There are a lot of good web sites about the boat people where you can read about their personal journeys out of Vietnam and into resettlement in the West.

We set out to be different, in order to address a specific problem that has arisen uniquely in Canada.

This problem arose long after the migration and resettlement program were. But to understand and address the problem you must have an accurate understanding of why and how Canada decided to admit 165,000 refugees from Vietnam.

This founding story reveals how diverse and interesting the Canadian Vietnamese community is today. It is nothing like the stereotypes that are circulating today in Canada for political reasons.

The Vietnamese community is unique in Canada in that it came into existence over a specific period of time, not that many years ago (1979). The diverse character of the community was determined by the events of that time, and that time is near enough that it is still quite relevant.

In more recent times, a number of political groups, such as the Conservative party of Canada, have found it ideologically useful to change the perceived character of the Vietnamese community. They have done so, successfully, by rewriting the history of those years in which the migration occurred.

When we say "successful", we cannot exaggerate the degree to which they succeeded. Even the Vietnamese community itself, which now has a vital interest in correcting the record, does not know that the record has been falsified.

This new origin story stereotypes the boat people as nationals of the defunct Saigon regime, "victims of the fall of Saigon". In the chauvinistic view of world affairs that these political groups hold, that is their definition of "not communists".

An aggressive and hostile political campaign demands that Vietnamese Canadians conform to an invented stereotype. This leaves members of the community marginalized and uncertain about where they stand in Canadian society. In divides the community between the small number who conform and the great majority who do not.

We feel that it is particularly important for the younger generations born in Canada to be able to access an accurate account of their heritage -- how their ancestors came to Canada. In this way they can understand that the community is not really homogenous -- that the stereotypical "boat person" is an artificial one created by today's Canadian politicians. The true diversity of the community is far more interesting than that.

We are speaking to all Canadians. Among those Canadians we are especially interested in speaking to are the two generations of Canadians of Vietnamese origin who were born in Canada. You might want to understand your heritage -- how it is that you came to be Canadian and, in particular, that Canada did not impose any political criteria on the selection of refugees to be admitted to Canada.

Our undertaking is particularly important in the present political environment in Canada, where politicians have purposely obscured the origins of Canada's Vietnamese community. Many young Vietnamese are noticing that there is a difference between what their ancestors tell them and what they read and hear in public.

Our secondary audience is all of the politicians, public servants at all levels of government, authors, and journalists who are communicating incorrect information about Canadians of Vietnamese origin. Some are doing it intentionally, but we suspect that most would prefer to base their actions and writing on accurate information.

In light of these intended audiences, our primary web site language is English

The web site is divided into three main parts: Community, Government, and Researchers.

Each part is more or less directed at the audience indicated by the name. The Community section, however, provides essential background knowledge for everyone.

The site includes:

• A detailed narrative on the history of the boat people that sheds light on the origins and nature of the Vietnamese community in Canada. This account is needed now because a false account created for political purposes has become ubiquitous is Canada.

• An account of what the former boat people are experiencing today as Canadian politicians are taking a renewed interest in the community on the basis of the false history and the stereotype it engenders.

• A guide for students, journalists, and authors who want to find more detailed but accurate information about the history covered on this web site. All of the original histories of the boat people crisis are out of print and anything created recently has been corrupted with the false history (intentionally or not), so this resource is badly needed.

If you would like to read a longer overview of our web site, click on the Site Guide link at the bottom of the page.

For tips about how to get the most out of this web site, see: Tips to help you use this web site effectively.

We started out in 2014 to write an angry response to the Harper government’s efforts to delegitimize and marginalize the Vietnamese boat people in Canada. At the time, we thought the problem would go away after Harper was defeated in the next election.

As it happens, Harper did an expert job of revising Canada's history with respect to the boat people, so the problem persists. Harper managed to corrupt many sources where people would normally expect to find good historical information.

Today, five years or more after Harper was defeated, Harper’s message is everywhere. Canadians, particularly those in politics and government, are repeating it as a true and supposedly positive statement about the Vietnamese in Canada. It is being picked up by otherwise credible information sources and repeated as historical fact. It has got to the point where it is now difficult to find the true story of the Vietnamese boat people’s arrival in Canada.

This has made us realize that a more organized and credible response to Harper’s damage is required.

Consequently, in mid-2020 we began reworking the web site so that it presents more information in an academically “pure” manner with proper citations and references to primary and secondary historical resources.

We will not do this at the expense of keeping the web site readable. We will use mix of styles, so that one can peruse the parts that are suited to the reader's interests.

This web site is informed by personal experience. In telling the story, however, we have not relied on personal knowledge. Everything on this web site can be verified in one of the published sources listed in the Reference resources for writers section.

I came to Canada from Vietnam around twenty years ago expecting to find an atmosphere of political freedom and acceptance of diversity. Instead I have found a Vietnamese-Canadian community that is extremely divided because a small part of the community is still dreaming about a return to pre-1975 Vietnam. Worse, I found a Canadian federal government that is exploiting the divide instead of calming it.

I lived in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) for the entire 20-odd years of its existence, up to its collapse in 1975. Like many, I had family on both sides of the conflict. I remained in Vietnam through all the transitions it went through after 1975, leading up to Vietnam becoming a mid-level developing nation in the present.

Upon coming to Canada, I wanted to share my Vietnamese culture with other Canadians. I have organized many public events in which a wide range of Canadians participated. Nevertheless, I found this very difficult to do because of well-organized opposition from a small faction in the community, supported by the federal government. I was criticized by the government for not pretending that I was still a national of the Republic of Vietnam. It was demanded that I put an RVN political element into anything I did in public. I had demonstrators outside interfering with my work when I did not incorporate the required political symbolism. I was accused of infringing on their political freedom when I refused their demands. It was actually much worse than working in Vietnam in terms of political freedom.

My experiences are not unique. This political interference everyone in the community who has a wish to express their heritage and culture. The new generations of Vietnamese-Canadians are particularly angered by the political interference. I hope that this web site will encourage some to take action.

My message to Canadian federal politicians: I am a Canadian of Vietnamese origin. I am no longer a national of the Republic of Vietnam. My flag is the Canadian flag. The former Saigon military leaders are entitled to have their day, but I will not be joining in their national day of hatred despite the extensive pressures you have placed on me to conform to your ill-conceived notion of Vietnam's culture and history.

There are enough people who claim that they speak for the community. We are not one of them.

The problem we are documenting is the behavior of Canadian politicians who have set out to intentionally divide and marginalize Canadians of Vietnamese origin based on a political agenda that originates from outside the community.

The community is justifiably ambivalent about the topics discussed here and we have set out only to inform, not to resolve. Political divisions in any community are normal and we would not try to erase those. What we should expect from Canadian politicians, however, is that they would respect those divisions and not take sides. This is especially true given that Canada did not take sides when it admitted 162,000 Vietnamese refugees to Canada.

Although a community response to the Government's actions is probably warranted, it is not the purpose of this web site to organize a response.