Toronto Star article: “Parliament’s lack of diversity goes beyond race, gender: study”

January 2, 2015 Parliament’s lack of diversity goes beyond race, gender: study A study exploring the demographics of Parliament suggests a mismatch with the Canadian population that goes beyond race and gender to issues such as religion and education. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="545"] Report author Kai L. Chan says a homogeneous House and Senate are likely to result in "uniformed" perspectives that do not represent the general population.[/caption] By: Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter, Published on Fri Jan 02 2015   The ruling Conservatives and federal cabinet don’t look remotely close to the new Canada they represent, says a new study, which suggests there are real consequences to the lack of diversity. Kai L. Chan’s demographic study of who’s representing us in Parliament shows that the federal NDP comes closest to matching Canada’s visible-minority and gender realities, but both the House of Commons and Senate fail miserably in mirroring the diversity of Canada. “The socio-demographic biases are not without consequence as Parliament is the policy-making and political governing body of the country,” Chan writes in “Canada’s Governing Class: Who rules the country?” “When these decision makers debate the merits of initiatives, laws or policies that affect . . . women, minorities or the scientific community, the…

More thoughts on diversity

Letter to the Princeton Alumni Weekly (October 9, 2013 edition) In response to: Seek only the best, brightest Why are Asian-Americans always singled out in the conversation about over-representation in higher education compared with their national number (e.g. letters in the July 10 issue)? Jewish Americans form an even smaller percentage of the U.S. population (about 2 percent) and have just as large numbers in elite schools in the country, where they number roughly 25 percent at leading schools, and about 13 percent at Princeton. If former President Tilghman and those who support her ideas are so committed to the notion of bringing about skin-deep diversity, would they advocate that Jewish Americans form just 2 percent of the student body at Princeton? That idea is a non-starter, as it should be. As letter-writer Russ Nieli asserts, the only principle that should matter is talent, and we should do away with notions of skin-deep diversity when it comes to assembling the student and faculty body of Princeton. Kai L. Chan *08 Dubai, United Arab Emirates October 9, 2013 PAW letters section

Banks, race, gender

Letter to the Globe & Mail (November 8, 2012) Re Women Challenge Central Banking Men’s Club (Nov. 7): The board of the Bank of Canada is not much different than the euro zone experience. Only two of the 15 board members are women. The board fares even worse on reflecting Canada’s mosaic – it has no visible minorities, even though they account for 20 per cent of Canada’s population. The club is even more white than it is male. Nevertheless, such positions should be filled by merit only, but in a country with such a large visible minority population, are there none qualified for the role? The board counts four directors (of 12 appointed positions) from the Atlantic provinces, even though that region accounts for only about 7 per cent of Canada’s population. Kai L. Chan, Dubai Letter as it appeared in the G&M © Copyright 2012 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Acceptance of gay pride means more than passive toleration

One of the highlights of my summer was attending the Pride Parade in Toronto, Canada. However, when I mention to Princetonians that I took part, I am often met with questions of why I would attend, given that I myself am heterosexual. My reply has always been, "Why not?" The parade is fun and is attended by over a million revelers, most of whom are, like myself, straight. Yet even as I explain this point I am also often met with silly comments, which are usually meant in jest but speak of the overall lack of comfort that many here at Princeton have with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community. Perhaps it is because I grew up in Toronto (the world's most multicultural city — yes, even more so than New York) and I grew up with very tolerant values, but for whatever reason going to Pride was something that I did not have to wrestle with: "Hey I'm back in Toronto; when and where is Pride?" In all honesty, however, I was not always very open to the LGBT community. Growing up in a Chinese household (which tended to be socially conservative) I never did embrace the LGBT…

Being a minority in the West

I wish I were back in Japan. I went to the land of the rising sun this past summer to visit several friends and to explore a place that has always enchanted me. Although Murphy’s Law applied on the trip (let’s not go there), I hold no gripes against Japan; indeed, I really liked the place. Despite everything that went wrong on the trip, I gained a new perspective on being a minority in the West. Growing up as a minority in a Western society poses many challenges. Many people often remark that minorities growing up in the West face an identity crisis. Although true for some, in my case, I would certainly say that I had no such crisis. I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and I say very proudly that Toronto is the most tolerant and diverse city in the world. It is still far from perfect, but I miss the social acceptance of Toronto now that I am living in conservative, homogeneous Princeton. Even New York City seems to be lacking something. In any case, the overt racism of the United States is something I find unsettling, although it is still more progressive here than most other…