Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Hon. Tony Loffreda: Honourable senators, this inquiry stands adjourned in the name of the Honourable Senator Petitclerc. After my intervention today, I ask for leave that it remain adjourned in her name.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: So ordered.

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to Inquiry No. 11 on the one hundredth anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

I would like to thank our colleague Senator Woo for introducing this inquiry and for encouraging us to speak about the experiences of the Chinese community.

The Chinese community has been instrumental in the development and character of Canada. Shamefully, Chinese racism is on the rise in Canada. I hear so many upsetting stories from individuals in British Columbia.

Honourable senators, Canada has a dark history of discrimination and mistreatment towards the Chinese community, as demonstrated by numerous federal policies and their impact, including the Chinese head tax of 1885, the Chinese Exclusion Act from 1923 to 1947, the historical denial of voting rights and the targeted attacks against Chinese and Japanese communities during the Vancouver anti-Asian riots in 1907. In February, Senator Woo eloquently described the impact of these policies and experiences on Chinese Canadians, the hurt, the humiliation and the fear they caused, along with the legacies of those policies and their continued impact on the community.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought forward some of the thinly veiled resentments that have continued to simmer in society. It saddens me to know that targeted racism towards Chinese Canadians was clearly seen in my home province of British Columbia. Evidence of this shameful reality can be found in a comprehensive 500-page report by B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner released earlier this year. The report confirmed:

Targeted anti-Asian racism and discriminatory acts have increased in frequency and severity throughout communities in BC and across Canada during COVID-19.

Honourable senators, the following facts should alarm and upset us all. The Vancouver Police Department reported that between 2019 and 2020, there was a 717% increase in hate incidents targeting Asian residents. These incidents included racial slurs, racist graffiti, verbal threats, stalking and physical assaults. Accordingly, a poll of Asian British Columbians conducted in April 2021 found that 87% of respondents believed that anti-Asian racism has gotten worse since the start of the pandemic, and 64% of respondents felt it had gotten a lot worse. It is also important to note that many of these attacks go unreported.

As for the victims who bravely share their experiences, it is heartbreaking to hear their stories of verbal and physical attacks. This includes seniors like Judy Cheung, who was punched in the face by a stranger as she left a Vancouver grocery store in 2021. In her seventies, she now feels that she must carry around an umbrella to protect herself whenever she goes out.

Senators, this is not acceptable. No community or individual should experience such fear in Canada. However, I do have hope. I know from my personal experiences how compassionate and how accepting this country of Canada is.

I would now like to take this opportunity to speak about the invaluable contributions Chinese Canadians have made to my province of B.C. Historically, Chinese workers have been integral to building the Canadian Pacific Railway and have played a vital role in industrializing the economy as skilled and semi-skilled individuals who laboured in British Columbian sawmills and canneries and also became small business owners.

In more recent times, Chinese Canadians have made significant contributions to science, medicine, public service, art, literature and filmmaking in Canada. I, for one, know, based on my personal experiences — as I have spent a lot of time in hospitals — that hospitals in Vancouver and surrounding areas would not be resourced as well without Chinese Canadians’ contributions, especially during the pandemic.

By highlighting the incredible achievements of notable Chinese Canadians from British Columbia, I hope to broaden our understanding of their generous contributions. I’ll start with our former colleague Vivienne Poy, an Ontario senator.

Senator Poy was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1998 by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. She was the first Canadian of Chinese descent to be appointed to the Senate and spent much of her 14-year tenure devoted to gender issues, multiculturalism, immigration and human rights and was the sponsor of the bill that recognized May as Asian Heritage Month across Canada.

Outside the Senate, Vivienne is an accomplished businesswoman, author and philanthropist. With a PhD in History from the University of Toronto, she has authored numerous books and enlightened us about topics such as Sino‑Canadian relations and Chinese immigration to Canada, bravely writing about the personal struggles of her own family as well. Since retirement, Vivienne has continued her work with organizations that aim to improve the lives of women and girls in developing countries.

Vivienne, when I came to the Senate, you were a great help to me, and I always valued our warm friendship.

In British Columbia, a man who has provided great service is David Lam, who also understood both the struggles of working against deep-seated prejudice and the hope and promise of opportunity in this country. David Lam was the twenty-fifth Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, from 1988 to 1995, and was the first Chinese Canadian to be appointed as a viceregal in Canada. He once described his responsibility as lieutenant governor as being a “healer of wounds, a matchmaker of sorts between people of different views, and one who offers encouragement and inspiration.”

