 Her Worship Linda Hepner and Council 13450 - 104 Avenue Surrey, BC, V3T 1V8 July 2nd, 2017 Dear Mayor Hepner and Council, Re: Fusion Festival On behalf of the Vietnamese-Canadian communities across Canada, we would like to express our concerns for the Festival's lack of understanding and respect for the Canadians of Vietnamese heritage, and most importantly, for the Canadian shining values of Democracy, Justice, Human Rights, Freedom of Speech and Religion, that are enshrined in our Canadian constitution. We would like to request that our Canadian concerns to be addressed, and our Heritage and Freedom Flag to be considered as the true representation of over 250,000 Vietnamese-Canadian community members in all of Canada. The Vietnamese-Canadian communities, in Surrey, British Columbia, across Canada and in fact the globe, are firmly rooted in refugee history and are symbolized by the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag. The Golden Flag with 3 Red Stripes is the historical flag of ALL of Vietnam, and represents the Viet people from all 3 North, Central and South regions.The Freedom Flag is the heart and soul that fuel the Vietnamese communities across Canada and the World. The Senate Bill S-219 was nationally assented to a Canadian Law in the Parliament of Canada on April 23rd, 2015, recognizing the "Journey to Freedom Day" on every future April 30th henceforth in Canada, to commemorate the exodus of the Vietnamese-Canadian refugees in search of Freedom and Democracy Communist Vietnam is a one-party totalitarian dictatorship, extremely corrupted and severely oppressive, that ruthlessly ruled and persecuted its citizens without regards for basic human rights, without freedom of speech and religious choices. By accepting communist Vietnam's red flag - yellow star, the Festival inadvertently promotes communistic disregard for human rights and democracy. This will further distort and misinform the Canadian general public and Festival attendees of the true faces of communist Vietnam, and propagate the acceptance of current Vietnamese dictatorship and the chronic oppressive suffering of the Vietnamese people under their ruthless regime. The City of Surrey and Festival organizers should ban the red flag - yellow star of communist Vietnam, where a dissident several weeks ago was violently murdered ( his neck-throat was slashed from side to side ), simply because he dared to lawfully and non-violently voice his dissatisfaction against the oppressive dictatorial regime. Surrey's Fusion Festival is not a meeting place between Heads of States and official nations, whereby formal international policies are formulated and carried. The Festival is created to promote Canadian multicultural diversity. Festival organizers should also pay attention to the cultural values that are being directly and indirectly conveyed to Canadians. The Fusion Festival celebrates Canadian multiculturalism, aiming to create cultural understanding and harmony among the various major ethnic groups within Canada. However, we request the Festival organizers to understand the oppressive nature of totalitarian dictatorial regimes, such as communist Vietnam and China, which stands starkly in sharp contrast against the Canadian values of Democracy, Justice, Human Rights, Freedom of Speech and Religion, that are enshrined in our Canadian constitution. Recently, in Vancouver in October 2016, a Vancouver councillor was criticized and asked to resign after he promoted the red flag of communist China. The Vietnamese-Canadian refugee communities, who over the past 42 years of Canada's 150-year history have long contributed to the Canadian multicultural diversity, remain the rightful voice to promote the Vietnamese-Canadian culture in the Surrey Fusion Festival's Pavilion and Parade of Colour, to represent Vietnamese Canadians with their Canadian values of freedom and democracy, to remind all Canadians of the Vietnamese "boat people" exodus / Journey to Freedom from the oppression of communism and also the Canadian shining values and generous spirits that brought the Viet refugees into Canada. We are representing the Vietnamese-Canadian communities, from various associations and religious denominations, and are calling as well upon all Canadians, across British Columbia and Canada, to collectively