PQ leader Andre Boisclair has called Asians "yeux bridés"
which translates as "slanted eyes." He is not making an apology
for this racist slur. He says it is an acceptable term in french
language. The Chinese-Canadian National Council
has called on Boisclair to apologize. He is refusing. Even
May Chiu the Chinese-Canadian born in Quebec who ran as a Bloc
Quebecois candidate in the 2006 federal election against Paul Martin
has said that ""yeux bridés" is a derogatory term and she will review her membership in the PQ party.
Is
Boisclair living in the dark ages? There used to be a time when
the term "coloured person" was acceptable in society... or "chink"...
or "blackie"... Communication is about people understanding the
message you are trying to convey, not telling people they are wrong for
misunderstanding you. This is why racism is wrong and
hurtful. Imagine telling somebody that because they don't like
the term you call them, you are not wrong - they are! Maybe
Boisclair should read the book "Black Like Me (1961)" by John Howard Griffin, to discover what it is like to walk in the shoes of non-white people.
I
have been called many names as I have grown up such as: Chink,
Chinaman, Nip, Nipper, Boat people, and more. Many times they
were uttered by people who were ignorant, frustrated or angry.
Sometimes they were said by British immigrants to Canada.
Sometimes they were said by multigenerational Canadians. I
consider myself 5th generation Canadian, after my
great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan came to Canada in 1896.
Boisclair's comment is similar to the 1985 Campus Giveaway story run on CTV's W5 program which resulted in the historic W5 protest
by Chinese Canadians across Canada. Just because people have
Asian features and could be immigrants or foreign students doesn't mean
they aren't actually multi-generational Canadians of Asian ancestry,
born in Quebec!
See below for some of the newstories + statements from the CCNC.
March 16, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CCNC Slams PQ Leader On “Slanting Eyes” Comment
TORONTO. Chinese Canadians today slammed Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair for his refusal to correct his offensive description of Asian students as having “slanting eyes.” Mr. Boisclair was speaking to Quebec students on the topic of global competition on Wednesday when he said: "The reality is these countries are not just working to create jobs in sweatshops. When I was in Boston , where I spent a year, I was surprised to see that on campus about one-third of the students doing their bachelor's degrees had slanting eyes.”
"These are not people going to work in sweatshops. They are people who will later become engineers and managers who create richness. There is a ferocious competition happening in the world today. What I would like to do is equip you and equip Quebec to face (the challenge)." Source: Montreal Gazette: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=307e19e1-f727-4086-9ef1-d899d2852706&p=2
“We were extremely disappointed to learn that Mr. Boisclair did not avail himself of the opportunity yesterday to correct himself and simply withdraw the remarks,” Colleen Hua, CCNC National President said today. “Mr. Boisclair’s failure to recognize his harmful comments and his refusal to make amends calls into question his suitability to be the next Premier of Quebec.”
“How can he defend the interests of all Quebecers when he fails to recognize the harmful nature of his words.”
In response to questions about whether the term is derogatory, CCNC cited two dictionary references:
From: http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SLANTEYE
Noun: slant-eye slant I
1.
(slang) a disparaging term for an Asian person (especially for North Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam War)
- gook [N. Amer]
Derived forms: slant-eyes
Type of: Oriental [archaic], oriental person
From: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slant
slant-eye Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. an Oriental person, esp. a Chinese or Japanese.
“Mr. Boisclair has alienated some of his supporters including members of his party’s campaign with his lack of sensitivity,” Victor Wong, CCNC Executive Director said today. “Is it acceptable to refer to school children as students with slanting eyes?
“If they are a source of amazement to Mr. Boisclair, then why not be more respectful and just refer to us as Asian Canadians or Asian Quebecers?”
While the French expression « yeux bridés » may have a nuance, it is clear that
many Asian Canadians are offended. CCNC urges Mr. Boisclair
to seize this opportunity during this Action Week Against
Racism in Quebec
to correct himself, that is, to withdraw his harmful comments, and to do so
immediately.
