B.C. Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WW II in
Through the dedication of volunteers and supporters, B.C. ALPHA has
come a long way in promoting the awareness of the crimes against humanity
committed during WWII in
Our
The mission of BC ALPHA is to foster understanding,
redress and reconciliation related to the tragedies of WW II in
Our Mandate
a.
to promote peace, justice,
fundamental human rights and freedoms, multiculturalism and racial harmony;
b.
to facilitate the Canadian
society to learn lessons of humanity from the war crimes and crimes against
humanity that were committed during World War II in
c.
to foster and support the
teaching within the Canadian education system of the atrocities and human rights
violations that occurred during World War II in
For better understanding of ALPHA's mission, some of our works are highlighted
below.
================================================================================
February 22, 1997
- A
multicultural seminar
"Crying for Justice" was organized
to seek reconciliation and understanding among different ethnics who were
victimized by the Japanese military in the period before and during WW II.
Representatives from the Japanese,
Chinese, Korean, Dutch and Jewish communities took part to soothe this
unhealed wound of history.
March 20-21, 1997
Representatives from
ALPHA joined the Canadian delegation to visit
March 22, 1997
Participated in the "Forum on
Building Bridges" organized by the
National Association of Japanese Canadian (NAJC).
ALPHA’s representative was invited to speak about the atrocities
committed by the Japanese military and the long overdue redress for its victims.
May- August 1997
A
Support Letter Campaign was jointly
organized by Canada ALPHA, the Human Rights Committee of the National Association of
Japanese Canadians, the Korean Women's Association of Western Canada, the August
15, 1945 Foundation (Dutch), the Philippine War Veterans & Ex-Servicemen Society
of B.C. and the Canadian Jewish Congress.
The campaign was to support a Japanese professor, Sabaro Ienega who
for 30 years had been suing the Japanese government of distorting and concealing
historical facts in his history textbooks. More than 10,000 support letters were
collected across
August 2, 1997
Together with the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association Human Rights
Committee, the two organizations jointly presented an open forum on
"The Asian Holocaust" in the
October 3, 1997
Together with four other ethnic organizations (the
Human Rights Committee of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, the
Korean Women's Association of Western Canada, the August 15, 1945 Foundation
(Dutch), and the Philippine War Veterans & Ex-Servicemen Society of B.C.), a
joint presentation on the importance of learning lessons of humanity from WW II
in Asia was made to educators attending the
Anti-Racism Workshop organized by the
B.C. Teachers Federation.
Resources materials on the subject were also introduced.
December 8-10, 1997
A book reading/signing session was held in the Vancouver Public
Library, Central Branch for Iris Chang’s
new book,
The Rape of Nanking - The Forgotten Holocaust of WW II. The book
had made various bestseller lists including
New York Times for 5 months.
December 12-13, 1997
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre and to
promote the message of reconciliation, a
multimedia show "Unhealed Wound of
History" was successfully presented with the help and support of over a
hundred local artists and celebrities from Greater Vancouver.
More than 1300 audience attended this event.
April 10, 1998
A proposal on the incorporation of
humanity aspects of WW II in Asia into the social studies curriculum was made at
the
"Beyond Multiculturalism" workshop
organized by the National
Association of Asia-Pacific American Education and the National Association of
Asia-Pacific Canadian Education.
The presentation was in cooperation with the National Association of
Japanese Canadians Human Rights Committee,
July 3 - 9, 1998
"A Glimpse of Reconciliation - Confession
of a Unit 731 Soldier & Photo Exhibition on Japan's Germ Warfare in WW II"
was organized. The event was co-organized by the Human Rights Committee of the Greater Vancouver
Japanese Canadian Citizens Association, and sponsored by the Korean Women's
Association of Western Canada, the August 15, 1945 Foundation (Dutch), the
Philippine War Veterans & Ex-Servicemen Society of B.C. and the Canadian Jewish
Congress (Pacific Region). A
total of 14 delegates from Japan including lawyers, medical doctors, scholars, a
former Japanese Imperial Army medical doctor, a representative of the Unit 731
victims, and member of the Unit 731
and Poison Gas Exhibition in Japan.
All these delegates were active supporters of the Unit 731 victims’ redress
lawsuit in
October 16 - 18, 1998
B.C. ALPHA assisted in the organizing of the
3rd Biennial Conference of Global
December 1998 - January 1999
Canada ALPHA, Human Rights Committee of Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens
Association, and Canadian Jewish Congress (Pacific Region) launched the
Signature Campaign for War Crime Victims
in Support of Their Just Request for Compensation from the Japanese Government.
