In the last month or so, my hometown of Victoria BC (Canada) has been the middle of a human rights controversy, but the most disturbing thing is that it hasn't even been a controversy. The oppression has been unanimous. You see, on August 9, 1999 an unmarked boat carrying a cargo of 123 Chinese people landed off the coast of BC, and were subsequently taken to Victoria, home of the Western Canadian Navy. The people were locked up in large cages (in full view of the public); the local press was brutal. Another such boat, this one with 131 people landed in the Queen Charlotte Islands six days later. The local newspaper, The Times Colonist, a traditionally biased paper published by Southam Publishing has been completely unprofessional during this entire issue, of course instigating an anti-immigrant fervor among Victoria residents. A phone poll this newspaper held resulted in a 3362 to 105 vote to deport these people, a number not surprising considering that in the two weeks of this situation, the newspaper has published 87 articles condemning these people and zero articles in defense of them. It is the most biased situation I believe The Times Colonist has ever produced. They bring up points about how they are criminals, and how much it will cost us, but nowhere do they have room for rebuttal. Nor does the TC bring up the history of this kind of situation, history of Chinese immigrants in BC, interview anyone with credibility, or even treat them as human beings. The humanitarian element has been ignored; the opposition almost non-existent, yet everybody I talk to whom is for deportation changes their mind after they hear the real facts.

In the same article, one published on August 12, 1999, the reporter both says that they are suspected gang members and part of some plot to saturate Canada with immigrants, and later says that they have revealed nothing and there are no clues to their identities at all. This utter hypocrisy amazes me, there is a four times greater chance of them being clergymen than that of them being gang members. Many of these people are children under the age of 12, how can we call them criminals or gang members? The "gang" which the TC references is a Korean gang anyway, if they would research their story they might get it right. Or are we to assume that all Asian people are the same, except for North Koreans who actually have horns and pitchforks. The now popular sentiment is that these people will disappear and join gangs or kill babies or whatever it is that Asians do, when China, in particular the Fujiyan province has a tremendously lower crime rate than Canada. The TC fails to mention at any point that in this situation the smugglers are to be deported and the refugees are to be allowed limited citizenship, and are to be deported if caught even socializing with known criminals, as stated in the refugee act. This point quells that fears of the evil Chinese criminals we are faced with, but there are many other points to be heard, such as the economic factor.

A few days ago the cover story was a mother with her handicapped daughter. This mother apparently cried when she found out how much these people are costing us, while her daughter, who can't hear or speak or walk needs some sort of medicine. The story further illustrates the poor coverage by the Times Colonist, who reported that the BC taxpayers will be "clobbered with a cost of 5.6 million dollars" over a period of three years in the worst case scenario. The mother of this child fails to realize, and the TC fails to mention the real issues. To begin with, if these refugees did not show up then that money would not have gone to her retarded child, such a thought is a fallacy. This woman is seen as humanitarian simply because she wants money to go to "special needs children", when in fact the opposite of that is true, how can she be a humanitarian when she is putting her deformed child's situation above the lives of 254 people's lives? Such a mindset is horrible, as is the notation that these people will cost us over 5.5 million dollars. Fine, we may spend that much, but elementary economics states that the money will go right back into the economy. How did we end the depression? We increased spending, these people are not financial black holes, and they will spend this money in the community while getting their sandal clad feet on the ground. The money is already spent, deporting them would be making sure we do not get that money back, letting them stay gets our money back, as well as increases population, GDP, and tax money. Some are scared that these people will take our jobs, classrooms, and lives into their grasps, which is the same sort of rhetoric spouted off about Nazis, Russians, or Arabs. This is of course simply not the case. Often the Chinese have their own economic subsect, which people who speak no English will of course go to immediately, so no white people will lose their jobs, which is of course beside the point. As I argued to my own mother, there is not just a certain number of jobs, school seats, or houses, and once this number is full then we are all out of luck. The fact is that if Universities get full, more classes will be added. If every job is taken then that will create more jobs. Financially this will boost our economy tremendously, not to mention the work ethic and education levels of the general Chinese populous. But the most important economic point is how 5.6 million dollars is such an outrage. Even if this money were put into a vacuum, it would still be a non-issue because the real issue when people are upset because they have no money is where the majority of it goes. To pinpoint this 5.6 million is ridiculous considering the billions spent without media mention despite the available facts on other things? Every year we spend billions on American corporate bailouts, faster ferries, overseas "aid" (and if you think that the money is worthwhile simply look at what happened in Somalia with our troops), political pensions, etc. Here are a few figures, most from Statistics Canada (www.statcan.ca):

