On March 20 and 21, 2026, community members, advocates, educators, artists, legal professionals, researchers, and organizers gathered in Toronto for CCNC-SJ’s 20 Years After Redress: Activism, Resilience, and Collaboration national forum.
Hosted by the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice (CCNC-SJ), its affiliates, and community partners, the two-day national forum marked the 20th anniversary of the federal government’s 2006 apology and redress for the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act.
This gathering created an opportunity to honour the generations of activists who fought for recognition and justice while considering what the redress movement can teach communities today. Across panels, debates, cultural activities, film, table dialogues, and informal conversations, participants explored the future of Chinese and Asian Canadian advocacy, civic participation, and capacity building.
The forum was grounded in a shared understanding that redress was not the conclusion of a struggle. It was one achievement within a much longer movement against anti-Asian racism, exclusion, displacement, and the continuing perception of Asian Canadians as perpetual foreigners.
Grounding the Gathering in Indigenous Solidarity
CCNC-SJ opened the forum by acknowledging that its work takes place on the traditional territories of Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island to recognize the continuing importance of treaties, including the Numbered Treaties, Peace and Friendship Treaties, and the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant.
The opening included a special video message from Cindy Blackstock, PhD, Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and Professor at McGill University’s School of Social Work. Followed by Artist and community organizer Yihua Zhang with reflections on Indigenous allyship, cultural practice, and community solidarity. Together, the opening contributions encouraged participants to approach the forum with respect, accountability, and a commitment to relationships across communities and justice movements.
Remembering Susan Eng
The forum also honoured the life and legacy of Susan Eng, who passed away in 2025.
Susan was a co-founder and Vice-President of CCNC-SJ, a trailblazing civic leader, a human rights advocate, and a lawyer who was among the first Asian Canadians to become a partner at a major Canadian law firm.
Throughout her life, she worked to advance justice and equality while supporting communities facing racism, exclusion, and systemic barriers. Her courage and leadership helped shape important reforms and inspired generations of advocates.
Remembering Susan at a forum devoted to activism and redress reinforced the importance of recognizing the people whose determination made social change possible. Her legacy continues through the communities she empowered and the movements she helped strengthen.
Connecting Redress to Contemporary Racial Justice
The forum’s keynote address was delivered by Peter Flegel, a Haitian Canadian Senior Expert in UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector and the founding Executive Director of the Government of Canada’s Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat.
Flegel reflected on the importance of racial equity, intercultural dialogue, democratic participation, and meaningful relationships between governments and communities. His address connected the history of Chinese Canadian advocacy to wider struggles against racism and exclusion in Canada and internationally.
During his leadership of the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat, Flegel worked with Asian Canadian communities to identify policy priorities, address anti-Asian racism and hate, celebrate Asian Canadian histories, and support the future of Chinatowns across the country.
His keynote encouraged participants to consider how community knowledge can shape public institutions and how governments can move beyond symbolic recognition toward sustained policy change, resources, and accountability.
Lessons from the Head Tax Redress Movement
The first panel brought together Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go and Gary Yee to reflect on the movement for redress for the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act.
For decades, Chinese Canadian families, survivors, lawyers, and community organizations fought for a formal apology and compensation. Their work required persistence across changes in governments, public attitudes, organizational leadership, and political strategy.
Justice Go and Yee discussed the progress made through the movement, as well as behind-the-scenes challenges and lessons learned through trial and error, coalition-building, litigation, and political advocacy.
Justice Go brought more than 30 years of advocacy and litigation experience to the conversation. Before becoming the first Chinese Canadian appointed to the Federal Court in 2021, she served as Clinic Director of the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic and worked extensively to advance access to justice for low-income and racialized communities.
Gary Yee, a former National President of the Chinese Canadian National Council and founding Clinic Director of the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, reflected on his experience in legal advocacy, community leadership, tribunal governance, and the redress campaign.
Debating the Meaning of Progress
Moderated by Keith Wong, the Double Debate Spotlight invited participants to consider contrasting perspectives on two complex questions facing contemporary social justice movements. Rather than seeking easy consensus, the format highlighted the tensions, limitations, and unintended consequences that can arise within advocacy.