Lieutenant Governor Lam emigrated to Canada with his family in 1967 and became one of Vancouver’s leading land developers, eventually starting his own company. He was instrumental in bringing Hong Kong investors to Vancouver. He was a firm believer in giving back to his country, along with the power of education and cultural awareness. In 1983, he established the David and Dorothy Lam Foundation and the Floribunda Philanthropic Society. The two charities donated millions of dollars a year to British Columbian community projects, such as the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

He also provided funding for numerous initiatives in collaboration with universities in British Columbia, including the Institute of Dispute Resolution and the David Lam Auditorium at the University of Victoria and the David Lam Centre for International Communication at Simon Fraser University.

Like Lieutenant Governor Lam, Milton Wong balanced a successful business career with a strong sense of social responsibility. He made tremendous contributions to his community in Vancouver across various fields such as finance, arts and culture, sustainability, multiculturalism and academia. Specifically, he founded The Laurier Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of diversity in Canada.

Mr. Wong always went out of his way to encourage younger people or budding politicians to become active in politics and community. He was with me when I had tough times in politics and rejoiced with me when I was appointed to the Senate. He was a true mentor to many people, and I will always remember what he did for me.

Lastly, I would like to mention my friend Edith Nee, a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal.

Among her many roles, she was a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and director of the B.C. Press Council. Edith has dedicated her career to adjudicating issues related to immigration, refugees, residential schools, press ethics and freedom.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Thank you.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Are senators ready for the question?

Hon. Senators: Question.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan, pursuant to notice of April 26, 2023, moved:

That, pursuant to rule 12-24(1), the Senate request a complete and detailed response from the Government to the fourth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, entitled Human Rights of Federally-Sentenced Persons, tabled in the Senate on June 16, 2021 and adopted on June 23, 2021, during the Second Session of the Forty‑third Parliament, with the Minister of Public Safety being identified as minister responsible for responding to the report, in consultation with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Minister of Indigenous Services, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, as well as the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion.

Hon. Peter M. Boehm, pursuant to notice of May 4, 2023, moved:

That the twenty-sixth report of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled Cultural Diplomacy at the Front Stage of Canada’s Foreign Policy, tabled in the Senate on June 11, 2019, during the First Session of the Forty-second Parliament, be placed on the Orders of the Day under the rubric Other Business, Reports of Committees – Other, for consideration at the next sitting.

He said: Honourable senators, I rise today to explain and advocate for this motion, which is the first step towards the Senate finally adopting the 2019 report of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled Cultural Diplomacy at the Front Stage of Canada’s Foreign Policy.

This report was tabled in the Senate on June 11, 2019, during the first session of the Forty-second Parliament but was not adopted before Parliament was dissolved that summer in advance of the federal election in October 2019.

This means that, despite the comprehensiveness of this report on an important subject and the significance placed upon it by practitioners and supporters of cultural diplomacy and Canadian studies programs, no response has been required from the Government of Canada.

Should this motion — and then, subsequently, the report — be adopted, a government response will be requested of and required by Global Affairs Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Along with me and fellow current committee members Senator Coyle, Senator Greene and Senator Housakos, colleagues who were members of the committee during the study leading to this report were Senator Ataullahjan, Senator Cordy, Senator Dean, Senator Massicotte and Senator Saint-Germain.

Former Senate colleagues who were members at that time included my predecessor as chair, Senator Raynell Andreychuk, and Senator Dennis Dawson and Senator Thanh Hai Ngo.

Several more senators contributed to the committee’s study, including current colleagues Senator MacDonald, now a member of the committee; Senator Cormier; Senator Martin; Senator Miville-Dechêne; Senator Mockler; Senator Oh and Senator Tannas. Former senators Anne Cools and Richard Neufeld also participated.

Colleagues, I recite all of these names to underline the breadth of experience and expertise from which the committee benefited during its study between 2017 and 2019 on “. . . the impact and utilization of Canadian culture and arts in Canadian foreign policy and diplomacy, and other related matters . . . .”

There is one senator I have yet to name, a committee member at the time of the study, whose unwavering advocacy for the importance of cultural diplomacy as a pillar of Canada’s foreign policy ultimately led to the committee’s study and the report we are now considering putting back on the Order Paper. That senator is, of course, our dear colleague Senator Patricia Bovey —

Hon. Patricia Bovey: Thank you, Senator Boehm.

Colleagues, I am speaking later than I thought I would be this evening, but this is a truly important issue, I think, for the country of Canada. The Senate’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee’s report that was tabled in this house in June 2019 — entitled Cultural Diplomacy at the Front Stage of Canada’s Foreign Policy — is an important one. It is unfortunate that it was tabled just before we rose for the summer, and then there was an election, and then there was COVID. So here we are, picking up our steps. It would have been nice if we had been able to do this earlier.

When I suggested that the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee study cultural diplomacy, I truly believed then that cultural soft power was essential in developing Canada’s international profile; I still do. A builder for economic trade and growth, cultural diplomacy is important in building trust for international negotiations and collaborations. Culture portrays who we are — our national values, roots and diversities. Conveying Canadian messages and realities abroad, culture tells others what Canada is, where we come from and our courage in where we’re going. That is critically important. Our international partners must understand our cultures, ethics and history.

