japantown.