Did Redress Create Lasting Change?
The first debate examined whether the 2006 federal apology and redress led to meaningful, lasting progress in addressing anti-Asian racism, including the perpetual foreigner stereotype.
Speakers discussed the apology’s political, cultural, and educational significance while questioning the limits of symbolic recognition when racism remains embedded in institutions, public narratives, and ideas of who belongs in Canada.
The discussion also raised questions about how progress should be measured, particularly in light of the federal government’s refusal to meet with James Wing, Québec’s last living Head Tax survivor. Participants considered the differences between public awareness, institutional reform, symbolic recognition, and the everyday experiences of racialized communities.
The debate showed that the meaning and legacy of redress remain contested rather than settled.
Has Social Media Strengthened Activism?
The second debate asked whether the internet and social media have strengthened social justice activism more than they have contributed to polarization, misinformation, and burnout.
Speakers highlighted how digital platforms help communities share information, document injustice, organize quickly, connect across distances, and reach audiences beyond traditional media.
They also examined online harassment, disinformation, performative advocacy, algorithmic amplification, surveillance, political polarization, and the emotional demands placed on organizers.
Rather than framing technology as either liberating or harmful, the debate encouraged participants to consider who owns digital platforms, whose voices receive visibility, how information is governed, and what organizers need to build sustainable movements.
Online Harms, Regulation, and Platform Responsibility
The questions raised during the social media debate continued in a session on online harms legislation featuring Ryan Chan, Viola Tian, and Raj Shoan. The session also marked the launch of CCNC-SJ’s new research report, Old Wounds, New Platforms: A Chinese Canadian Examination on Digital Hate and Historical Harm.
A presentation introducing the report connected contemporary forms of digital hate to the longer history of anti-Chinese racism in Canada. It demonstrated how familiar narratives, including racial scapegoating, exclusion, and the portrayal of Chinese Canadians as perpetual foreigners, have been reproduced and amplified through social media and other digital platforms. The report offered a Chinese-Canadian perspective on the relationship among historical harm, emerging technologies, and the changing ways hate circulates online.
This research provided an important foundation for the panel discussion. Canada continues to grapple with how governments should address online hate, disinformation, harassment, and other harmful content while protecting freedom of expression and internet users’ rights.
Ryan Chan, a litigation lawyer, CCNC-SJ board member, and project lead on hate crimes, social media, and online harms, brought legal and community advocacy perspectives to the conversation.
Viola Tian, a public policy professional, writer, and community advocate, contributed expertise in government relations, public affairs, diversity, equity and inclusion, and policy approaches to systemic racism.
Raj Shoan, Interim Executive Director of Friends of Canadian Media and a former Ontario Commissioner of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, brought extensive knowledge of broadcasting policy, communications law, and regulatory systems.
Together, the panellists examined the responsibilities of governments, technology companies, civil society organizations, and individual users. They considered the limitations of existing laws, the practical challenges of enforcement, and the risks of relying on private technology companies to govern spaces that have become central to public communication and civic participation.
The discussion emphasized that online harms are not experienced equally. Communities that have historically faced racism and exclusion are often disproportionately targeted, making it essential that legislation and platform policies are shaped by their experiences and knowledge.
The session highlighted the need for regulation that is effective, transparent, proportionate, and grounded in meaningful community consultation. It also identified the importance of public accountability, accessible reporting and response systems, stronger research and data collection, and safeguards against both unchecked online harm and excessive restrictions on expression.
By launching Old Wounds, New Platforms: A Chinese Canadian Examination on Digital Hate and Historical Harm alongside this policy discussion, the session reinforced that digital hate cannot be understood as an entirely new phenomenon. Although technologies and platforms continue to evolve, the prejudices they circulate are often rooted in longstanding histories of racism. Addressing online harms therefore requires not only better regulation, but also historical understanding, community leadership, public education, and sustained action against the systems that allow hate to endure.
Why Thriving Chinatowns Matter
The National Panel on the Importance of Thriving Chinatowns brought together community leaders, organizers, planners, and artists from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton.