The group of Japanese lawyers, representing the victims of
January 1999
B.C. ALPHA
supported “Perspectives” &
“U-Voice” (bilingual student
newspapers of
March 1999
Canada ALPHA
assisted and supported student organizations of
Queen’s University and McGill University
to organize photo exhibitions on Asian
Holocaust from 8 - 11 March and from 29 - 30 March respectively.
The response was encouraging, some professors of social and political
sciences would consider include this topic into their curricula.
March 16 - 22, 1999
B.C. ALPHA
supported the Newfoundland-Labrador Human
Rights Association in conjunction with other members of the
Committee for March 21st to organize a
photo
exhibition on “Inhumanity: When
Intolerance Runs Rampant” at
•
the
“Rape of Nanking” - the invasion and
destruction of
•
Unit 731,
the “medical experimentation unit” of the Japanese Imperial Army who used living
human beings as guinea pigs in their medical experiments.
Unit 731 also developed biological & chemical warfare weapons.
•
“comfort women”
- the plight of women captured from occupied territory by the Japanese Imperial
Army and forced to endure horrendous sexual abuse as sex slaves for the Japanese
military.
It had
approximately 1100 visitors in 4 days.
In a number of instances professors returned with their class. Many
visitors remarked that they previously had no idea of the extent of the horrors
suffered by the victims of the Japanese Imperial Army. There were many responses
to this event, and they were strong.
The overall reaction, however, was one of interest and support for what the
organizer was attempting to do. It
was successful in attracting a lot of media attention, a lot of visitors and, in
the larger sense, was successful in achieving
the aim of this event: Educate the public
on the dangers of intolerance, racism and hatred.
March 19, 1999
"A Glimpse of Reconciliation - Confession of a Unit 731 Soldier & Photo
Exhibition on Japan's Germ Warfare in WW II",
the joint project by B.C. ALPHA and the JCCA Human Rights Committee received the
1999 End Racism Award from the BC Ministry of Multiculturalism.. On
behalf of organizations supporting the project, Ms. Thekla Lit, President of BC
ALPHA remarked at the End Racism Awards giving ceremony
"... an educational and humanity
approach is important in the process to heal wounds of history and to seek
reconciliation. This approach is particularly meaningful in the light that the
Japanese government has been reluctant to apologize and accept responsibility
for the crimes against humanity committed by its Imperial Army."
April
- November 1999
Canada ALPHA
launched a Campaign to
Support the Recognition of Crime Against Humanity Act.
Mr. Sarkis Assadourain, M.P., (Liberal Party, Brampton Centre) first
introduced Bill C-479 in the House of Common during the 1st Session
of the 36th Parliament. (The number of Bill was later changed to
C-224 because the House prorogued and began a new session.) This Act was cited
as the Recognition of Crimes Against Humanity Act.
The purpose of the Bill was to mandate
the establishment of an exhibit in the
December 10 –12, 1999
The
International Citizens' Forum (ICF) on
War Crimes and Redress – Seeking Reconciliation and Peace for the 21st
Century, held in
December 10, 1999
The Newfoundland-Labrador Human
Rights Association (NLHRA) hosted the
“Human Rights Fair" at
January 15 – 28, 2000
B.C. ALPHA sponsored “In Light of
the Truth – Photo Exhibition & Open Forum”. This
was a 2-week event organized by
Perspectives and
UVoice (bilingual student
newspapers of UBC and SFU). The
event was kicked off on January 15 with video documentary screening on
“The Rape of Nanking”
followed by an Open Forum at Fletcher Challenge Theatre, SFU Harbour
Center.
“The Rape of Nanking” was produced in 1999 for History Channel by Mr.
Lou Reda who was an American documentary producer and had made a number of
award-winning documentaries.
Speakers of the Open Forum were: John
Price - History Professor of the
February 14 - 18, 2000
Canada ALPHA
supported The Empress, (bilingual
newspaper of
Queen’s University) to organize an on campus photo exhibition on Unit 731 – Biological and Germ Warfare of
August 15, 2000
Mr. Ujjal Dosanjh, the
Premier of British Columbia
proclaimed this day as “Day of Peace in
the Pacific” in a celebration ceremony organized by B.C. ALPHA.
The ceremony was jointly officiated by
Ms. Sue Hammell, B.C Minister of
Multiculturism & Immigration and Ms. Jenny Kwan, Minister of Community Development, Cooperatives &
Volunteers. Representatives from different ethnic communities and WWII
veterans organizations participated in lighting the
“Candle of Hope for Peace”.