raise our Canadian voices and concerns. Respectfully, On behalf of the Vietnamese-Canadians across Canada, Vietnamese Canadian Federation and 39 associations, as per attached list. On behalf of the Vietnamese-Canadians across Canada, 1- Vietnamese Canadian Federation - Liên Hội Người Việt Canada - lhnvc.vcf@gmail.com 2- Vietnamese Association, Toronto - Hội Người Việt Toronto / LHội-VCF - le.centre@live.com 3- Vietnamese Canadian Community of Ottawa - Cộng Đồng Người Việt Ottawa / LHội-VCF - llephan53@gmail.com - cdnvottawa@gmail.com 4- Edmonton Viets Association - Hội Người Việt Edmonton / LHội-VCF - trantran@shaw.ca 5- Saskatoon Vietnamese Association - Hội Người Việt Saskatoon / LHội-VCF - ttn518@gmail.com 6- Association des Vietnamiens de Sherbrooke - Hội Người Việt Sherbrooke / LHội-VCF - tonytran1999@gmail.com 7- La Communaute Vietnamienne de Montreal - Cộng Đồng Người Việt Quốc Gia Vùng Montreal / LHội-VCF - bangoc@hotmail.com 8- Hội Người Việt Calgary / LHội-VCF -thachthanh2000@yahoo.com 9- Vietnamese Association of Nova Scotia - Hội Người Việt Nova Scotia / LHội-VCF - tnnguyen2010@yahoo.ca 10- Hội Cựu Quân Nhân Vùng Montreal - levan4500@gmail.com 11- Tổng Hội Cựu Quân Nhân QLVNCH/Canada 12- The Free Vietnamese Association in BC/ FVA - Hội Người Việt Tự Do tại BC - freevietnameseassociationinbc@gmail.com 13- The Vietnamese Thu Duc & Dong De Officer Cadet in BC - Hội Cựu Sinh viên sĩ quan Thủ Đức & Đồng Đế tại BC - nsvietnam@yahoo.com 14- Vietnamese Cultural Centern in BC - Trung tâm sinh hoạt văn hóa tại BC - bachviet84@gmail.com 15- Vietnam Magazine in Canada - Nguyệt San Việt Nam - nsvietnam@gmail.com 16- Hội Bảo Tồn Cờ Vàng tại BC - namtranvanam@gmail.com 17- Vietnamese Canadian Seniors Society of Greater Vancouver - Hội Cao Niên Việt Nam Vùng Greater Vancouver - doductruong246@yahoo.com 18- Vietnamese Cultural Society / Hội Bảo Tồn Văn Hóa Hùng Vương - mcnguyen58@yahoo.com 19- Hoa-Hao Buddhist Congregation of Toronto and Vicinities / Giáo-Hội Phật-Giáo Hòa-Hảo Toronto và Các Vùng Phụ-Cận - nguyen.david@sympatico.ca 20- The Elderly Vietnamese Association of Mississauga / Hội Cao Niên Việt Nam Mississauga - evamcaonien@yahoo.com 21- Hội Ái Hữu Cựu SVSQTB Thủ Đức Ontario - leducvankbc4100@yahoo.ca 22- Alliance For Democracy in Vietnam, Toronto / Liên Minh Dân Chủ Việt Nam, Toronto - kinhxabon@gmail.com 23- Committee To Support Vietnam's Democracy & Human Rights Movement, Toronto / Ủy Ban Yểm Trợ Phong Trào Dân Chủ Quốc Nội, Toronto - nguyenvantan2000@yahoo.ca 24- Vietnam Reform Party - Toronto Chapter / Đảng Việt Tân - Toronto - annamite@yahoo.com 25- Vietnamese Canadian Voting & Advocacy Association / Hội Vận Động Dân Sự - loankhoa@bell.net 26- Quang Ngai Friendship Association, Ontario / Hội Thân Hữu Quảng Ngãi Ontario - jsduynguyen@gmail.com 27- Vietnamese Women's Association of Toronto / Hội Phụ nữ Việt Nam Toronto - binhminhhoang@yahoo.com 28- Vietnamese Community of Mississauga / Trung Tâm Cộng Đồng Việt Nam Mississauga - daohaiquank9@gmail.com - hvu@rogers.com 29- Vietnamese Boat People Memorial Association (Toronto) / Hội Tưởng Niệm Thuyền Nhân (Toronto) - nguyenpha@gmail.com 30- Vietnamese Committee to Support the Memorial to the Victims of Communism / Ủy Ban Yểm Trợ Xây Dựng Đài Tưởng Niệm Nan Nhân Cộng Sản - pvnguyen.insurance@yahoo.com 31- Hội Cựu Quân Nhân QLVNCH ON - mdong98@yahoo.ca - johnluong99@hotmail.com 32- Hội Người Việt KWGC (Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph-Cambridge) - quangngocton@yahoo.ca 33- Hội Cựu Chiến Sĩ QL/VNCH Edmonton - utvanngo@gmail.com 34- Calgary Vietnamese Canadian Senior Citizens Association / Hội Cao Niên VN Calgary - dapcau@outlook.com 35- Association Entraide pour Le Droit de L'Homme (Montréal) / Hội Yểm Trợ Nhân Quyền (Montréal) - tranquoctuy123@gmail.com 36- Association pour la défense du patrimoines vietnamiens / Hội Bảo Vệ Di Sản Việt nam 37- Association des Anciens Soldats & Prisonniers Politiques du Vietnam (Montréal) / Hôi Chiến Sĩ Cựu Tù Nhân Chinh Trị Khu Hội Montréal 38- Association pour la Défense de la Justice Sociale (Montréal) / Hội Bảo Vệ Công Lý Xã Hội (Montréal) 39- Amicale Des Anciens Enseignants Vietnamiens au Québec / Gia Đình Cựu Giáo Chức Việt Nam tại Québec 40- Vietnamese-Canadian of Whitehorse Yukon / Hội Người Việt Whitehorse Yukon - hung5593@yahoo.com |
