Canada News
Anti-Asian racism floats in Canadian political scene amid COVID-19 crisis
As Canada joins the different parts of the world in battling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, the issue of racism surfaced in politics, particularly for the Asian community.
“Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, has failed Canadians. Dr. Tam must go! Canada must remain sovereign over decisions. The UN, the WHO, and Chinese Communist propaganda can never again have a say over Canada’s public health!” this was how Derek Sloan, Conservative Minister of Parliament for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, captioned his online video commentary posted on April 22.
He demanded Tam’s dismissal, questioning if she is working for “Canada or China.”
As of writing, the video has not been taken down despite the backlash it received for his supposed racism versus Tam, a Hong Kong-born Chinese.
Canada’s face in this health crisis, Tam is described by the federal government as “a physician with expertise in immunization, infectious disease, emergency preparedness, and global health security.” She’s been working as the top doctor of the government since 2017 and has played key roles in Canada’s response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), pandemic influenza H1N1, and Ebola.
‘Without apology’
In a recent statement, Sloan stood firm by his stand and emphasized that he did not and is not “questioning Dr. Tam’s loyalty to Canada. There was no intention to question it. In addition, I never once mentioned Dr. Tam’s race or sex.”
He said that the question regarding whether she works “for Canada” or “for China” was a rhetorical question. Sloan also said that he was not questioning Tam’s loyalty but was questioning her and the Prime Minister’s “competency to do the job, not their motives.”
As reported by Quente News, Sloan also insisted that his “comments were about serious mistakes made by Dr. Tam early on in the COVID-19 crisis and had absolutely nothing to do with race, ethnicity, or gender.”
He explained that it is his job to “speak the truth” and said that the media just turns any comment “into a charge of racism.”
Focus on COVID-19
Tam, for her part, had said that she is a “pretty focused person” and this is why right now she is just focused to work with her colleagues “to get this epidemic wave under control.”
“I don’t let noise sort of detract me from that,” she added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also lambasted the “intolerance and racism” of Sloan.
“Millions of Canadians of all different backgrounds who are working together—many, many of them on the front lines to help their fellow Canadians—deserve better than this,” he had said last week.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to comment on the issue last week, but on Monday, April 27, aired out in a press conference, that he does not agree with Sloan’s position and that that is also not the position of the caucus.
“I believe it not appropriate to question someone’s loyalty to their country. I believe that is a very serious accusation that you have to have some very substantial evidence to make,” Scheer added.
Petition vs Sloan
An online petition by Justin Fung in change.org is making rounds against Sloan in regard to his stand.
The petition mainly demands three things:
- Derek Sloan and the Conservative Party of Canada apologize to Canadians and Dr. Theresa Tam for Sloan’s racist statements against her.
- Derek Sloan’s immediate resignation as MP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington.
- Andrew Scheer and the Conservative caucus remove Derek Sloan from the Conservative Party and remove him immediately as a MP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington.
As of May 1, the signature count has reached almost 11,000.
Fung’s petition can be found on this link.