Moderated by CCNC-SJ President Amy Go, the panel featured Shawn Tse, Jessica Chen, Rick Wong, Brenda Joy Lem, and Hannia Cheng.
Historically, Chinatowns provided Chinese migrants with housing, work, cultural connections, services, safety, and a sense of belonging amid racial segregation and discrimination. They also became centres of political organizing and collective care.
Today, Chinatowns remain culturally and socially significant while confronting development pressures, rising rents, displacement, gentrification, cultural erasure, and narratives that treat working-class neighbourhoods as outdated or disposable.
The panellists shared experiences from different cities and discussed the importance of community governance, intergenerational relationships, cultural heritage, land, public space, and locally led development.
Jessica Chen spoke from her experience as a planning professional and Executive Director of Montreal’s JIA Foundation, which supports community-led work to protect and strengthen Montreal Chinatown.
Edmonton-based artist and organizer Shawn Tse discussed the relationship between storytelling, cultural practice, advocacy, and collective action.
Rick Wong and Brenda Joy Lem reflected on their relationships with Toronto’s Spadina Chinatown and their work with the arts collective Long Time No See. Their contributions connected present-day organizing to family histories, migration, ancestral memory, and responsibilities to act in solidarity with Indigenous peoples.
Artist and cultural worker Hannia Cheng discussed place-based artistic practice and initiatives including Unit 270 Gallery, Toronto Chinatown Land Trust, Thank You Chinatown, and Friends of Chinatown Toronto. Their work demonstrated how art can create common ground for storytelling, civic participation, and community-building.
The panel made clear that preserving Chinatown is not simply about maintaining buildings or creating a tourist destination. It is about protecting living communities, relationships, histories, affordable spaces, cultural practices, and the right of residents to participate in shaping their neighbourhoods.
Big Fight in Little Chinatown
Day 1 concluded with a screening of Karen Cho’s documentary Big Fight in Little Chinatown.
The film follows communities working to protect Chinatowns from displacement and erasure. Through stories of memory, resistance, organizing, and collective action, it examines the pressures facing Chinatown neighbourhoods and the people fighting to preserve their cultural and community futures.
Karen Cho introduced the film and connected it to her broader work as a Chinese Canadian filmmaker documenting social justice movements. Her first film, In the Shadow of Gold Mountain, explored the history and legacy of the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.
The screening brought many of the day’s themes together. It showed how historical exclusion continues to shape contemporary struggles over land, development, belonging, and public memory. It also demonstrated how storytelling can support organizing by documenting experiences that might otherwise be ignored or erased.
Participants concluded the first day with a community fundraiser dinner at Dim Sum King Seafood Restaurant, creating additional space for relationship-building and conversation.
Seeds of Action: Community Voice in Education
The second day of the forum shifted from reflection toward action. CCNC-SJ’s partner, the Asian Canadian Educators Network, led a panel on community voice, racialized leadership, and democracy in Canadian education.
Moderated by ACENet Vice-President Selena Tandon, the panel featured Sachin Maharaj, jeewan chanicka, Shameela Shakeel, and Gen-Ling Chang.
The speakers brought experience as educators, school system leaders, researchers, consultants, community advocates, and organizers. Together, they examined how communities have historically organized for more equitable education and how current changes are affecting public participation in school governance.
The conversation focused on provincial intervention in school boards, funding cuts, growing centralization, labour relations, and the weakening of relationships between school systems and the communities they serve.
Panellists discussed the implications of Ontario’s Bill 33, the Supporting Children and Students Act, and the growing ability of provincial governments to intervene directly in school board governance. Participants considered how these changes could reduce the influence of elected trustees, families, educators, students, unions, and community organizations.
The discussion also explored how the erosion of democratic participation can threaten anti-racist and anti-oppressive education. When decision-making becomes increasingly centralized, communities may have fewer opportunities to advocate for culturally responsive curriculum, equitable resources, student well-being, and meaningful responses to racism.
The speakers emphasized that Asian communities are not a single group with identical educational experiences. Effective advocacy must recognize differences in migration, language, class, disability, religion, gender, and relationships to colonial systems.