They included:-
•
Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in
•
•
Canadian
•
Chinese Veterans Association in
•
•
•
August 15, 1945 Foundation (Dutch)
•
Canadian Jewish Congress
•
Japanese Canadian Citizens
Association, Human Rights Committee
•
Korean Women's Association of
•
•
November 4, 2000
B.C. ALPHA
co-presented the screening of the history documentary
“
November 10 – 12, 2000
B.C. ALPHA
assisted in the organizing of the 4th
Biennial Conference of Global
November 18, 2000
Representative of B.C. ALPHA
made a presentation at the workshop “From Racism to Justice and Global Citizenship” of
ERA 21.
End
Racism! Activism for the 21st Century (ERA 21) was a 3-day
international forum held in
December 8 – 12, 2000
Representative of B.C. ALPHA attended the
Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal
on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery held in
January – March 2001
B.C. ALPHA was one of the organizers for the worldwide
Nomination of Professor Saburo IENEGA for
the 2001 Nobel Peace Price (http://www.vcn.bc.ca/alpha/ienega/letter.htm).
For 35 years, this distinguished historian and educator challenged the
Japanese government in court on their censorship of history textbooks authored
by him. The wars of invasion and atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers
and government during the Asia-Pacific War and earlier have been documented by
research. Yet, the authorities have
censored history textbooks by deleting or whitewashing references to these
invasions and atrocities.
Professor Ienaga has dedicated his life to
the mission that Japanese young people are able to learn the truth about their
own country's recent history and to learn lessons of humanity from it.
He has fought for the rights of scholars, particularly those who
author textbooks, to honestly record truths about the period they are
describing. 251 distinguished
professors of history, law, philosophy and political science, and also 19
members of national parliaments nominated Prof Ienaga.
Amongst them were Canadian MPs from different political parties, namely
Hon. David Anderson, Ms. Libby Davies,
Mr. Stan Dromisky, Mr. Derek Lee, Mrs. Sophia Leung, Mr. Stephen Owen, Mr. Joe
Peschisolido, and Mr. Svend Robinson.
On March 7, 2001, a
press conference was organized by
B.C. ALPHA to report on this worldwide nomination of Professor Ienaga in
•
The Honourable David Anderson (Lib.),
P.C., M.P., Minister of the Environment
•
Ms. Libby Davies (NDP),
M.P.
•
Mrs. Sophia Leung (Lib.),
C.M., M.P.
•
Mr. Joe Peschisolido (CA),
M.P.
•
Professor John Price,
Department of History,
•
Mr. Marius Van Nooten,
Survivor of child slave labour during the Asia-Pacific War
•
Ms. Sherry Tanaka,
Member of Human Rights Committee, Japanese Canadian Citizen’s Association
•
Mr. Kelly Ip,
Director of S.U.C.C.E.S.S. & Past President of Canadian Club
March 10, 2001
Exhibition panels
on Sexual Slavery of the Japanese Imperial Army were setup at the
International Women’s Day Education Fair
in
April 11, 2001
The Launching of of the learning resource for Social Studies 11, History
12 and Law 12
“Human Rights in the Asia Pacific
1931-1945: Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship”
was held at
March – April, 2001
B.C. ALPHA coordinated the nomination of the
three convenors of the
Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery
(Ms. Yayori Matsui, Professor Yun
Chung-Ok and Ms. Indai Lourdes Sajor)
for the
2001 John Humphrey Freedom Award.
Rights & Democracy (International
Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development) presents the John
Humphrey Freedom Award each year to a non-governmental organization or an
individual for exceptional achievement in the defense or promotion of human
rights and/or democratic development. The Award consists of a grant of $25,000
as well as a speaking tour of Canadian cities to help increase awareness of the
recipient’s human rights work. It is
named in honour of the Canadian John Peters Humphrey, the human rights law
professor who prepared the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Twenty-seven renowned human rights activists and scholars joined the
nomination.
