Our Human Rights Tribunal Case
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Chinese Translation Below Now - Donate Anonymously
English Text
Next week, starting October 15th 2018, we are facing our opponents in court and before we come to the final step in this journey we would like to update our supporters.
After the August AGM in 2016 meetings were conducted in Mandarin and English. But hostilities towards our family continued. The opponents filed an application for dismissal of our case in front of the Tribunal. We fought this in order to prevent the case from being dismissed. The Tribunal agreed with us and stated that “Wellington Court is not, and cannot be, a closed community open only to people of one ethnic group.”. Our case proceeded through the Tribunal process. Several attempts were made to settle outside of court but all involved the opponent’s request for us to withdraw our claim. Each time this happened it cost us more money in legal fees.
This has been an extremely difficult journey and a very humbling experience. We were not only victims of alleged discrimination, but we were also at the mercy of lawyers who have the right to fight back and challenge every effort for us to make it to the end. We have lost 3 years of our lives due to this. In the end we found Wellington Court to be an unsafe place for our family to live.
We sold our place and moved to Vernon in July of 2017 in order to get away from it all and continued our fight for our right to use one of Canada’s official languages. We lived in harmony for over 10 years with all of our neighbours. Literally overnight official language was no longer good enough for them. Rather than joining us on the strata council team and asking for translation they took over and made Wellington Court an unfriendly place for people that did not speak Mandarin.
In July of 2018 our lawyer made one last attempt at settling. It didn’t go anywhere.
We have spent just over $60,000 in legal fees as of October 1 2018, most out of our own pocket, and it is estimated the 7 days at the Tribunal will cost another $50,000. If everyone who has been on our GoFundMe page could just contribute $8.00 we may have enough to help us fight this as it has put us into financial hardship.
We sincerely thank each and everyone of you for your ongoing support.
Andreas Kargut
We are the owners of townhouses at Wellington Court, located in Richmond, BC. We are Canadians of German, Hong Kong, Columbian, Ukrainian, British and Malaysian heritage.
In 2015, the strata council of our townhouse building decided to conduct a council meeting with Andreas Kargut in attendance in Mandarin only. We had advised them of our intention to attend this meeting as observers prior to the meeting and were told it would be held in Mandarin only. We asked them to reconsider as neither one of us speaks Mandarin. In December of 2015 we filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of BC based on racial discrimination, the case was accepted in February 2016. The respondents (The Strata Council) hired a lawyer and, as a response, we hired legal help as well. We need to raise funds to support our legal case.
The case is on-going and our first official settlement meeting was on July 7th. We reached a mutual settlement that day and signed it, however the respondents did not and made amendments in order to back out of the agreement.
Our AGM was held on August 29th, with 2 hired security guards, a hired lawyer and a certified independent translator in attendance. The majority votes were held through 2 council members with 25 proxies. A motion to continue using a certified and independent translator in all meetings going forward was defeated. We are now told to rely on an owner to translate from Mandarin to English at all future meetings.
This ordeal has ruined a once great neighbourhood. This issue also destroyed our ability to live together respectfully in a multicultural environment. We want to be living in a place where neighbours respect each other’s culture and language and not discriminate by majority.
We believe that, as Canadians, it is important for Canada's official languages to be used as the principle part of communication no matter the case of a strata corporation or a global Canadian company.
Our group of 6 owners here at Wellington Court really appreciates contributions no matter how small they are. Your contribution can be very discrete and can be made anonymously. It will have a big impact. Our dispute has cost us over $25,000.00 in legal fees. On the flip side of things, the strata council paid $0 to their insurance lawyer.
For further reading on this complex issue you can check out these links or simply google us.
http://www.theprovince.com/technology/mandarin+only+edict+splits+richmond+strata+council/11608387/story.html
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/b-c-human-rights-tribunal-will-hear-richmond-strata-case-1.2177611
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/english-speaking-b-c-condo-owner-files-human-rights-complaint-after-board-holds-meetings-in-mandarin
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/mr-proxy-opposed-interpreter-services-for-mandarin-speaking-strata-council-1.2335722
Chinese (Complex format) – for HK, Taiwan immigrants
我們是住在 惠靈頓公寓 的業主, 位於卑詩省的列志文.我們是德國, 香港, 和越南裔的加拿大人. 從2015年開始，我們的公寓大樓的物業管理委員會不管我們的投訴, 決定只用普通話主持會議. 在2015年12月我們向卑詩省人權法庭提出申訴這個歧視案例，案件已被接受。大樓的物業管理委員聘請了一名律師，在這種情況下我們聘請了一名律師
我們需要籌集資金來支持我們的法律案件。目前，此案正在進行，我們的第一次正式會議定居點是在7月7日.
