Chinese Corruption on Richmond City Council Implicated

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Richmond City re-emphasizes English in Chinese sign conflict

October 2, 2013. 6:00 pm • Section: The Search

 

Six months ago Richmond City council chose to do nothing about a petition protesting Chinese-dominant signs. Now one of its committees is suggesting "any wording on business signage and/or city documentation prominently include the English language." Where will this issue go from here?

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Douglas Todd

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People around the world, from Europe to East Asia, took note when Richmond City council decided six months ago to ignore protests against the expansion of Chinese-only and Chinese-dominant signs in its municipality of 200,000.

But some brave council members, including Chak Au, who was an assistant professor at the Chinese University in Hong Kong before immigrating to Canada, think it’s time to re-examine the controversy.

Au said council’s new tentative strategy calls for city signs to prominently include English is evidence the matter is being viewed as a priority.

RELATED: English should predominate in signs: Many Chinese agree

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Here’s an excerpt from a solid Matthew Hoekstra story in The Richmond Review:

Richmond city council has taken a small step into the language debate surrounding signs, six months after refusing to budge in the face of a 1,000-name petition.

Civic politicians recently approved the Richmond Social Development Strategy—a 96-page document intended to guide the city on social development matters over the next decade—but not before addressing the matter of foreign language on signs.

More Chinese signs in Richmond

As an “ongoing” measure to prevent and respond to racism, council’s planning committee added the words: “[T]hat any wording on business signage and/or city documentation prominently includes the English language.”

“It is a recognition that this is something that the city, as a leader, should have a role to play,” said Coun. Chak Au in an interview.

In March, a delegation armed with a petition appealed to council to put a stop to the proliferation of signs with only a foreign language. Kerry Starchuk and Ann Merdinyan showed council dozens of examples of storefronts, bus shelter advertisements and real estate signs with neither one of Canada’s official languages visible.

The drive drew significant media attention, but council took no action and decided against supporting a motion from Au asking for a closer analysis.

Now a city strategy calling for signs that prominently include English is evidence the matter is being viewed as a priority, said Au.