Sept 6 - 9, 2001
At the 50th
Anniversary of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, BC ALPHA supported Global
Alliance for Preserving the History of WW II in
To protest
against the celebration of 50th Anniversary of the San Francisco
Peace Treaty organized by the US-Japan 21st Century Project and The Japan
Society of Northern California Representatives, a series of events organized
were organized in
October 4, 2001
BC ALPHA in
cooperation with Rick Beardsley, social studies teacher and a writing team
member of the learning resource “Human Rights in
the Asia Pacific 1931-1945: Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship”
organized a workshop to introduce the resource to Richmond teachers on 4
October at Cambie Secondary School. In support of the workshop, the
Oct 18, 2001
President of
BC ALHPA was invited to speak on
the learning resource
“Human Rights in the Asia Pacific
1931-1945: Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship” at
Oct 19 -21, 2001
Social Studies Provincial Conference
was held in
Oct 19 -21, 2001
President of
BC ALHPA was invited to speak on the
International Symposium on Asian
Tragedies of World War II
sponsored by the Center for Holocaust and
Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota on October 19-20, 2001. This
Symposium aimed at introducing World War II in Asia and its postwar remembrance
to the main stream audience and teachers of the Holocaust and genocide studies
in the
Dec 15 & 16, 2001
BC ALPHA
actively supported the Hong Kong
Coalition for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia
in organizing the “Witnessing
Forum on Japanese Atrocities in
the
Asia-Pacific War”
on 15 & 16 December 2001 at the
City University of Hong Kong.
The co-organisers
were
Contemporary
The 3 speakers
were Sylvia Yu, a Korean Canadian journalist from CHTV in
May 16,2002
B.C. ALPHA
together with Uvoice (the SFU’s Bilingual Chinese Newspaper),
June 8, 2002
Chinese Canadian National Council
organized the World Conference Against Racism Post Conference in
20 August 2002
Sponsored the
21 – 22 March 2003
Co-sponsored the
Canadian Conference on Preventing Crimes
Against Humanity: Lessons from the Asia-Pacific War with Human Rights
Committee of JCCA, CAPRN and 3 departments of UBC (First Nations House of
Learning, Women’s Studies and International House)
www.aplconference.ca
20 May 2003
Organized the
Canadians delegation to Support Survivors of Germ Warfare at the First
˙
Ellen Woodworth,
˙
Judy Hanazawa,
Chair, National Association of Japanese Canadians Human Rights Committee
˙
Sarah Tsang,
2003 Graduate from the
˙
David McIntosh,
Member, Greater
29 May 2003
Co-sponsored the
Korean Roundtable – “Global Militarism: Is
˙
How should
community and labour activists react to US threats against
˙
What can
individuals do to prevent another war on the Korean peninsula?
˙
Does the
Canadian government have a role to play?
˙
Is
˙
What is the
24 October 2003
Organized a workshop and information table at the BC Social Studies
Teachers’ Association Provincial Conference to introduce the learning
resource, “Human Rights in the
Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship”
25 January 2004
Co-organized with StopWar.ca a form on
9 February 2004
Presentation to the Vancouver School Board urging for their support of the
use of the learning resource, “Human
Rights in the Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility and Global
Citizenship”
28 May 2004
Organized the Public Forum
on "
12 & 19 June
2004
26 July – 8
August 2004
To
As a partner in
the development of this teaching resource, ALPHA has offered continual
The
Study Tour aims at enhancing teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the
cultural and historical background of
The first Peace
and Reconciliation Study Tour to
22 October 2004
Organized a workshop and information table at the
BC Social Studies Teachers’ Association PSA Day Conference to introduce the
learning resource, “Human Rights in the
Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship”
and the first
Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
China for Canadian Teachers.
December 2004
Made a
contribution to the Hanaoka Fund,
which provides aids to Chinese victims who were forced into slave labor for the
Kajima Corporation at the Hanaoka mine in
4 May 2005
As a member organization of the
British Columbia Committee Against Japan’s Bid for UN Security Council Permanent
Seat
organized and participated the
May 4 Rally
to
oppose Japan's
bid for permanent seat on UN Security Council and to protest
18 May 2005
Issued the
Multi-Ethnic Joint Position on the Recent Tension in East Asia
- For Redress, Reconciliation and Peace in the Asia-Pacific to urge the
Canadian government to support redress for victims of WWII in Asia and to take
action to
assure Canadians have an equal opportunity to learn lessons from World
War II in Asia as well as in Europe. http://www.alpha-canada.org/multiethnic
28 & 29 May 2005
A fundraiser film show “Go
Home” was
organized in support of the 2005
Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
China for Canadian Teachers
to be held from July 11 - 24.
www.alpha-canada.org/StudyTour.
11 – 24 July 2005
The
2nd Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
10 August 2005
Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the End of WWII in Asia cum
Global Day of Action in Support of Redress for "Comfort Women" and other
Asian Holocaust Victims
was organized in front of the Japanese Consulate in Vancouver.
At this occasion, Vancouver City Council proclaimed August 15, 2005 as
Day of Peace in the Pacific.