CCNC is a community leader for Chinese Canadians in promoting a more
just, respectful, and inclusive society. CCNC is a national non-profit
organization with 27 chapters across
Canada with a mandate to promote
the equality rights and full participation of our community members in all
aspects of Canadian society.
-30-
For more information, please contact Victor Wong at (416) 977-9871.
end
'No way' will Boisclair apologize for remarks
From Friday's Globe and Mail
QUEBEC — Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair refused to apologize yesterday for referring to Asians as having "slanted eyes," even as he faced criticism from Asian-Canadian and other groups that the comments were offensive.
The Chinese Canadian National Council said Mr. Boisclair should withdraw his words, which it said were disrespectful and traded on caricatures. And a Montreal civil-rights group said the PQ Leader should apologize because the remarks betrayed "racial bias."
"It's a character issue," said Victor Wong, executive director of the council, which has members in Quebec . "You're aspiring to be premier, and aspiring to be premier of all of us. To refer to Asian students as having slanting eyes is offensive."
Mr. Boisclair said during a campaign speech to students on Wednesday that they would face growing competition from emerging powerhouses like India and China . He said he was struck by the large number of Asian students while he was completing his one-year master's degree at Harvard University in Boston .
Related to this article
Articles 
- Boisclair remarks on 'slanted eyes'
- Rough ride for Charest campaign
- Angry taxpayer corners Charest
- Debate's overpass accusation ensnares Dumont
- Charest sideswiped by memo on overpass
Photogalleries 
Interactives 
Internet Links 
- Video: Boisclair
will not apologise
- Video: Quebec debate
- Blog: Dan Cook blogs the campaign
- Election countdown
Mr. Boisclair studied at the John F. Kennedy School of Government before running for the PQ leadership in 2005.
"I was surprised to see that on campus, about a third of the undergraduate students had slanted eyes," he said.
"They're not going to work in sweatshops. They're people who will later work as engineers, managers, and will create wealth. They're people who will innovate in their countries. There is ferocious competition in the world today."
The PQ has spent years trying to build bridges with ethnic minorities, who have traditionally backed the Liberal Party, and Mr. Boisclair has tried to make inclusiveness and tolerance one of his selling points since his election as PQ leader in 2005.
Yesterday, faced with repeated questions from reporters, Mr. Boisclair said he stood by his remarks and didn't understand why a fuss was being made, since he has used the "slanted eyes" phrase repeatedly in stump speeches in the past.
"There's no way I will apologize," he told reporters during a campaign stop in Quebec City . He said he used the expression because "these people are a source of amazement for me. I've been to Japan ; they are my friends, my colleagues. No way I will apologize."
Asked why he was referring to the Japanese, when he had talked about Chinese students the day before, Mr. Boisclair said he meant students from various Asian countries.
Mr. Boisclair was speaking French to a classroom of university students when he referred to "yeux bridés," which translates as slanted or slanting eyes. He suggested yesterday the term might have a more negative connotation in English than in French.
"I'm doing politics, not linguistics," he said, adding that he believes "Quebeckers are 100 per cent behind me" on the issue. Even Mr. Boisclair's rivals said they think he did not intend any malice.
"He might have used a better choice of words, but I know Mr. Boisclair enough to know his intention was not to be disrespectful," Liberal Leader Jean Charest said.
The issue has become a distraction for Mr. Boisclair. While the French media have reported the comments, most of the questions yesterday came from English-language reporters.
Fo Niemi of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, a Montreal civil-rights group, said he was surprised to hear the remarks come from Mr. Boisclair, whom he considered a socially progressive leader from a new generation of Quebec sovereigntists.
Mr. Niemi said he called the PQ yesterday to simply alert them to what he considered the inappropriateness of Mr. Boisclair's remarks. But then he said the party's director of communications for the election campaign, Shirley Bishop, aggressively told him over the phone that she saw nothing wrong with the comment and blamed "people like you" for making racism an issue.
That's when Mr. Niemi said he decided to issue a news release condemning Mr. Boisclair's comments.
