Richmond City Council may not want to further discuss the exclusion of English on some Chinese business signs, but it should live on at the community level.
That's the hope of Coun. Chak Au, the sole member supporting a motion Monday to have city staff examine the situation more closely after a delegation submitted a 1,000signature petition decrying the situation.
"To me, the sign and the language is only the surface," said Au. "I think actually what we have to do is improve intercultural relationships. And in order to improve that we need to have dialogue and discussions."
Au clarified he was not asking for a bylaw to ensure English be included on business signage.
"What I asked for was to develop a process of consultation on this issue," he said. "I think we have lost a good opportunity to engage different sectors of the community to have meaningful dialogue. Perhaps after the consultation and dialogue we don't need to have a bylaw because the problem will be solved already."
In discussion following the petition's submission, Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt said she did not support further action on the matter, preferring not to play the role of language police. Coun. Au disagreed.
"I think the bad image of the language police in Quebec is so strong in peoples' minds that when we talk about language and signage they jump to the conclusion that, oh, that would be the end result," Au said.
But to do nothing would also be a mistake of allowing the situation to shift in the wrong direction, he added. Au said he was contemplating his future options, but stopped short of committing himself to conduct an independent report on the matter.
"I'm trying to see what I can do, however, I am only one person, and if I can't convince my fellow councillors, I don't know how much I can do."