Representative from the 3 levels of governments also attended and addressed in
this event.
http://www.alpha-canada.org/commemoration
15 August
2005
President of BC
ALPHA has been invited to be a guest of honor to speak at the
Commemorative event for the
60th
Anniversary of the End of WWII in Asia
hosted by
the Lieutenant Governor of BC at the Government House in
20 August – 23 September
2005 To commemoration the
60th Anniversary of the end of WWII in Asia, BC ALPHA was invited by
the Chinese Consulate in
29 October 2005
Launching of the Oral History DVD, Witness To History: Canadian
Survivors Of Wwii In Asia was held at the Vancouver City Council.
The documentary features the story of four Asian Holocaust
survivors, namely Miriam, Tang Yongjiang, Tony Cowling and Marius van Dijk van
Nooten. Three of them were in their childhood at wartime and Tony was only
17 years old when he became a POW. They witnessed and experienced the
sufferings and horrors of war, particularly the impact of atrocities on women
and children. Length of each survivor’s testimony ranges from 21 to 31
minutes and each story was appropriately “chapterized” to allow teachers the
versatility in classroom use. There is also a 17 minute excerpt of
testimony highlights available for teachers if they want to introduce briefly
more than just one survivors’ experience to the class. This is a companion DVD
for the learning resource,
Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific 1931 –
1945: Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship jointly developed by
BC Ministry of Education and BC ALPHA in 2001.
http://www.alpha-canada.org/OralHistory
17 February 2006
Organized a workshop and information table at the BC Social Studies
Teachers’ Association Provincial Conference to introduce the learning
resource, “Human Rights in the
Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship”
and the 2006 Peace & Reconciliation
Study Tour to China for Canadian Teachers.
9 March 2006
Invited by
Vancouver School Board to organizer a
workshop to
introduce the learning resource,
“Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility and Global
Citizenship” and the 2006 Peace
& Reconciliation Study Tour to China for Canadian Teachers.
13 & 21 May 2006
A fundraiser film show “King
of Masks”
was organized in support of the
2006
Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
China for Canadian Teachers
to be held from July 27 – August 9, 2006
www.alpha-canada.org/StudyTour.
23 – 28 June 2006
As one of the
sponsoring organizations of the
World Peace Forum (www.worldpeaceforum.ca),
volunteers of BC ALPHA helped out in the forum especially in organizing the
Asian Regional Conference (http://www.vcn.bc.ca/alpha/arc/).
The Asia Regional Conference aimed to examine
key issues in the Asia region (including northeast, southeast and South Asia as
well as the
27
July – 9August 2006 The
3rd
Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to China for Canadian Teachers was
joined by 15 teachers from BC and 2 teachers from New Jersey recommended by NJ
ALPHA and the NJ Holocaust & Genocide Education Centre.
Participants met with survivors of war crimes committed by Japanese
Imperial Army, visited historical sites and attended seminars with scholars and
lawyers supporting the redress movement.
The cities visited including
20 – 21 October 2006
Information table was set up at the BC Social Studies Teachers’
Association Provincial Conference to introduce the learning resource,
“Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific (1931-
1945): Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship” and the
2007 Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
China for Canadian Teachers.
27 – 29 October 2006
BC ALPHA was a
co-sponsor of the 2006 GA retreat held in
February 2007
Promotion of the making of Iris Chang, the movie with media including CBC
Radio, Fairchild TV, Channel M, Ming
Pao Daily, Sing Tao Daily and World Journal.
February 2007
A donation of RMB20,000
was raised to be remitted to the
Legal Foundation in Support of Chinese Victims’ Lawsuits Against Japanese
Government and Corporations in the name of Elder Geng Zhun. Elder Geng was
the leader of the Hanaoko forced labourers’ uprising against the brutal
treatment by the Japanese captors in 1945.
19 February 2007
Invited by
Vancouver School Board to organizer a workshop to
introduce the learning resource,
“Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific (1931-
1945): Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship” and the
2007 Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
China for Canadian Teachers.
March 2007
A donation of RMB3,000 was raised for the subsidy of some survivors of
March 2007
Organized letter writing campaign for forced labour case to be sent to the
Supreme Court of
9 March 2007
A
Press conference
was held to speak on the
following 2 issues:-
•
the denial of “comfort
women” by the
Prime Minister Abe of
•
the court hearing by the
Supreme Court of Japan on the defense argument
Represented by politicians of 3 levels of government, peace and human rights
organizations and labor organizations were invited to speak at this press
conference
12 – 20 March 2007
BC ALPHA sent
representative to join the international
delegation to observe and to attend the court hearings on a number of
Chinese victims’ lawsuits against the Japanese government and corporations,
including the one heard at the Supreme Court of Japan on 16 March 2007.
