Post by Swampy on Apr 26, 2015 10:18:48 GMT -5
Vietnam’s government says its relationship with Ottawa has been damaged by a Canadian bill meant to commemorate the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees in Canada after the fall of Saigon.
The bill came into effect on Thursday and sets April 30 as Journey to Freedom Day, a nod to members of Canada’s Vietnamese community that has generated controversy and raised questions about relations between Ottawa and Hanoi. At issue is the choice of date, which Vietnam says should be celebrated as marking the end of the war and the beginning of reconciliation between North and South Vietnam.
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The Canadian senator who introduced the bill, originally titled the Black April Day Act, said at first that it would mark the day South Vietnam fell “under the power of an authoritarian and oppressive communist regime.” The bill’s title was later amended to the Journey to Freedom Day Act and references to Hanoi were removed.
The bill came into effect on Thursday and sets April 30 as Journey to Freedom Day, a nod to members of Canada’s Vietnamese community that has generated controversy and raised questions about relations between Ottawa and Hanoi. At issue is the choice of date, which Vietnam says should be celebrated as marking the end of the war and the beginning of reconciliation between North and South Vietnam.
...
The Canadian senator who introduced the bill, originally titled the Black April Day Act, said at first that it would mark the day South Vietnam fell “under the power of an authoritarian and oppressive communist regime.” The bill’s title was later amended to the Journey to Freedom Day Act and references to Hanoi were removed.
It makes my blood boil to think that Hanoi would object to this, especially after what they did when Saigon fell. I hope the Act passes.
