Dear Editor,
I have a concern when my representative in Ottawa, Alice Wong, has problems with the following statement “Both the job and my organization’s core mandate respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights. These include reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability or sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.”
Canada is one of the most tolerant, open and multicultural countries in the world. Alice came to Canada in 1980 from Hong Kong where very serious human rights concerns in the latest few years arose, including entrenched discrimination against minorities, increasing use of the death penalty and prevalence of torture.
I would have expected a headline “Alice Wong to use all opportunities to press Hong Kong authorities for human rights improvements” instead of “Alice Wong encourages Richmond students to ignore Canadian Charter of Rights.”
Hatem Ela-Alim
RICHMOND