In the weeks following the forum, the Ontario government announced the proposed Putting Student Achievement First Act on April 13, 2026. The proposed changes reinforced many concerns discussed during the panel regarding centralized authority, democratic governance, labour processes, and community participation in education.
The panel did not focus only on threats. Speakers also shared strategies being used by educators, unions, families, students, community organizations, and organizers to protect public education and keep the needs of school communities at the centre of decision-making.
Hopes and Dreams for the Future
The public portion of the forum concluded with a collective Hopes and Dreams reflection led by Winnie Ng, with closing contributions from Amy Go, Sara Leung, and Selena Tandon.
Participants were invited to write down a hope or dream inspired by the ideas, relationships, and commitments developed during the forum. The reflections offered a way to move from analysis toward intention.
The closing activity emphasized that collective action begins with the ability to imagine a different future. Participants’ hopes reflected the diversity of issues discussed during the gathering, including racial justice, education, community safety, thriving Chinatowns, intergenerational organizing, digital accountability, and democratic participation.
The reflections were placed inside balloons, with several opened and read aloud as a symbolic expression of the gathering’s shared vision.
The activity closed the public forum with a reminder that movements are sustained not only through policy and protest, but also through relationships, imagination, joy, and a sense of collective purpose.
National Chinatown Caucus and Tea Dance Ceremony
Following the public sessions, active and emerging Chinatown organizers from across Canada participated in a closed national caucus.
The gathering opened with Yihua Zhang’s Tea Dance Ceremony, or Cha Wu 茶舞. The ceremony grounded the session in cultural practice, reflection, movement, and shared presence.
Facilitated by Yihua Zhang and Sandy Yep, the caucus created a more focused space for organizers to discuss challenges facing their communities, exchange strategies, and strengthen collaboration across cities.
The closed format allowed participants to speak candidly about local organizing conditions, development pressures, community relationships, resources, and the long-term work required to support thriving Chinatowns.
By bringing organizers together nationally, the caucus built connections that could continue beyond the forum and support coordinated responses to displacement, erasure, and systemic exclusion.
Community in Practice: Thank You Chinatown
The forum highlighted Thank You Chinatown | 谢谢唐人街 as an example of community-building rooted in place, culture, and resistance to displacement.
Located in Toronto’s Chinatown, Thank You Chinatown operates as an intercultural hub and intergenerational living archive. Part gift shop and part gathering space, it brings together neighbours, workers, artists, organizers, and visitors through accessible programming, local collaborations, storytelling, and community projects.
The initiative celebrates Chinatown’s living cultural life while creating opportunities for people to learn about the neighbourhood’s history and the ongoing work required to protect it.
Its activities demonstrate how small, welcoming community spaces can support deeper conversations about belonging, displacement, cultural memory, and collective responsibility.
Thank You Chinatown reflects a central idea that emerged throughout the forum: Chinatowns are not static historical sites. They are living communities shaped by the people who work, gather, create, organize, and care for one another within them.
Carrying the Work Forward
Over two days, 20 Years After Redress connected the achievements of the past with the unfinished work of the present.
The forum honoured the activists who fought for recognition of the harms caused by the Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act. It also challenged participants to consider what meaningful redress requires when anti-Asian racism, displacement, political exclusion, and the perpetual foreigner stereotype continue.
Across the sessions, several shared ideas emerged. Social change requires long-term organizing rather than isolated moments of recognition. Communities need meaningful opportunities to shape the institutions and policies that affect them. Chinatowns must be understood as living neighbourhoods rather than symbols of the past. Digital platforms and governments must be held accountable for online harms. Public education must remain democratic, equitable, and responsive to community knowledge. Solidarity must extend across generations, identities, cities, and movements.
The gathering demonstrated that remembrance and action are inseparable. Honouring the redress movement means learning from its achievements, disagreements, sacrifices, and strategies—and applying those lessons to the struggles communities face today.
CCNC-SJ is deeply grateful to the speakers, moderators, facilitators, artists, volunteers, partners, organizers, and participants who brought their knowledge, lived experiences, questions, and hopes to the forum.
20 Years After Redress: Activism, Resilience, and Collaboration was made possible with the support of the Government of Canada.
