Asian-looking woman nixed from $100 bills
 

Nice to know we're focused on the issues that matter up here. Absolutely essential we spend $50,000+ to ensure no Canadians get their feelings hurt about these things. Wonder how much it will cost now to change the graphics, get everything reprinted, etc.

So much waste it's incredible.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/busin...209/story.html

OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada purged the image of an Asian-looking woman from its new $100 banknotes after focus groups raised questions about her ethnicity.

The original image intended for the reverse of the plastic polymer banknotes, which began circulating last November, showed an Asian-looking woman scientist peering into a microscope.

The image, alongside a bottle of insulin, was meant to celebrate Canada's medical innovations.

But eight focus groups consulted about the proposed images for the new $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 banknote series were especially critical of the choice of an Asian for the largest denomination.

"Some have concerns that the researcher appears to be Asian," says a 2009 report commissioned by the bank from The Strategic Counsel, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

"Some believe that it presents a stereotype of Asians excelling in technology and/or the sciences. Others feel that an Asian should not be the only ethnicity represented on the banknotes. Other ethnicities should also be shown."

A few even said the yellow-brown colour of the $100 banknote reinforced the perception the woman was Asian, and "racialized" the note.

The bank immediately ordered the image redrawn, imposing a "neutral" ethnicity for the woman scientist who, now stripped of her "Asian" features, appears on the circulating note. Her light features appear to be Caucasian.

"The original image was not designed or intended to be a person of a particular ethnic origin," bank spokesman Jeremy Harrison said in an interview, citing policy that eschews depictions of ethnic groups on banknotes.

"But obviously when we got into focus groups, there was some thought the image appeared to represent a particular ethnic group, so modifications were made."

Harrison declined to provide a copy of the original image, produced by a design team led by Jorge Peral of the Canadian Bank Note Co.

Nor would he indicate what specific changes were made to the woman researcher's image to give her a so-called "neutral," non-ethnic look. He said the images were "composites" rather than depicting any specific individual.

The Strategic Counsel conducted the October 2009 focus groups in Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Fredericton, at a cost of $53,000.

The Toronto groups were positive about the image of an Asian woman because "it is seen to represent diversity or multiculturalism."

In Quebec, however, "the inclusion of an Asian without representing any other ethnicities was seen to be contentious."

One person in Fredericton commented: "The person on it appears to be of Asian descent which doesn't rep(resent) Canada. It is fairly ugly."

Mu-Qing Huang, a Chinese-Canadian who has peered into microscopes for biology courses at the University of Toronto, called the bank's decision a "huge step back."

"The fact that an Asian woman's features were introduced to the bill ... I think itself is a huge step forward in achieving true multiculturalism in Canada," Huang, 24, said in an interview in Ottawa.

"But the fact that the proposal was rejected represents a huge step back."

She said the "overly sensitive" decision to remove the Asian features suggests prejudice against visible minorities persists in Canada.

"If Canada is truly multicultural and thinks that all cultural groups are equal, then any visible minority should be good enough to represent a country, including (someone with) Asian features."

Huang, now pursuing an MA at the University of Toronto, came to Canada from China with her family at age 12, living in Toronto and Ottawa.

The 2006 census found that Canada's population included more than five million people from visible minority groups, of which 1.2 million were Chinese and another 240,000 with ancestry from southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Laos.

The Bank of Canada introduced the new series of banknotes largely to thwart counterfeiters, though they are also expected to last much longer than the old versions. New $50 notes went into circulation in March, with $20 notes still to come in November.

The $50 and $20 banknotes feature a research icebreaker and the Canadian National Vimy Memorial respectively, with no images of ordinary Canadians. Some members of the focus groups said the Vimy memorial looked disturbingly like New York's twin towers, brought down by terrorists in 2001.

Because myself, as well as others will refuse to read all that shit:

http://i.imgur.com/5XmvJ.jpg

(in response to Socks) hahahahaha, man

Yeah, man, hahahahaha

:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup:2 cents::2 cents:

I want that :thumbsup

I'll tell you why I hate Canada - half of you speak French and the other half let them.

Now that's something.
Notoriously xenophobic Asian countries will not be outdone by Canada?
The world is upside down.

It's somehow nice to see that not all of the worlds idiots are confined to America though, so thanks for that.

Seriously, it's hard to believe that what I just read is real. Some people thought that a picture of an Asian female on Canadian money was perpetuating a stereotype that Asians excel in science. It's just stunning. What should a picture of an Asian woman depict? Driving a car poorly? Taking photographs while on vacation? Me luv u long time -ing?

Get the fuck outta here. :helpme

To be fair, the text on the note read "100 Dorrah".

slap that on $100! :pimp

who the hell are these 'focus groups' lol

i don't sit here wondering what kinda 'white person' it is on the bill, why would i even notice the person would have 'asian features'.

mind numbing

nice to hear that......atleast there is a minimal trial......

I think the thread said something about Asian, not sure, can't remember

MOney
 

Just use dead presidents.
I remember George, Tom, and Abe living next door to me.(Ha!)
Bet you can't even name the 3 bills that don't have dead presidents on them.
Give you a hint, Ben Franklin on the $100, was only president of the Continental Congress.
Now you have only 2 to name.

Jeeze, Canada is one of the most inclusive counties in the world. Except that French language nonsense. If the US adopts an official language as English, will it become illegal to have a new word? 50 years ago what was eamail? texting? sexting? Once you have an official language, there is no room for new words, as some idiot wants to keep the language "pure."

Shit, I just passed fifty of those new $100 bills over to my roof guy, never noticed any asian chick on there.

The things you learn on GFY.

WTF are you talking about? English is an/the official language of shitloads of countries.

i cant believe anyone really did something about this, i mean who cares? asian is just as canadian as the rest

canadians know that you walk down the street in any major city there is no average canadian ethnicity everyone is a different flavor

I guess blonde-haired white women are the new "Asian."

Chick looks white as wonder bread to me. :2 cents:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/7105213.bin

http://metronewsca.files.wordpress.c...8/currency.jpg

Might as well be Asian,one day they will have a white man and people will wonder who the fuck is that?

We're busy showing the rest of the world what happens when you're way too politically correct... talk about waste of money

Nice to see Canadians are racist too

:Oh crap:Oh crap

Asian? Because of her winky eye and upside down lips? Canada-shmanada. Anyway, the Romanian money is the best. You can snort coke with them, you can wash them and they're all fine. Too bad i am not from Romania, though... I have to go back there get some more.

and manwin! :upsidedow

Thank you, I thought I was in the company of idiots :D Cant beleave no one figured out that this has already been changed and wont cost us a thing, personally id like to see a historical figure which would be white or native, the way it should be. IMO

No, a Asian chick has no right on our Currancy, just as a Mexican has no right to be one yours, its not raciest, just never earned it

Another thing, Canadians dont pay attention to politics, they dont usually notice when they are getting fucked till its too late

Of course denying a 'right' due to race is racist. Not sure why you're trying to pretend otherwise.

an Asian chick has as much a right as a white chick...why not? Especially from someone in BC you should know that there are a lot of Asian-Canadian people in Canada.

That might be why he's a racist.