Reports over the weekend suggest that the Bank of Canada has removed the image of an Asian-looking woman from its new $100 polymer banknote. The move has angered many in the increasingly multicultural nation. Friday's report by the Canadian Press news agency said the central bank's decision came after focus groups it consulted on new bills raised questions about the woman's ethnicity. It said the bank ordered the image redrawn, finally replacing it with the picture of a woman whose “light features appear to be Caucasian.” The reaction was fast and furious. “How could anyone be offended by the images on these notes? What exactly does ordinary Canadian mean anymore? Get on a Toronto streetcar and tell me,” one wrote. Another asked: “How is replacing an Asian woman with a white woman, and saying ‘there, now it's neutral', not racist?” A nation of some 35 million, Canada's population in 2006 included 5.2 million people from visible minority groups. There were close to 1.3 million Chinese and 250,000 people of South-East Asian ancestry. According to Statistics Canada projections, those numbers are expected to grow to 2.7 million and 449,000, respectively, by 2031. The Bank of Canada began circulating the polymer notes late last year, with the introduction of the $100 bill. A $50 bill was introduced this March and other denominations are expected to go into circulation by the end of next year, as part of a campaign against counterfeiting. Canadians told Bikyamasr.com that they feel “frustrated over the blatant racism of the government on this issue.” They hoped the government would revoke its decision in order to “show Canada as a multi-ethnic country that appreciates its diversity.”
