TorontoNAJC June Update

The TorontoNAJC held its First Consultation Session on B.C. Redress on April 28th at Momiji Centre.

The session began with a brief welcome by Lynn Deutscher Kobayashi, president of TorontoNAJC. Next a slide presentation prepared by the NAJC National Steering Committee for BC Redress provided background information on the current state of play with the BC government; and an outline of the national consultation process.

Justice Maryka Omatsu, Steering Committee Co-chair, introduced her video “Swimming Upstream – Injustices Revealed” which starkly described the complicity of BC government politicians in instigating the evacuation, disposal and removable of JCs from the province.  

The following recommendations emerged as the consensus of the participants attending the consultation session.

A TRUE APOLOGY & FUNDS

• Emphasis not just on the internment camps but removal of Japanese Canadians from B.C. (Those outside B.C. well positioned to speak to this)
• Very public expression of responsibility.
• Apologize for inter-generational trauma.

EDUCATION & CURRICULUM REFORM        

• Link Japanese Canadian history in BC with current issues of racial discrimination including immigration  policies and attitudes.
• Should be cross-cultural, cross-racial with an emphasis on the experience of Indigenous peoples.
• While general public awareness needed, specific target groups mentioned were youth (high school), politicians.
• Use of digital and online media very important in engaging youth and future generations.
• Establish the significance of injustices to Japanese Canadians as never-again moment in Canadian history;  in a similar way – though not to compare – with the holocaust.

FACILITY-MUSEUM- MULTI-PURPOSE-MULTI-USE                                                                         

• Projects, exhibits, research should be packaged to travel cross-country and contribute to content at the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg.
• Important to have funds to hire professional staff and archivists.

COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION                                                                                          

• Overarching theme of reconciliation with cross-cultural and bi-racial outreach an essential component.
• Continue work on historical marker projects and revitalization of significant Powell street landmarks.

These consultations are being held from April to June in JC communities across the country.  Results of these consultations sessions are forwarded to the NSC to be analyzed and compiled into a national report to the NAJC Executive Board (NEB) who will submit a report to B.C government outlining a national NAJC position on appropriate provincial redress measures in October. 

TorontoNAJC Receives NAJC Community Renewal Grant                                                             

We are grateful to have received a Community Renewal Fund grant from the NAJC to strengthen our communications and administrative capacity. We will be hard at work over the summer implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) platform that will help us to improve our ability to manage member database and communicate through all channels effectively. 

TorontoNAJC’s New Social Justice/Human Rights Committee held its inaugural meeting in early May. Joining the chapters Executive Committee members, Lynn Deutscher Kobayashi, Janet Sakauye Michelle Walters and Ron Shimizu were Stephen Deutscher Kobayashi, a software developer, Stephane Hamade, a government relations consultant and  Jun Cura Bongolanis, recently elected a NAJC Youth Ambassador. Special guest at the meeting was Judge Maryka Omatsu who headed the Federal Office of Human Rights in Ontario Region prior to her appointment to the Provincial Court.  The committee will be starting to plan for an exciting fall event featuring the highly respected constitutional lawyer, Eric Adams. The tentative date for Eric’s presentation on How Japanese Canadians Shaped the Canadian Constitution is Thursday, November 7th.  Eric’s work has been published in Canada’s leading law journals and been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada and in the House of Commons.

TorontoNAJC Representatives  will attend the Pan American Nikkei Convention (known as COPANI for Convención Panamericana Nikkei in Spanish) to be held in San Francisco this September 20-22.   The NAJC will not be holding its usual Conference/AGM in September to allow for this. A Zoom video conference will be the site of the 2019 AGM.

Lynn Deutscher Kobayashi and Janet Sakauye of the Chapter’s Executive Committee will be attending COPANI  which brings together Nikkei from the countries of South and North America to discuss common interests.  This years convention is being hosted by the Japanese American Citizens League.   The aim is strengthen ties among the Nikkei of the two hemispheres by sharing experiences and discussing current challenges and opportunities facing their respective Nikkei communities.  COPANI INFORMATION