• Amount of money owed in the BC Trade Deficit by 1996: $8,600,000,000.00
• Amount of money the Saskatchewan government spent to eliminate royalties for corporations: $4,500,000,000.00
• Amount of money owed by corporations in back taxes to the Canadian government from 1974-1987: $125,000,000,000.00
• Amount of money sued for by Ethyl Corp on the Canadian government for banning harmful gasoline additives: $350,000,000.00
• Amount of money in service receipts recorded by the BC government regarding international relations, 1998: $45,901,000,000.00
• Amount of money spent by the BC government regarding foreign deposit aid: $101,948,000,000.00
• Amount of money spent by the BC government regarding corporate claims in 1998: $537,416,000,000.00
• Amount of money spent by the BC government regarding private business expenditures: $20,896,400,000.00
• Percentage of Canadian debt which can be attributed to Social Services: 6

The real issue is why we are not made aware of how much money the BC Government gives companies, wastes on useless projects, or spends on foreign pomp on a yearly basis. To focus on such a nominal amount of capital is absurd. Our population in BC is 3,933,273 as of 1998 according to StatsBC. Now, without taking into account the amount of money which will be put back into our economy by these people or their taxes or other miscellaneous figures, we can extrapolate the cost to each person in BC, give or take a thousandth of a cent. $5,600,000 divided by 3,933,273 works out to be $1.424 per person over three years, so $0.4746. This not counting money we get back or international immigration funds, government programs, money circulation, etc. Just for reference, the cost of American business expenditures ($20,896,400,000.00) to each BC taxpayer works out to be $5312.7256 over a period of ten years, so $531.27 per year per person. This is of course absurd, because various funds and government institutions cushions the blow of all debts, the cost per person for American business is in fact about $4 per year, so by the same numbers (which is of course untrue, but the difference between dividing figures would be negligible) the cost to us from the immigrants directly is $0.00357 per year in exchange for 254 lives, so the price we are paying per life is $0.000014068. $0.000014068 per life is the "clobbering" the Times Colonist so melodramatically refers to.

The history of the situation and of Chinese migrants should also be addressed. We are to think that this is a new thing, and suddenly we will be over run with a yellow plague, but we say this because we cannot open our eyes. In the last hundred years such ships have come here almost a hundred times (estimated at 87 ships in the last century, 48 in the last twenty years), the only reason we hear about it now is so the TC can sell newspapers during a slow news period. In the past these questions we cut and dry and dealt with in a humanitarian way. How can we propagate the notion that Canada is such a great place to live and that China, and moreover Communism is wicked and undesirable, and then get mad when the Chinese want to live here. Canada is one of the least densely populated countries in the world (according to Statistics Canada, BC has 4.4 people per square kilometer as of 1996), certainly the least in the first world, so who are we to say that there is no room? Especially in BC, a province built on Chinese slave labor. Or are we not supposed to mention that? The railways, highways, buildings, cities, trails, etc are all here because of either Chinese slave or wage labor. The Buchart Gardens, Empress Hotel, Legislative Buildings, Craigdarroch Castle...all from Chinese slavery. These facts are notoriously omitted from our history, and are the backbone of our being here. And while I am on the fact of the history of migrants, I wonder what the Natives think about this? I brought the point up with my mother, and she responded "that was different, we conquered them." Such indoctrination is impressive, and at the same time saddening. The Native issue aside because that is a separate issue, it does relate that fact that we have no right to say 'this is our land so leave', we are all migrants (with apologies to those of you who are natives and are reading this). Yet again, this point is failed to be brought up despite its relevancy because it is contrary to the media right wing monopolization. How can we expect an impartial media when one man owns 85% of newspapers and 20% of television channels? The one sidedness is amazing.

