by Susanne Tabata
The NAJC is currently in talks with the BC provincial government to determine a set of legacy initiatives for the community. On July 9, 2020 the NAJC met to present a list of NAJC BC Redress Legacy Initiatives to the BC Premier’s office Chief of Staff Geoff Meggs and Hon. Minister of Citizens’ Services Anne Kang. Presenting at the meeting were Paul Kariya, Lorene Oikawa, and Susanne Tabata. Premier John Horgan dropped in on the meeting to voice his support for our community.
Additional analysis is being provided by Dr. Audrey Kobayashi for population data; and further fiscal analysis is being done by the Institute of Fiscal Studies in Democracy in Ottawa – under the direction of Kevin Page & Sahir Kahn.
The NAJC will provide a more detailed update in the fall. Herein is a progress report.
THEMES
The five key areas are: health & wellness; combatting racism & acknowledgement; education; heritage assets + living heritage; culture & community building.
The list of ‘asks’ – extracted from a report written by Susanne Tabata & Paul Noble – follow months of research in the community to validate original themes in the November 15, 2019 Recommendations Report. The original report consisted of themes: education; combatting racism; public awareness through memorialization; funding to support community programming, health and wellness; and the importance of a formal acknowledgement of the province’s role.
TIMELINE
This presentation to the BC Government was the culmination of the following events:
• November 15, 2019 – Submission of Redressing Historical Wrongs Community Consultations Report presented along 5 themes: education; combatting racism; public awareness through memorialization; funding to support community programming, health and wellness; and the importance of a formal acknowledgement of the province’s role.
• January 2020 – several informal meetings with Liberal and NDP MLAs and Ministers in their offices to introduce them to the NAJC’s project.
• January 2020 – Commencement of meetings with BC Japanese Canadian community organizations and individuals to validate asks along original five themes.
• February 7, 2020 – NAJC meeting with TAC Assistant Deputy Minister Asha Baht to review government’s response to report. (Notes received from Government on March 13)
• May 1, 2020 – Delivery to NAJC National Executive Board and BC Redress Strat Team of 37 page report BC Redress Asks Development Political & Communications Road Map written by Paul Noble and Susanne Tabata (forthcoming public facing report will be published in the fall).
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT & CONSIDERATIONS
Building on the work of the 2019 community consultations and Redressing Historical Wrongs Community Consultations Report, the ‘asks’ reflect input from all BC Japanese Canadian community stakeholders and are inclusive of the feedback from the BC Government to the initial report. These consultations were conducted by Susanne Tabata and Paul Noble.
A challenge in developing the asks was to be able to align the thematic suggestions taken from individual consultations , with the community organization which would be administering any particular ‘ask’. In addition the reasonableness of the ‘ask’ was measured.
A vast majority of stakeholders want to have access to a community fund for their projects and programming. Some organizations with infrastructure in place were able to articulate specific projects.
The NAJC is mindful of the relationships that certain organizations have with the BC Government – ie: initiatives led by Laura Saimoto of the Vancouver Japanese Language School – and takes a position of support and non-interference.
The NAJC is also aware that any negotiations for the Powell Street neighbourhood must be directed through the subcommittee of JCs working with the City of Vancouver, as directed by the BC Government in response to the original recommendations report. In addition, the Powell Street Festival Society has taken a clear position to not ‘ask’ for a building in the area.
The NAJC recognizes that there is a large percentage of the community who lives outside of BC as a result of these historical wrongs. To that end we are supporting the construction of a monument which names all JCs who were removed from the coast; advocating for a exportable seniors’ health package to include culturally competent care; supporting the development of education tools which can be digitally accessed; and promoting the support of the digital hub for archives.
Most importantly, the NAJC recognizes the work done by the Apology Legacy Committee – Tosh Suzuki and Roy Inouye – which led to the 2012 BC Apology as presented by MLA Naomi Yamamoto. Any additional acknowledgement by the BC government would build on this apology.
Our goal was to address blind spots in the community, and to ensure that the NAJC is very clear about its position with respect to representing the interests of individuals and organizations in our BC communities, and by extension – our community nationwide. Our list of engagement includes the following consultations:
• Steveston Community – Kelvin Higo
• Dan Nomura
• GVJCCA – Judy Hanazawa & Kathy Shimizu
• NAJC Toronto Chapter – Lynn Kobayashi & Ron Shimizu
• Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society – Tsugio Kurushima
• Vernon Japanese Cultural Society – Rick Ogasawara
• Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association – George Uyeda
• 7 Potatoes/Ucluelet Museum – Eiko Eby
• Nikkei National Museum – Sherri Kajiwara
• Nikkei Cultural Centre – Karah Goshinmon
• Nikkei Seniors – Ruth Coles
• Nikkei Seniors – Cathy Makihara
• Tonari Gumi – David Iwassa
• Powell Street Festival Society – Emiko Morita
• Vancouver Japanese Language School – Laura Saimoto
• New Denver – Mayor Leonard Casley
• Simon Fraser University – Kirsten McAllister
• University of Victoria – Karen Kobayashi, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences
• Landscapes of Injustice, UVic – Jordan Stanger Ross
• Howard Shimokura
• Hastings Park – Dan Tokawa