The two offensive videos that describe the boat people as partisan victims of the Vietnam war are still featured on the government's Asian Heritage Month web page. These videos are offensive to both the boat people and to Canada's pride as a welcoming haven for refugees. They are propaganda films for the defunct Saigon military dictatorship. They also appear on YouTube with a credit to Canada Heritage. (Canada.ca, 2020).^[425] Videos with transcripts:(Canada.ca, 2015).^[19]

May 1, 2019

The two divisive videos about the boat people remain as a feature on the 2019 Asian Heritage Month web page. (Canada.ca, 2019).^[375] Videos: (Canada.ca, 2015).^[19]

April 30, 2019

Judy A. Sgro (Lib) made a statement in parliament. She and around 3 others were wearing the yellow scarf. Anne Minh-Thu Quach (NDP) wore an interesting abstraction of the yellow flag that appeared to be in the form of a jacket. She did not speak. (Canada HoC Debates, 2019-04-30, p. 27221).^[370]

Ministers Hussen and Rodriguez (Ministers of Citizenship and Heritage, respectively) issued a short, partisan press release that reiterated ministerial commitment to dividing the Vietnamese in Canada over the Vietnam war. (Rodriguez & Hussen, 2019).^[374]

Journey to Freedom Day on Parliament Hill, with a record number of parliamentarians attending -- 14 of them (but no party leaders). (Ngo, 2019).^[382]

April 30, 2018

General observations about Journey to Freedom Day in 2018:

• Liberal politicians seem to be reducing their commitment, although they are still engaged.

• Conservative politicians are increasing their presence.

• The organizers of the event in Ottawa and Toronto now openly call it a "flag raising ceremony", and the banner has been changed to reflect this. This better reflects the true purpose of the event which is to have Canada formally recognize the national flag of the RVN.

• Senator Ngo has been putting effort into getting the event into more jurisdictions and makes a point of keeping score. He also puts emphasis on the event as a flag raising.

Judy Sgro (Lib) and Peter Kent (Con) both made statements in parliament while wearing the yellow scarf. Kent expressed his firm commitment to the revised history, while Sgro was more circumspect in speech but nevertheless wore the yellow flag. It was also notable that no other Liberals wore the scarf this time. This year there was no NDP statement. (Canada HoC Debates, 2018-04-30, p. 18931).^[286]

Ministers Hussen and Joly (Ministers of Citizenship and Heritage, respectively) issued a short, innocuous press release that firmly established ministerial commitment to the revised history of the Vietnamese in Canada (see next item). (Hussen & Joly, 2018).^[290]

Government Heritage web site -- Asian Heritage Month 2018. Two very short video express the revisionist history of the boat people, including the phony connection to UNHCR. One was originally issued in 2015 with an accompanying poster. (Canada.ca, 2015).^[19]

(May 4) Senator Ngo brags in the Senate about all the governments he has managed to talk into holding official flag raising ceremonies, wherein the national flag of the Republic of Vietnam is formally recognized by a government, thus confirming again that his own Journey to Freedom Day bill had little to do with refugees. (Canada Senate Debates, 2018-05-01, p. 5350).^[287]

The flag raising ceremony on parliament hill: (Ngo, 2018).^[346]

If there is any doubt in anyone's mind that the purpose of Journey to Freedom Day is for Canada to formerly recognize the defunct Saigon military dictatorship as a legitimate nation, these pictures should quell those doubts.

Note that the ever-present banner now calls the day "Flag Raising Ceremony" to better reflect its political purpose and abandoning all pretence that it is an homage to the refugees. Organizers across the country have adopted this. The second line on the banner remain unchanged at declaring it also to be a "national day of hatred".

We have identified 12 M.P.s at this event, probably a record. Here is the only partly leader attending: Scheer (C) with some of his M.P.s., all wearing the yellow scarf.

Where is the crowd? Senator Ngo said that 6 Ontario and Quebec communities were represented here.

May 2, 2017

Senator Ngo makes a statement in the Senate which indicates that the flag raisings are the whole point of Journey to Freedom Day, not refugees. For the occasion he got his Senate caucus to gather in the Senate chamber with everyone wearing the yellow flag over their shoulders. (Canada Senate Debates, 2017-05-02, p. 2870).^[343]

May 1, 2017

Anne Minh-Thu Quach (NDP), Judy A. Sgro (Lib), Peter Kent (PC) made statements in parliament. They and several others were wearing the yellow scarf, thus expressing their hostility to those who do not identify with the Saigon military regime. They made references to the yellow flag having been raised on parliament hill alongside the Canadian flag, thus emphasizing the importance that they ascribe to recognizing the Saigon military regime. (Canada HoC Debates, 2017-05-01, pp. 10561-10564).^[284]

Journey to Freedom Day was rained upon in Toronto and Ottawa so there are few good pictures available. The main event in Ottawa was billed in the parliamentary statements as "the first time in history that the RVN flag was raised on parliament hill". We are not sure what this signifies, since this was at least the third annual event on parliament hill. (Ngo, 2017).^[353]

The event was attended by several politicians.

