Canada-China Focus

Keep up to date with events, analysis and updates from Canada-China Focus at ccfocus.ca

Announcement

July 22, 2021 — The University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies and the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute are pleased to announce that they have come together to sponsor Canada-China Focus (CCF), a new pan-Canadian, anti-racist project that aims to promote critical conversations and policy initiatives on Canada-China relations.

The forum has adopted a vision for its activities and will be guided by an initial Advisory Group composed of community activists and academic researchers from across Canada. We anticipate announcing the first public webinar of the group in the coming weeks. Those who wish to contribute to the work of the group may do so by visiting https://bit.ly/3iDkPQf and including “Canada-China Focus” in the comment box. Contributions are eligible for charitable receipts.

Vision of Canada-China Focus

Canada-China Focus has come together as a non-partisan space for conversations on critical issues related to Canada-China relations. We are deeply concerned that the current upsurge of anti-Asian racism and Sinophobia in Canada is affecting people in communities across the country. We are also concerned that this upsurge is shaping public discourse about Chinese Canadians and Canadian policy towards China. Our vision is to facilitate constructive public conversations that develop a better understanding of China and of Canada-China relations. We seek to engage both countries in advancing global decolonization, justice, and peace as essential elements of an independent Canadian foreign policy.

Initial CCF Advisory Group

Wendy Au retired from the City of Vancouver after 39 years of service. While working for the City, Wendy led its Indigenous Reconciliation initiative and its official apology to the Chinese community. She has had extensive experience working with diverse communities and all levels of government.

Gen-Ling Chang is former associate director of Toronto District School Board. Her career experience has been in education leadership, strategic planning, and organization development, focusing on inclusion, representation, and opportunities for under-served populations. Currently she is deputy executive director, ALPHA Education as well as the chair of School and Community Relations, Asian Canadian Educators Network, working with educators, youth, and communities.

John Price is professor emeritus in history with the University of Victoria. He is the author of Orienting Canada: Race, Empire and the Transpacific (2011) and currently lives in Vancouver. He co-authored with Ningping Yu the biography, A Woman in Between: Searching for Dr. Victoria Chung (2018).

Timothy J. Stanley is professor emeritus of anti-racism education and education foundations in the Faculty of Education of the University of Ottawa where is also the former Interim Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. A historian of anti-Chinese racism in Canada, in 1976-78 he lived in Beijing as a Canada-People’s Republic of China Exchange Scholar.

Cathy Walker is the retired director of the occupational health, safety and environment department of the Canadian Auto Workers Union (now Unifor). She is a member of the advisory committee of the Simon Fraser University Labour Studies Program. Cathy has visited China more than a dozen times from 1974 to 2015 as part of worker and union delegations and helped to facilitate return visits from China.

David Webster is a professor of history and global studies at Bishop's University in Quebec. His research addresses international human rights and Canada-Indonesia relations. He is an adjunct research professor at Carleton University and a fellow of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.

Henry Yu teaches history at UBC and is Principal of St. John’s College. His research and teaching are built around collaborations with local community organizations, civic institutions such as museums, and multiple levels of government. He is passionate about helping Canadians be inspired by the often hidden and untold stories of those who struggled against racism and exclusion and helped make Canadian society more inclusive and just.

For further information contact info@foreignpolicy.ca