Cultural diplomacy’s integral importance to international trade and foreign relations has been much studied and written about. Today, I still agree with the U.K.’s 2007 Cultural Diplomacy report by Kirsten Bound, Rachel Briggs, John Holden and Samuel Jones. It stated that “. . . more than ever before, culture has a vital role to play in international relations.”

The report went on to say that culture is:

. . . the means by which we come to understand others, and an aspect of life with innate worth that we enjoy and seek out. Cultural exchange gives us the chance to appreciate points of commonality and, where there are differences, to understand the motivations and humanity that underlie them. . . . these attributes make culture a critical forum for negotiation and a medium of exchange in finding shared solutions.

The value of cultural activity comes precisely from its independence, its freedom and the fact that it represents and connects people . . . .

Our report was unanimously passed by our committee, chaired by former Senator Andreychuk. Again, I thank members of that 2017-2019 committee, especially Senator Oh and Senator Ataullahjan who embraced it ardently from the outset. We examined the issue, as well as its impacts and benefits, from a 360-degree perspective: artists, arts organizations, foreign trade and trade missions, business, Canadian embassies and, comparatively, what was being done elsewhere — all underlined the importance of culture on the foreign stage as a means of strengthening the profile of Canada abroad.

We heard from Canadian and foreign diplomats; Canadian and international funding agencies; artists of all disciplines; educators; academics; arts organizations; business leaders; and staff from Global Affairs Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts and Canadian Heritage. We heard emphatically that artists’ works in all disciplines significantly enhance Canada’s international role by connecting many international dimensions, defending our national values and highlighting Canada’s economic and social position abroad.

We also heard how Canada’s business overseas increases with cultural understanding. Citing the impressive tangible economic benefits — and more — of Canada’s former Trade Routes program, witnesses underlined the critical need for support to enable artists to take their work and knowledge of Canada abroad. It was clear that we must retool our cultural diplomacy approaches.

Simon Brault, the CEO of Canada Council for the Arts, said during his testimony that we were:

. . . ten years behind where we were and where we could be as a result of the cuts by former governments.

That’s “governments” plural. I fear we are now even further behind.

[Translation]

I sincerely hope that culture will once again be an important aspect of Canada’s foreign policy. I encourage the cultural attachés and staff who have a knowledge and understanding of art to give Canadian art more exposure in all of our Canadian embassies, on the international scene, in theatres, at book fairs, in art galleries and at museums, other cultural centres and festivals.

[English]

I also hope Canadian artists and arts organizations will again be part of international trade missions.

The Creative Export Strategy announced by the Department of Canadian Heritage in 2018 was heartening. A strategy aimed to help Canada’s creative industries gain opportunities in new markets around the world, its announced $125 million budget was to support three key pillars: boost export funding in existing Canadian Heritage programs; increase and strengthen the presence of Canadian creative industries abroad; and create a new creative export funding program, as well as build the relationships needed to make business deals. Open to all media, including design; for-profit organizations and not-for-profit organizations; and First Nations, Inuit and Métis councils, governments or organizations, it was obvious from the outset of the first grant run that the monies fell far short of demand.

The impact of cultural diplomacy was stressed in all of my international discussions in Europe, South America, Mexico, the U.S., the U.K. and, this morning, in a meeting with parliamentarians from the Welsh Parliament. As well, over the years, with all of the meetings I had with the Arctic Circle and circumpolar organizations, Indigenous languages and cultures were consistently highlighted as critically important.

Colleagues, culture is essential in all of our international relationships. It is empowering to see Canadian artists’ works in places like Canada House in London or our embassy in Paris. Art from every province and territory is installed in Canada House on Trafalgar Square.

My antennae have also been focused on intellectual property and copyright in our trade agreements: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA; the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA; and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. I am pleased that the government insisted on protecting Canada’s culture and intellectual property in these negotiations, championed particularly by former international trade minister Jim Carr, who is a former Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra oboist and Manitoba Arts Council CEO.

Encouraging provincial collaboration, our eight recommendations gave cultural diplomacy responsibility to Global Affairs Canada, Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts — with Global Affairs Canada taking the lead. Global Affairs Canada has real estate around the world, with staff and local connections on the ground. Heritage Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts have arts, culture and heritage expertise. We don’t have a Goethe Institute, a British Council or a Japan Foundation, but we do have this opportunity to showcase our stellar creators and ideas.

We need articulated goals, cultural training for overseas embassy staff, short- and long-term monitoring mechanisms and learning through Canadian studies abroad.