The usual press release by Ministers Hussen and Joly, addressing only those refugees who identify as with the Saigon regime thus marginalizing the majority. (Hussen & Joly, 2017).^[354]

April 28, 2017

Canadian Heritage (government) web site. Two days before Journey to Freedom day this video was posted on the government web site. It contains a totally revisionist history of the boat people, including the phony connection to UNHCR. It remains on the 2018 version of the web page. (Canada.ca, 2015).^[19]

September 5, 2016

Foreign affairs minister Dion in a speech he made in Vietnam said "[I] feel a responsibility to help rapprochement between our two countries". This was a very weird thing to say when Canada has had a positive and friendly diplomatic relationship with the present government of Vietnam since 1973. Could it be that Dion is now speaking for the Saigon regime? (He only lasted another 4 months as foreign affairs minister). (Dion, 2016).^[206]

July 15, 2016

Senator Ngo writes a letter to the Mayor of Surrey on his Senate letterhead quoting extensively from the revised history and making many false statements about the Vietnamese community frames in partisan terms of the Vietnam war. He quoted Jason Kenney's original 2008 statement that the flag must be respected. (Kenney, 2008).^[115] The letter is undated, but it was posted on Facebook on July 15, just before the event in Surrey. (Ngo, 2016).^[34]

The event is controversial among the Senator's crowd becasue it refuses to recognize their yellow flag as the national flag of Vietnam. The Senator's crowd have been mounting protests at the event for several years. See the details in Canada suppresses cultural expression (look for late July dates in every year).

June 6, 2016

Inaccurate, politically biased historical information about the Vietnamese refugees posted on the Canadian Forces web site. (Canadian Forces, 2016).^[187] (Canadian Forces, 2016).^[189]

April 30, 2016

There seemed to be a lull in Journey to Freedom Day activity at the national level in 2016. We have found no record of events with political involvement in Ottawa, and only one political statement.

John McCallum and Malanie Joly (Lib) issues press release on Journey to Freedom day. They framed their homage in partisan terms of the Vietnam war and quoted several revised historical facts to justify it. Thus they confirm that the Liberal government continues Harper's practice of marginalizing Vietnamese Canadians. (McCallum & Joly, 2016).^[330]

September 5, 2015

Thank You Journey to Freedom Day Act Gala. That's what Senator called this event, but the poster on the speaker's podium tells a story -- it's one of his movement's many anti-Vietnam events. (Ngo, 2015).^[364]

August 18, 2015

Senator Ngo writes a letter to VWAT about their refusal to fly the yellow flag. This letter is a very good example of the tactics that the Senator regularly applies to pressure the community about the flag -- extensive appeals to authority. Jason Kenney's original pronouncement about the flag is quoted, as usual. (Kenney, 2008).^[115] The point VWAT was trying to make is that the flag does not represent the community, and as a community service they should not be displaying it at their service locations. They lost - the director quit. (Ngo, 2015).^[210]

June 14, 2015

Senator Ngo's "Town Hall Meeting" in Edmonton. There are others listed in the cited reference. Senator travels the nation to consult with his "constituents" who, unsurprisingly, are people who identify with ther yellow flag. Many yellow flags and few people at each meeting. (Ngo, 2015).^[363]

June 12, 2015

Government takes the occasion of Asian Heritage Month to promote the revised history of the Vietnamese in Canada that was recently passed in parliament. A video and poster were published on the Asian Heritage Month web site. The presence of the government logo on all items indicates government funding. The video has been re-posted on the government Heritage web site annually, later accompanied by another similar one, and is still on in 2019. (Canada Immigration, 2015).^[21] (Canada.ca , 2015).^[21] (Canada.ca, 2015).^[19]

Jason Kenney had made a speech on April 30 to kick off Asian Heritage Month. The video was shown to the gathering. Much said about Vietnamese refugees, all expressed in partisan terms of the Vietnam war and much quoting from the revised history now circulating. (Kenney, 2015).^[328]

April 30, 2015

Statements read in the House of Commons on the first JFD. Dion made a short statement that made no reference to the Vietnam war, thus respectful. Adler, wearing a yellow flag tie, addressed Vietnamese Canadians in partisan terms of the Vietnam war and revised history, thus marginalizing most. Shall we judge a yellow flag tie to be less hostile that a yellow flag scarf? (Canada HoC Debates, 2015-04-30).^[436]

Rally in support of the Memorial for Victims of Communism. The minister presiding wore a yellow scarf and the uniformed ARVN was present in force. Suggests that the ARVN have much to do with the monument. Lacking Vietnam war veterans, the instead minister brought some Korean war veterans along, but to their credit, they did emphatically did not buy the yellow flag that the minister was wearing. (Ngo, 2015).^[424]

Journey to Freedom Day on the hill. Many yellow flags and military uniforms in front of the parliament buildings, with a flag raising for the yellow flag. The usual commemorative plaque was handed over confirming that the boat people came to Canada in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, implying that the yellow flag is their national flag. Thus close to 400,000 Vietnamese Canadians were marginalized by the events.(Ngo, 2015).^[361]

Nansen Medal Viewing. An appeal to authority to advance the revised history. If all these authorities say that the medal was awarded to Canada for its response to the fall of Saigon then it must be true. 'Authorities' here include Michael Molloy, a representative of UNHCR, and the governor general. (Ngo, 2015).^[216]

For events prior to this see Chronology 2008-2015