Let us look at the type of people whose opinions are expressed in the TC from day to day. Yes, they have the voices of the people, which would be admirable if they reported fairly to ensure true free opinions on behalf of the people, but the people interviewed often have no ties with the situation. There have only been a few educated people interviewed, not once a left wing or central figure. There have been no historians, no humanitarians, just a few Asian studies professors. Asian studies are extremely relevant, but not as much as a lawyer, historian, or political scientist. Such one sided interviewing ensures the public voice is even more harmonized. The headlines themselves have been equally brutal. One August 18^th, the headline read in extremely large letters GO HOME above a picture of a pretty Chinese girl, looking sad behind a fence. Such prejudice is bound to create public hatred. "We have our own native, elderly and poor people who are Canadian born and need our assistance," says Rick McBride of Sidney. First of all, notice the anti-native sentiment, comparing them to the weak parts of the population. Secondly, who are we to say that a Canadian is more important than a Chinese person is? Are we to assume that their being here will physically take help and medicine away from those who need it? The thought of that is incredible, again the real issue is distribution of funds and resources and we are not told the main drains on such. Finally, if we did divert help directly from the elderly etc then worst case scenario a couple of people become more ill and a Canadian dies, meanwhile 254 Chinese people live. Let's say we send them back, for no cost mind you, the elderly etc still suffer, one life is prolonged, meanwhile the immigrants are shipped back, end of story. Oh no wait, it isn't. The 254 people including women and children would be executed for fleeing Fujiyan illegally with the help of the Koreans and then making the front page of the newspaper. If the scenario were as described by this Rick McBride I would call him a coward, and his opinions would be the exact same as the Nazis. Not meaning to attack you personally Mr. McBride, you are simply the one who's letter was published, you are one of very many. Susan Cottier, of Brentwood Bay says, "As each new boat arrives I get angrier and angrier. If they can't apply to come here as everyone else does, then to hell with them. Turn the boat around and give it a shove." I assume that Mrs. Cottier misses Belzen. In no way have these people affected her, yet her racism leads her into ignorance and profanity. She assumes that 1) someone who comes here legally is good and illegally is evil, and that 2) you can leave the Fujiyan province, which of course you cannot. It is in fact forbidden to even leave to countryside to the city, let alone another country. But if Mrs. Cottier would take the time to make her racist rant a well-constructed one she would know that. And to illustrate my point further, C. Spooner soundly suggests "Send them back. If Immigration won't do it bill the federal government. If the feds won't pay, every citizen of BC should refuse to pay their taxes this April." Now, I would suggest sending Mr. C. Spooner back to where he came from, but Dachau stopped taking resumes sixty years ago. Mr. C. Spooner's opinion of the Albanian situation would be an interesting one to hear. You see, because of world opinion, we gladly took in thousands of Albanians who were illegal refugees. Not only that, we flew them and their families in, gave them houses, clothing, food, money, and transportation and are now giving them jobs, at a cost of a mere hundred or so million. But Mr. C. Spooner's valued opinion was omitted on the subject, perhaps next time the immigrants will stop being so damn Chinese, huh Mr. C. Spooner? Finally, Mr. Wood of Victoria states his worldly view. "Hard decisions have to be made, otherwise what is so attractive about our country will be buried under a mass of humanity that will swamp our resources." Well what is so attractive about Canada is completely subjective Mr. Wood. I believe what is so attractive about our country is freedom and multiculturalism. Since when is 254 people a mass of humanity, and please do not give the typical response that there are more on their way. The second ship was two weeks into voyage and under radio blackout when the first arrived, the notion of a conspiracy against Canada is absurd. These people among many others interviewed are not necessarily unintelligent; they are simply reacting to the facts, which they have been presented with.

What is also shocking is the American reaction to this situation. Reports are that the Americans off the coast of Japan captured a third ship. What right does the United States have to do this? If France hijacked a ship in the Pacific Ocean which was going between Australia and India it would be intolerable, why do we grant the USA this immunity from persecution? The big fear is, as reported in some TC articles that the immigrants are going to try to run for the United States. This contrary to other reports dictating how Canada is made out to be the metaphoric Mecca for these people. The Times Colonist and Vancouver Sun has justified American intervention in this issue as of late, newspapers which are owned by Southam, which is part of an American business empire. US intervention in Canadian-Chinese problems should be intolerable, but we are letting them, or relying upon them to solve our problems. We must make the right decision and we must do it by ourselves.

Our population has so much to do with migrants; the numbers speak for themselves. Canada has a 1.95 reproductive rate, which means that if it weren't for immigrants our population would slowly die away (our dependency rate being 55.9%). The Chinese population makes up 8.1% of our population, and the migration rate is 1.7%, that is to say that 6.4% of Chinese people are second generation. The overall work participation rate in BC is 66.4%, with the Chinese population's rate being 79.5%. Of that, second generation Asians have a working percentage of 73.6%, immigrants having a rate of 81.3%. The population of BC that has finished high school is 68.9%, while the percentage of Chinese people in BC who have completed high school is 71.1%. These numbers are from BCStats, profile.pdf and are from 1998. Now what these numbers mean is that immigrants, traditionally work hard and are needed to keep our economy going in the right direction. Under the refugee act if a refugee hasn't any work or proven attempt at such within a month then they face deportation.

The humanitarian contingent has been noticeably silent during this fiasco, or perhaps noticeably silenced. We have to remind ourselves that these are people. Many people are upset because they have friends, family, or have themselves had to wait for the process of immigration to come here legally, and are resentful of the "illegal" immigrants. These people need to understand that it is impossible to leave the Fujiyan province whether you wait for immigration or not, this may well have been their only way. And we cannot assume that they just hopped on a migrant ferry and came over, this operation was planned and would have cost each person a lifetime of savings. I am not saying that this justifies their illegal entry, nor do I encourage it, but they have suffered hardships to get here. Is it not just as easy to assume that they are angels as it is to assume them demons? I do not consider myself terribly left wing and I while heartily believe in a one-strike policy, but we must be reasonable about this. To read this may seem left wing, when I am simply giving an opposing to argument to that of the mainstream periodical here in Victoria. The Times Colonist is guilty of being completely biased, the arguments I bring up have not even been mentioned in their pages, even the comics are racist and ignorant. Even if the issue were cut and dry it is a newspaper's job to provide balanced points and counterpoints to every situation, an idea which is regrettably unheard of in today's media system. The immigrants should have limited status, self-disclosing financial aid, and have no second chances. It will not be nor should it be easy for them, but we must give them a chance. We are not supposed to be totalitarian, we Canadians are seen as humanitarians and should act like it.