Cat Jokes and Sino-Canadian Relations

Not the best of times (if they ever were)

$60M South Asian-themed mall to be built in Markham, On

Recently, the Liberal Party spokesman, Warren Kinsella, received a lot of flack from .... conservative writers for making a simple, standard joke about Chinese restaurants and cat meat. I have blogged about it here, where I wrote:

Canada's most irritating lefty has gotten himself into trouble, which has all the conservatives [1, 2, 3, 4, and yes, even the aptly named Blazing Cat Fur] rubbing their hands with glee.

Of course, partisan politics is often bitter, and if the other side gets caught, there is room for amusement, and even elbow prodding. But, the fallout from all this was that the Chinese community got more cocky, and started demanding apologies from the Liberal Party for this innocuous joke. About fifty years ago, would any Canadian party have bothered with apologies, let alone weeks of inter-party acrimony?

Now, we have the Chinese in Calgary, Alberta, making demands on city policies which do not cater to their specific ethnic group. Actually, this is nothing new from the Chinese, who have quietly been making inroads into Canadian culture for several decades now.

This latest altercation involves a report by the City Hall of Calgary which advised that Calgary:

should avoid the development of 'Asian' malls that cater only to a specific ethnic group...An effort must be made to avoid 'exclusive' cultural-specific retail developments, as they lead to marginalized ethnic enclaves which can diminish overall community cohesiveness.

This of course is a reaction to the multicultural policy and wishful thinking of the Canadian government. If ethnic enclaves, via malls, shopping centers, neighborhoods, etc., are allowed, how can we all live in the ecstatic harmony of multiculturalism?

The Chinese are as ethnocentric as the Muslims, the Somali or the Indians. The happy family of diverse and integrated groups does not exist. And above all, each group will try to infiltrate whatever government or political body it can to advance various ethnocentric agenda.

This is what the Chinese really think, despite so many Canadian bloggers' heartfelt embarrassment at Kinsella's probably one funny moment. They don't really want to be Canadian, and they will go as far as they can to maintain their ethnic difference.