11 Sep What the Chinaman knows, and the Pictonian should
Dr. Dan Reid is a graduate of Dalhousie Medical School, a medical doctor, a general practitioner in both Pictou and Dartmouth, a former chief of staff at the Sutherland Harris Memorial Hospital, a former member of the Nova Scotia Legislature for Pictou West, a former Minister of Fisheries in the Gerald Regan government, a Liberal partisan, and a longstanding critic of the Northern Pulp Mill in Abercrombie.
At a free concert Tuesday night to raise awareness about the emissions from the mill, Reid saw fit to attack former premier John Hamm for sitting on the board of Northern Pulp. He went so far as to accuse Hamm of violating the Canadian Medical Association’s ethics code, article seven of which says, “Resist any influence or interference that could undermine your professional integrity.”
The CBC quotes Reid as saying, “Shame on Dr. Hamm for defending the pulp mill. He should resign and he should resign tomorrow.”
I will let others judge the political motives underlying these comments: “a former Liberal politician take a cheap shot at a retired Tory” (PC leader Jamie Baillie) or “a valid point…. [about] a political and corporate culture of mutual back-scratching” (Halifax Examiner).
Let’s focus instead on Reid’s comment about the ethnic Chinese, Indonesian-based owner of the pulp mill:
“I doubt that the Chinaman knows where Pictou is,” he told the Pictou rally.
The Chinaman? Seriously?
Merriam-Webster calls “Chinaman,” “often offensive,” Dictionary.com, “usually offensive.” Wikipedia says the term:
is noted as offensive by modern dictionaries. Its derogatory connotations evolved from its use in pejorative contexts regarding the Chinese and other Asians.
In 1994, under pressure from Alberta’s Chinese community, that province’s government renamed the 2,408-metre-high “Chinaman’s Peak” in the Rocky Mountains to “Ha Ling Peak,” in honour of a 19th-Century railroad labourer. Wikipedia recounts numerous other apologies, retractions, and controversies arising from the use of the term.
Can a person of Reid’s background and stature really need schooling as to the offensiveness of this ethnic slur? Casual bigotry ill-serves the worthy cause of cleaning up Northern Pulp.