Ottawa: vào ngày thứ hai 8 tháng 12 năm 2014, thượng nghị viện Canada sẽ bỏ phiếu lần thứ ba và là lần cuối việc thông qua dự luật S-219, dự luật “ cuộc hành trình tìm tự do” .(Journey to Freedom Day)
Dự luật S-219 được bảo trợ bởi thượng nghị sĩ Ngô Thanh Hải, công nhận ngày 30 tháng 4 là một ngày quốc lễ để kỷ niệm cuộc di tản của người Việt Nam tị nạn cộng sản và sự đón nhận của Canada sau ngày Sài Gòn rơi vào tay lực lượng cộng sản Bắc Việt.
Xin quý vị tiếp tay hỗ trợ cho dự luật được thông qua, bằng cách gửi lá thư tiếng Anh dưới đây, đến địa chỉ
SENSEN@SEN.PARL.GC.CA, lá thư của quý vị sẽ đến tay của 90 thượng nghị sĩ Canada.
Dear Senator,
As a member of the Vietnamese-Canadian community, and as a former refugee, I write to ask you to support Bill S-219 Journey to Freedom Day.
This Act respecting a national day of commemoration of the exodus of Vietnamese refugees and their acceptance in Canada after the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War would recognize our community’s heritage and our eternal gratefulness to Canadians who welcomed us with open arms.
The level of opposition to bill S-219 raised by Liberal Senators does not represent the view of the Vietnamese-Canadian community. In fact, the following organisations from across the nation have written in support of Journey to Freedom Day.
– Association des médecins vietnamiens du monde libre
– Associations Nationale amical de nostalgie Hué
– Association vietnamien vétérinaire de Montréal
– Fraternité Quang Da
– Professor Emeritus Concordia University, Montreal, President of SAIM Center Montreal
– National Vietnamese Pharmaceutical Association
– Family of Vietnamese Red Berets Canada
– Association des ingénieurs mécanique industrielle Piston Vietnam
– Club de l’âge d’or « le Dragon d’or »
– Anciens militaires de l’armée de l’air de la république du Vietnam à Montréal
– Vietnamese Physicians Association of Canada
– Vietnamese Supervisory Committee
– Chu Van An Alumni Association
– Communauté vietnamienne au Canada, région de Montréal
– The Former Thu Duc Reserved Officer Cadets Association of Ontario
– Vietnamese Canadian Community of Ottawa
– Hoi Cao Nien Vietnam Mississauga the Elderly Vietnamese Association of Mississauga and surrounding areas
– Golden Age Village for the Elderly Lang Duong Lao Tuoi hac Ontario
– VAT Vietnamese Association of Toronto
– Ottawa Vietnamese Canadian Cultural Organization
– Vietnamese Canadian Senior Citizens Association of Ottawa
– Committee to support Vietnam’s Democracy and Human Rights Movement in Toronto
– Vietnamese Canadian Federation
– Cong Dong Nguoi Viet Ottawa, Canadian Vietnamese Community of Ottawa
Honourable Senator, a total of 2 million people fled Vietnam in search of asylum and resettlement following the end of the Vietnam War on April 30, 1975.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that at least 250,000 Vietnamese people lost their lives at sea due to drowning, illness, starvation and violence from kidnapping or piracy while attempting to escape retribution from the Communist North.
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Canadians graciously opened their homes and hearts to thousands of us who needed a place to rebuild our lives. When the call came, Canadians from all walks of life responded without hesitation, becoming part of a vast international effort dedicated to finding a safe haven for these unfortunate people. In fact, the people of Canada were awarded the Nansen medal by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 1986, in “recognition of their major and sustained contribution to the cause of refugees.”
For the past 39 years, every year on April 30, Vietnamese-Canadians have gathered to remember a new beginning and to thank Canada. In 2015, the Vietnamese-Canadian community will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Boat People resettlement to Canada.
I hope to count on your support to recognize Journey to Freedom Day as a day to honour Canada’s humanitarian tradition of accepting refugees during and after the Vietnam War and to celebrate our new-found freedom in this glorious nation.
Sincerely,
Xin ghi tên của quý vị trước khi gửi đi