April 2007 – Present Organized the
Petition Campaign for Motion 291 which reads as
follows: “That, in the opinion of the House, the government should urge the
Prime Minister and the Parliament of Japan to: (a) pass a resolution in
the Diet to formally apologize to the women who were coerced into military
sexual slavery during the Second World War and were euphemized as ‘comfort
women’ by the Japanese Imperial Army; and (b) provide just and honorable
compensation to these victims.”
13 April 2007 Meeting with Hon. Jason
Kenny, Secretary of State – Multiculturalism & Canadian Identity
together with representatives from the Korean, Filipino and
Japanese community and 2 Asian Holocaust survivors.
The objective of the meeting was to brief Hon. Kenny about the issue of
“comfort women” and to get his support to Motion 291.
17 April 2007
BC ALPHA was invited to make
presentation about the “comfort women” issue for the
Anit-racism Committee of the BC Social Workers’ Association.
28 April & 9 June 2007
Two pre-tour meetings were
held to prepare the teacher participants for the
4th Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
26 May 2007
BC ALPHA was invited to make presentation about the “comfort women” issue for
board members of the Women’s
International League of Peace & Freedom – Canada Branch (WILPF).
The board of WILPF passed a resolution to support Motion 291 and would
bring the issue to their international annual meeting to urge women from other
countries to bring this issue to their respective governments for supporting
redress for the “comfort women”.
26 & 27 May, 2, 3, 9, 10, 16 & 17 June 2007
Volunteers of BC ALPHA collected
signatures to petition MPs to support M 291 at shopping malls including the
Chinatown Plaza & Parker Place in Richmond.
So far a total of 5000 signatures were collected from BC.
29 May 2007 An opinion ad was placed on Globe & Mail
to support the signature campaign for Motion 291.
The ad was sponsored by Harmony Education Foundation in association with
Canada ALPHA, Council of Korean Churches in
30 June – 14 July 2007
The
4th
Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
4 – 16 July 2007
Support the
History and Cultural Study Tour for 30 students and teachers of
4 & 5 August 2007
Exhibits on A-Bomb, the Article 9 and “Comfort Women”
were jointly displayed by BC ALPHA and the Vancouver Save Article 9 Group at the
Powell Street Festival. Signatures
were also collected to petition the MP to support Motion 291.
MP Olivia Chow and Vancouver Mayor
Sam Sullivan visited the exhibits and signed the petition.
14 August 2007
1st Post-tour meeting
was held for the participants
of the 2007 Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour.
Discussion focused about what lessons plans and teaching materials can be
developed.
4 – 7 October
2007
Representatives of Canada ALPHA were invited to the
World Conference on Japanese Military
Sexual Slavery (http://www.jmss.info/)
at the
8 October 2007
A screening of the documentary,
12 October 2007 Representatives of BC
ALPHA were invited to meet with MP Barry
Devolin about the government support to Motion 291.
MP Devolin was positive and stated that using there are 2 sides of an
issue but for “comfort women’ issue, there is only one side of it which is to
acknowledge the facts and to support redress for the victims.
19 October 2007
Information table was set up and a workshop was
conducted at the BC Social Studies Teachers’ Association Provincial
Conference to introduce the learning resource,
“Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility
and Global Citizenship” and the
2008 Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
China for Canadian Teachers.
9 November 2007
The
documentary, ”Forgotten Holocaust”
produced by Raymond Lemoine, participant of the 2006 Peace & Reconciliation
Study Tour was also screened at the Port Moody Film Festival.
The documentary contains 3 chapters, namely Nanking Massacre, Forced
Labour and Comfort Station. The
screening was followed by Q&A conducted by representative of BC ALPHA and
Raymond. Feedbacks to the
documentary were very positive.
15, 17, 22 & 25 November 2007
25 – 28 November 2007
Four survivors of
3 December 2007
A public
witnessing forum titled
Dim Sum with “Comfort Women” was held.
Grandma LIU Mian-Huan, survivor of “comfort woman” and Attorney KANG
Jian, legal expert for compensation lawsuit for Chinese survivors spoke at the
event and were warmly received by over 100 participants.
8 December 2008
2nd Post-tour meeting
was held for the participants of the
2007 Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour.
Lessons plans and newly developed teaching materials were introduced and
shared among teachers.
9 December 2007 In commemoration of the 70th
anniversary of the Nanking Massacre, a drama, “
12 – 15 December 2007
Representatives of Canada ALPHA were invited to join the
International Conference on Nanking Massacre as well as the commemorative event
of the 70th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre at the
Jan – Mar 2008
Recruitment and
selection of participants for the 2008 Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour for
Canadian Educators.