The specific recommendations included that cultural diplomacy in Canada’s international relations take an increasingly important role, showcasing the innovation and excellence of Canadian artists and the strength and diversity of culture in Canada, expressing the multicultural backgrounds of Canadians; that the arts and culture sector be part of all Canadian trade missions; and that Canadian embassies present and assist Canadian artists and organizations abroad. Furthermore, it ensured that all Canadian missions have either a cultural attaché or trained staff knowledgeable and able to support Canada’s cultural work and international collaborations.

I still endorse each and every one of the eight recommendations.

[Translation]

The first steps that were taken after the report was published were encouraging, but they were cut short by COVID-19. Canada lost a lot of cultural power in the early 2000s. We need to get it back. Given the current international conflicts, cultural diplomacy is even more important.

[English]

As is often said, “At times of international political difficulty, culture can keep doors open.” UNESCO calls for, “dialogue based on music and the arts, a vector for strengthening mutual understanding and interaction and for building a culture of peace and respect for cultural diversity.”

Our report’s release did bring some positive changes. Canada Council for the Arts opened a special funding stream for international activities. Global Affairs Canada launched a preliminary training program.

Organizations were ready. Recently, Mary Reid of Woodstock’s Art Gallery presented artist John Hartman’s portraits of Canadian authors at Canada House in London, England. William Huffman showed Cape Dorset art in Warsaw and Korea.

At the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, last summer in Birmingham, a unanimous vote of all 780 international parliamentarians supported Arctic security. Arts and culture were part of those discussions, as they were at every OSCE meeting I attended during my time as senator.

In November, Canada’s First Nations delegates to COP 27 expertly showcased First Nations’ cultural approaches to climate change solutions. You know, too, that work is well advanced for the participation in Ghana’s Pan African Heritage Museum.

Three years ago, at my first meeting at that museum’s international curatorial council, I was surprised to learn that Canada was thought of as being part of the U.S. That misconception now dispelled, Canada’s content steering committee for our virtual and real participations, chaired by B.C. artist and poet Chantal Gibson, is seen as a leading model.

Our cultural diplomacy report was the catalyst for Global Affairs Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts funding, enabling the hiring of six regional Black curators.

[Translation]

These recent activities are encouraging but rare since the cultural diplomacy policy hasn’t been officially adopted. It isn’t known or understood and hasn’t been fully implemented by Global Affairs Canada, even though I have received a lot of encouragement from some ambassadors and officials. There are many people who, like me, believe that cultural diplomacy needs more visibility within the department itself in order to be as effective as it could and should be. The result would be transformative for Canada as a whole, and for its culture and place in the world.

[English]

As a senator, and from my prior professional experience in presenting Canadian arts abroad in Europe, Asia, the U.K. and the U.S., I can attest that a strong cultural diplomacy presence will benefit Canada at home and abroad, our creators and cultural organizations. The financial returns for Canada will be significant, as they were before the program was cut, and it will feed our tourism.

Now more than ever, we need our allies to know us, and as part of UNESCO, we have a responsibility to assist in preserving culture from war and climate desecration. Cultural diplomacy is the appropriate vehicle.

In discussing cultural diplomacy, Simon Mark wrote that its:

. . . potential power rests on its intersection with national culture, national values, national identity, and national pride . . . . [It] can show a state’s personality in a way that connects with people . . . . The power of a cultural performance, or a film, or a scholarship to connect should not be underestimated.

I close with a personal story.

In the 1990s, I visited a wonderful, small U.K. bookshop in Durham, its floors piled high with books, overflowing shelves and three big, round tables down the middle filled with Canadian authors. A Canadian book festival? “No,” said the owner. “The tables are for the world’s best writers. Do you have a problem that they are all Canadian?”

A former Japanese ambassador to Canada told me on his departure that Canada has the best writers. He took many Canadian authors’ works back to Japan with him to have them translated. Canada should have done those translations, or could have.

Of course, Alice Munro received the Nobel Prize in Literature; Margaret Atwood is celebrated globally; and the film of Mariam Toews’ award-winning book, Women Talking, won an Oscar this year. A Canadian from Vancouver Island, Aaron Watkin, was recently appointed Artistic Director Designate of the English National Ballet, and Naomi Woo — daughter of our Senator Woo — given her many invitations, is about to move to Europe to pursue her conducting career there.

Colleagues, our voices are respected beyond our borders, though without the support I believe they are due.

We shouldn’t hide our creators who tell the world who we are. Canada’s profile abroad is largely its culture. As it was for decades before culture’s cut as a fourth pillar of diplomacy, our government’s investment will be far less than the resulting multifold, positive economic profile returns. Through cultural diplomacy, pride in our internationally acclaimed creators will become our brand — a brand which should be known as Canadian, not American.

Please endorse the tabling of this report so we can get a response from the government to ensure that work can begin concretely and that training can continue effectively. Thank you.