Arts
"Boat people for prime minister" art installations spotted around Toronto
A blogTO reader sent us a note the other day about a quirky art installation at Old City Hall and Queen's Park. Comprised of a series of paper boats with the words "boat people for prime minister," the piece is the work of the Paper Cranes art collective. Formed relatively recently, the group's modus operandi is to "pursue public art interventions."
I first caught wind of the collective when they identified themselves as the creators of the "Where's Omar?" pieces that popped up around the city. Although the group claims that they "do not espouse any one political position or stance," it's clear from their first two projects that they're interested in subjects that have proven to test the public's perception of otherness and that pose a challenge to Canada's foreign affairs policies.
As the reader email reads, "the paper boats set sail in the rough waters of xenophobic hysteria that flooded Canada after the arrival of the MV Sun Sea, a ship that brought just under 500 Tamil Asylum seekers from Sri Lanka to Canada." But, like the "Where's Omar?" intervention, the installations aren't didactic in any way. Although not phrased as a question, the odd suggestion -- boat people for prime minister -- doesn't actually prescribe a particular (realistic) way of looking at the arrival of the Tamil refugees. What its quirky wording does do, on the other hand, is serve as an occasion for the passerby to pause and contemplate the complicated situation. And when it comes to public art, that moment of thought is often the whole point.
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But it doesn't do anything to make me more sympathetic to the plight of queue-jumpers and smugglers and a lot of Canadians (including legal immigrants) feel the same way.
Refugees are forced from their homes in emergency situations due to human rights abuses committed during wars, military occupations, or persecution against a minority group.
We cannot expect refugees to wait for Canada to select them from overseas.
We must understand that they undertake long and dangerous journeys to protect their lives and the lives of their families.
According to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, to which Canada is a party, there are no penalties on refugees who arrive without pre-authorization and irregularly.
If these Tamils have money to pay a large sum amount of $50,000 to the human smugglers (Tamil Tigers), then they are not refugees.
Wake up Canada before it's too late.
The only reason they hop on boats is because it makes it far more difficult to expel them even if their claims are not accepted. They force the issue on us.
And are you in favour of the smugglers too? Because this entire extended journey couldn't happen without the assistance of a lot of professional criminals along the way.
Having read the atrocities the Sri Lanka government committed against these people I think all of us would pay any amount of money to escape the country if we found ourselves in a similar situation.
I also think the $50K per asylum seeker is grossly exaggerated and I ask myself why the Conservative Party is labelling these people "terrorists" before examining the merits of their case on an individual basis?
The Conservative party's response to the Tamil asylum seekers reeks of political opportunism and I realize why they cannot move ahead in the polls. Behind the veneer of "national security" lies the same old snake oil.
My uncle, aunt and their kids came to this country as refugees nearly 30 years fleeing a similar situation. He will retire soon finishing a brilliant career in medicine as will his wife. All the kids, now full adults, are professionals as are their spouses. They contributed to "the system" and I expect these Tamils will do the same.
That is not the way to get in to Canada.
I do not consider myself some mouth breathing right winger who feeds off this nonsense, but there are ways to enter the country legally, and there are ways to enter illegally.
The smugglers purposefully chose Canada to take advantage of our backwards refugee laws.
Maybe you like the feeling of being a mark, but I don't.
I have followed this Tamil boat people story from day one since last year. I am very displeased by the fact most of the stories by Tamils were just propaganda.
Why these Tamils chose to come to Canada? Why didn' they head of to India where the Tamil Nadu live. So this is a well thought out and deliberate process, why didn't they stay in Thailand or Singapore?
Do you think it's right to let our taxpayers burdened with millions of dollars because of someone's benefits and for their economic gains on the Canadian public pockets. How nice.
This is called "Abuse" to our generousity and not to mention that there are criminal activities which involved in human trafficking by Tamil Tigers. How gullible do you think Canadians are?
That amount comes from another Tamil refugee who was part of the of the last boatload that came last year, so I'd say it's pretty accurate. It's also an "up to" figure, so not everyone paid that much.
The government has never called them terrorists, but they are rightly checking to see if any of them are linked to the Tigers, which guaranteed at least a few of them are.
TrueNorth, thanks for your comments. Your stomach is far tougher than mine.