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Embassy, November 28th, 2007
NEWS STORY
MPs Moved to Tears by Comfort WomenBy Jeff DavisCanada is poised to wade into a highly contentious issue that would see Parliament demand Japan, among other things, apologize to women from other Asian nations who were used a sex slaves during the Second World War and teach Japanese students of the crimes.
However, while a Japanese diplomat visited various media outlets last Friday to present a fact sheet on reparations and actions his government has taken to resolve the "comfort women" issue, he said Canada-Japan relations would not be affected if such a course of action is taken.
"Comfort women" was the euphemistic label given to the women who were forced into sexual slavery by the conquering Japanese armies in the Second World War. While most of these women were from Korea and China, the Japanese pulled comfort women from across their conquered territories.
Four former comfort women spoke to a crowded room of Canadian MPs and reporters during a special hearing on the issue yesterday. The elderly women, hailing from different countries, told horrifyingly personal stories of their experiences as comfort women, describing the violence, humiliation, imprisonment, murder and mass, repeated rape. All present were clearly emotionally affected.
The hearing came the day before Parliament was to vote on a motion sponsored by NDP MP Olivia Chow, which would also require Japan restore all references to Japanese sexual slavery to student textbooks.
Similar motions have already been accepted by the American and Dutch governments, which condemned Japanese action and urged redress.
Ms. Chow said she proposed the motion in response to comments made by the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in March. Mr. Abe said at the time that there was no evidence that the Japanese military had coerced women into sexual slavery during the Second World War.
He later retracted the comment.
The Japanese government has made a number of apologies for the comfort women issue in the past and has offered compensation to 285 former comfort women in the form of about $200,000 (CDN) per person. Some have accepted, but the redress has not proven good enough for many others.
Last Friday, Jun Yanagi, a counsellor at the Japanese embassy in Ottawa, took the unusual move of visiting different newsrooms to distribute a package of information in advance of yesterday's hearing in an apparent sign of the embassy's concern over the issue.
However, he said yesterday that the passage of the motion would not impugn bilateral relations or lead to serious repercussions.
"Japan and Canada share the same universal values like human rights, rule of law and democracy and we are partners across the pacific and in the G8, cooperating on global issues. We firmly believe this sound, good bilateral relations will not be damaged by this issue," he told Embassy.
"There may be some comment but there is no action I could expect our government to take."
Meili Faille, a half-Taiwanese Bloc Québécois MP, said her party will support the motion, and that as of yesterday afternoon, "we have all party support."
She said that while hosting the comfort women had offended the Japanese, she could not turn a blind eye.
"If we stop talking about human rights issues because it could damage a relationship, where will the world turn to?" Ms. Faille said.
Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism, would not say if his party would support the motion. Conservative MPs, however, outnumbered all other party caucuses at the event.
"We're very moved by the testimony we heard today," he said. "These are very brave women who have suffered an unspeakable evil."
As for the relationship with Japan, Mr. Kenney said that "Canada is a good friend of that country and we certainly hope to maintain it that way."
Raymond Chan, opposition critic for Asia Pacific, was the only Liberal MP to attend the meeting. The Liberals have, however, issued press releases in recent months condemning Mr. Abe's comments.
The comfort women were brought to Ottawa by the Association for Learning and Preserving the History of the Second World War in Asia (ALPHA).
Joseph Wong, co-chair of ALPHA, said he understands that all four parties support the motion and that, despite changes, the motion has retained its essence.
Mr. Wong said it is important that Canada join the U.S. and Holland on this issue.
"A lot of world countries are looking to Canada to take a leadership in this issue," he said.
Samuel Chan, CEO of the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, says that while this issue is important, it does not resonate strongly with many Chinese-Canadians.
"It's 50 years old," he said, "It's history."
"As a Chinese-Canadian I say the Canadian government should support this issue and the Japanese should make an apology because they did something wrong," he added.
jdavis@embassymag.ca
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