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'Asian-looking' woman removed from $100 note; move criticized as 'huge step back'
Focus groups complained about ethnicity of researcher on banknote before its release
By Dean Beeby, Canadian Press
Old Note
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 female 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 rep-resented on the banknotes. Other ethnicities should also be shown."
A few even said the yellow-brown colour of the $100 banknote rein-forced the perception the woman was Asian, and "racialized" the note.
The bank immediately ordered the image redrawn, imposing a "neutral" ethnicity for the female 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 female 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 inter-view 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."
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.
This is the new note
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/busines...ge+step+back/7110657/story.html#ixzz248uZqR2a
Focus groups complained about ethnicity of researcher on banknote before its release
By Dean Beeby, Canadian Press
Old Note
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 female 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 rep-resented on the banknotes. Other ethnicities should also be shown."
A few even said the yellow-brown colour of the $100 banknote rein-forced the perception the woman was Asian, and "racialized" the note.
The bank immediately ordered the image redrawn, imposing a "neutral" ethnicity for the female 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 female 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 inter-view 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."
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.
This is the new note
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/busines...ge+step+back/7110657/story.html#ixzz248uZqR2a