20 February 2008
Invited by Vancouver School
Board to organizer a workshop to
introduce the learning resource, “Human
Rights in the Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility and Global
Citizenship” and the 2008 Peace
& Reconciliation Study Tour to China for Canadian Teachers.
25 February 2008
Invited by the
29, 12 & 20 March 2008
Representatives of BC ALPHA were invited to do a
professional development course on War Atrocity and Peace Education
by the Centre for
Catholic Studies of the
26 April, 17 May
& 7 June 2008
Three
pre-tour meetings were held to prepare the teacher participants for
the
5th Peace & Reconciliation
Study Tour to
26 May 2008
Nominated by past
participants of the
Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to China
for Canadian Educators, Thekla as
President of B.C. ALPHA was shortlisted as nominee for the
2008 YWCA Women of Distinction Award
in recognition of her work for ALPHA.
3 – 17 July 2008
The
5th
Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
15 August 2008
Attended the
commemoration of the 63rd
anniversary of the end of WWII in Asia at White Rock organized by August 15,
1945 Foundation (an organization formed to support Dutch survivors who were
victims of Japanese concentration camps in the Dutch East Indies).
15 August 2008
Invited to talk about ALPHA’s work to commemorate the
63rd anniversary of the end of WWII in
18 August 2008
Invited to introduce ALPHA’s work at the morning news program of AM1470.
21 October 2008
Press conference
held at BC Teachers’ Federation for launching the Korean drama,
NABI – “Comfort Women”. After
its critically acclaimed performance in
http://www2.canada.com/coquitlamnow/news/story.html?id=1d41b8c3-b578-461a-a6dc-f5b9fa562b97
24 October 2008
Information table was set up at the BC Social
Studies Teachers’ Association Provincial Conference at Riverside Secondary
School to introduce the learning resource,
“Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility
and Global Citizenship” and the
2008 Peace & Reconciliation Study Tour to
China for Canadian Teachers.
An Workshop,
Teaching and Learning
Activities on “Comfort Women” was also conducted at the Conference.
24 October 24 – 7 November 2008
Participated in the
Living Blanket
which is a collective creation of pieces of square
made for peace, woven together for a better tomorrow.
The exhibition was held at Centre A in
27 October 2008
Magazine 26- A Wonderful Life
(26分鐘精彩人生) of Fairchild TV featured Thekla as President of B.C. ALPHA in
recognition of ALPHA’s contribution to both the Chinese community and
mms://216.18.70.242/ftvnews/tv_archive/Episode%205_1.wmv&
mms://216.18.70.242/ftvnews/tv_archive/Episode%205_2.wmv
30 October 2008
Completion of the
Study Guide for teachers on Iris
Chang – The Rape of
8, 9 & 13 November 2008
Promotional interviews were
broadcasted on 城市妙聽聞, 熒幕八爪娛and 都市有約 respectively for the play
NABI – “Comfort Women”.
20 – 22 November 2008
NABI – “Comfort Women”
staged by Drama Club Nabi from
hosted by Drama
Club Hanuree and sponsored by B.C.
ALPHA was showed at Evergreen Culture Centre in Coquitlam.
An reception was also hosted and attended by guests of honors including
MP Dawn Black, MLA Diane Throne and representatives from many community
organizations. The play was very
well received. For review of
the play, click
http://peacephilosophy.blogspot.com/search/label/Play%20NABI%2FComfort%20Women%E3%80%80
21 April 2009
Attended the commemorative event for Holocaust Remembrance Day at
Jewish Community Centre. The event
was part of the project organized by Dale Martelli of
9 July 2009
Canada ALPHA joined hands with representatives of other ethnic community
groups (namely Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and European) that make up
the rich diversity of Canada, extended their warm welcome to the Japanese
Emperor and Empress for their visit to Canada. At the same time, they
issued an open appeal letter to the Emperor, urging for his continued
efforts to bring healing and justice to the victims of atrocities committed by
15 August 2009
Sponsor UBC AWWA (Awareness of WWII in Asia Club) (www.awwa.ca)
to organize the “Commemoration of the 64th Anniversary of WWII in
Asia” at Robson Square Theatre at Downtown UBC.
Mayor of Vancouver issued a proclamation to declare that day as
Day of Peace in the Asia-Pacific.
The event was well attended by over 200 people from different ethnic
groups, including some veterans who had participated in the Pacific Theatre of
WWII. Following the proclamation of
Day of Peace in the Asia-Pacific, the film, Iris Chang – The Rape of
Nanking was screened. A
panel discussion on the film and on issues of WWII in
·
Oliver Cheng, actress
playing Iris Chang
·
Marius van Nooten, survivor of child forced labour at
Japanese concentration camps
·
Thekla Lit, president of BC ALPHA
A series of media work was conducted including issuing
press releases, interviews by TV & radio programs.