"It's a very derogatory remark and very racially offensive," Mr. Niemi said in an interview, adding that the comments were ill considered at a time when Quebec needs to increase ties with the economies of Asia and India .
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070316.wxboisclair16/BNStory/National/home
March 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CCNC Calls on PQ Leader To Correct “Slanting Eyes” Comment
TORONTO. The Chinese Canadian National Council called on Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair to clarify comments attributed to him in the Montreal Gazette and Globe and Mail today:
From Montreal Gazette:
PQ leader sees Asian rivalry
In speaking to students yesterday, Andre Boisclair warned that the working world they will graduate into is totally different from the one of their parents, but wound up using an unusual turn of phrase. He said in an open economy, competition from emerging economies like India and China is stiff. Every year, 80,000 young people leave India and 60,000 leave China to go to study in the United States .
"The reality is these countries are not just working to create jobs in sweatshops. When I was in Boston , where I spent a year, I was surprised to see that on campus about one-third of the students doing their bachelor's degrees had slanting eyes.
"These are not people going to work in sweatshops. They are people who will later become engineers and managers who create richness. There is a ferocious competition happening in the world today. What I would like to do is equip you and equip Quebec to face (the challenge)."
© The Gazette ( Montreal ) 2007
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=307e19e1-f727-4086-9ef1-d899d2852706&p=2
“It is rather disappointing to hear Mr. Boisclair,
and an aspiring Premier at that, refer to students of Asian heritage in this
manner,” Colleen Hua, CCNC National President said today. “Indeed,
it is ironic that today marks the start of Action Week Against
Racism in Quebec .”
“So we are taking action in asking Mr. Boisclair
to correct his statement immediately.”
CCNC is a community leader for Chinese Canadians in promoting a more just, respectful, and inclusive society. CCNC is a national non-profit organization with 27 chapters across Canada with a mandate to promote the equality rights and full participation of our community members in all aspects of Canadian society.
-30-
For more information, please contact Victor Wong at (416) 977-9871.
From Montreal Gazette:
PQ leader sees Asian rivalry
In speaking to students yesterday, Andre Boisclair warned that the working world they will graduate into is totally different from the one of their parents, but wound up using an unusal turn of phrase. He said in an open economy, competition from emerging economies like India and China is stiff. Every year, 80,000 young people leave India and 60,000 leave China to go to study in the United States .
"The reality is these countries are not just working to create jobs in sweatshops. When I was in Boston , where I spent a year, I was surprised to see that on campus about one-third of the students doing their bachelor's degrees had slanting eyes.
"These are not people going to work in sweatshops. They are people who will later become engineers and managers who create richness. There is a ferocious competition happening in the world today. What I would like to do is equip you and equip Quebec to face (the challenge)."
© The Gazette ( Montreal ) 2007
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=307e19e1-f727-4086-9ef1-d899d2852706&p=2
From Globe and Mail:
Boisclair remarks on 'slanted eyes'
MONTREAL -- Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair said during a speech on global competitiveness that he was surprised to see so many students "with slanted eyes" when he was studying at Harvard University .
Speaking to university students in Trois-Rivières yesterday about growing competition from emerging economies such as India and China , he said he had witnessed the trend firsthand while on a master's program at Harvard.
Mr. Boisclair studied at the John F. Kennedy School of Government before running for the PQ leadership in 2005.
"When I was at Harvard, where I spent a year, I was surprised to see that on campus, about a third of the undergraduate students had slanted eyes," he said to a large classroom packed with students. He went on to say that 80,000 students from India and 60,000 from China study in the United States yearly.
"They're not going to work in sweatshops. They're people who will later work as engineers, managers, and will create wealth. They're people who will innovate in their countries. There is ferocious competition in the world today."
Mr. Boisclair also told the students they had benefited from the language battles their parents' generation had fought.
"The English sales ladies at Eaton's . . . you didn't live through that," he said, evoking a rich symbol of English dominance in Quebec .
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070315.QUEBECEYES15/TPStory/National