For media reports and details of the program, visit
http://www.alpha-canada.org/PeaceDay2009/
.
24 September 2009
A joint press Conference was held with Toronto ALPHA regarding defamatory
passage published in the book, Nest of Spies authored by Michel
Juneau-Katsuya and Fabrice de Pierrebourg.
The press conference was to announce that Canada ALPHA, BC ALPHA, Toronto
ALPHA together with the 2 co-chairs and vice-chair of Canada ALPHA had launch
legal action against the following defendants who had involvement in the libel
case:-
·
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
·
Fabrice de Pierrebourg, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
·
Michel Juneau-Katsuya, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
·
The
Windsor Star Group Inc.
·
Jim
Venney, Publisher, The Windsor Star Group Inc.
·
The
Ottawa Citizen
·
James
Orban, Publisher, The Ottawa Citizen
·
Ian
Macleod, The Ottawa Citizen
·
Canwest News Service
·
David
Kilgour
·
23 October
2009
Information table was set up at the BC Social
Studies Teachers’ Association Provincial Conference at Riverside Secondary
School to introduce the learning resource, “Human Rights in the
Asia-Pacific (1931- 1945): Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship”
and other learning resources to support teaching of the Asian Holocaust.
·
The
Windsor Star Group Inc.
·
Jim
Venney, Publisher, The Windsor Star Group Inc.
·
The
Ottawa Citizen
·
James
Orban, Publisher, The Ottawa Citizen
·
Ian
Macleod, The Ottawa Citizen
·
Canwest News Service
·
David
Kilgour
10 & 11 December 2009
The 1st International Human Rights Day Symposium: Human
Rights in the Asia-Pacific 1931-1945 was held at Vancouver School Board
Education Centre. The symposium was
organized to help students
better understand and reflect on issues of human rights violations during the
Asia-Pacific War (1931- 1945) and to make connections to present day local and
global issues. Objectives of the Symposium are:-
Teachers
of Social Studies 11, History 12, Law 12 & Social Justice 12 could register to
bring their students to attend the Symposium.
A total of 327 students and teachers from 10 secondary schools of 6
school districts participated in the Symposium with 3 plenary sessions and 5
workshops. For details of the
symposium, visit
http://www.alpha-canada.org/ihrdss/
.
11 March 2010
BC ALPHA sponsored the screening
of Iris Chang – The Rape of Nanking at UBC as organized by UBC AWWA
Club (Awareness of WWII in Asia Club).
The following persons were panelists at the discussion session after the
screening:-
·
James Burnham Sedgwick
(Sessional Lecturer, History
Department, UBC)
·
Mary Ohara (Internment camp survivor)
·
Thekla Lit (Founder
and president of BC ALPHA)
·
Satoko Norimatsu (Founder of
13 March 2010
BC ALPHA co-sponsored the event
Join Us in
Celebrating Women's Struggles Around the World!
The event was
organized by different ethnic community groups to commemorate the International
Women’s Day.
25 March 2010
Canada
ALPHA issued a
public statement regarding the proposed Nishimatsu-Shinanogawa
“settlement” to express the followings:-
For
details, visit
http://www.gcpnews.com/articles/2010-03-26/C1063_50743.html
26
April 2010
A press
conference was held at Beijing with the following speakers:-
·
Attorney Kang Jian,
Chinese lawyer representing the Chinese forced labor victims of the
Nishimatsu-Shinanogawa worksite
·
Chinese forced labor victims and the descendents of
Nishimatsu-Shinanogawa worksite
·
Thekla Lit, co-chair
of Canada ALPHA and president of BC ALPHA (participated through video
conferencing)
·
Chung Wai-Ming, chair
of Wai-Ming Charitable Fund
The objectives of the press conference were:
a) To
denounce the
Nishimatsu-Shinanogawa “settlement” based on the unacceptable premise that “Chinese people’s right to claim
had been waived”. (b) To encourage
the plaintiffs who all rejected this “settlement” to continue their just
struggle against the Japanese government and Nishimatsu, (c) To show support to
the victims, BC ALPHA and Wai-Ming Charitable Fund jointly offered 350,000 Yuan
Renminbi to the 7 forced labor victims and surviving families who refused to
accept the Nishimatsu-Shinanogawa “settlement” and the “atonement
money” from Nishimatsu. For details,
visit:
http://news.singtao.ca/vancouver/2010-04-27/community1272364796d2453625.html
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