這件事毀了一個曾經友好和熱情的鄰里, 這個問題也破壞了我們可以共同生活在一個多元文化環境的能力. 我們希望可以住在一個鄰居互相尊重彼此的文化和語言的社會，而不是用多數票歧視少數. 我們認為, 作為一個加拿大人, 用加拿大的官方語言來溝通, 主持會議 或者做生意是非常重要的, 無論是公寓大樓的物業管理委員會或全球性的加拿大公司
我們6個惠靈頓公寓的業主真的非常感謝大家的貢獻, 不管您的貢獻是多麼渺小, 您的貢獻全都能匿名. 這將會對我們的情況有很大的正面的影響, 這也將會對我們制止種族歧視的能力有很大的幫助。
我們從我們的內心深處感謝大家。
有關這一複雜問題進一步閱讀你可以檢查出這些鏈接
Chinese (Simplified format) – for Mainland Chinese immigrants
我们是住在惠灵顿公寓的业主, 位于卑诗省的列志文.我们是德国, 香港, 和越南裔的加拿大人. 从2015年开始，我们的公寓大楼的物业管理委员会不管我们的投诉, 决定只用普通话主持会议. 在2015年12月我们向卑诗省人权法庭提出申诉这个歧视案例，案件已被接受。大楼的物业管理委员聘请了一名律师，在这种情况下我们聘请了一名律师
我们需要筹集资金来支持我们的法律案件。目前，此案正在进行，我们的第一次正式会议定居点是在7月7日.
这件事毁了一个曾经友好和热情的邻里, 这个问题也破坏了我们可以共同生活在一个多元文化环境的能力. 我们希望可以住在一个邻居互相尊重彼此的文化和语言的社会，而不是用多数票歧视少数.我们认为, 作为一个加拿大人, 用加拿大的官方语言来沟通, 主持会议或者做生意是非常重要的, 无论是公寓大楼的物业管理委员会或全球性的加拿大公司
我们6个惠灵顿公寓的业主真的非常感谢大家的贡献, 不管您的贡献是多么渺小, 您的贡献全都能匿名. 这将会对我们的情况有很大的正面的影响, 这也将会对我们制止种族歧视的能力有很大的帮助。
我们从我们的内心深处感谢大家。
有关这一复杂问题进一步阅读你可以检查出这些链接
English Text
Next week, starting October 15th 2018, we are facing our opponents in court and before we come to the final step in this journey we would like to update our supporters.
After the August AGM in 2016 meetings were conducted in Mandarin and English. But hostilities towards our family continued. The opponents filed an application for dismissal of our case in front of the Tribunal. We fought this in order to prevent the case from being dismissed. The Tribunal agreed with us and stated that “Wellington Court is not, and cannot be, a closed community open only to people of one ethnic group.”. Our case proceeded through the Tribunal process. Several attempts were made to settle outside of court but all involved the opponent’s request for us to withdraw our claim. Each time this happened it cost us more money in legal fees.
This has been an extremely difficult journey and a very humbling experience. We were not only victims of alleged discrimination, but we were also at the mercy of lawyers who have the right to fight back and challenge every effort for us to make it to the end. We have lost 3 years of our lives due to this. In the end we found Wellington Court to be an unsafe place for our family to live.
We sold our place and moved to Vernon in July of 2017 in order to get away from it all and continued our fight for our right to use one of Canada’s official languages. We lived in harmony for over 10 years with all of our neighbours. Literally overnight official language was no longer good enough for them. Rather than joining us on the strata council team and asking for translation they took over and made Wellington Court an unfriendly place for people that did not speak Mandarin.
In July of 2018 our lawyer made one last attempt at settling. It didn’t go anywhere.
We have spent just over $60,000 in legal fees as of October 1 2018, most out of our own pocket, and it is estimated the 7 days at the Tribunal will cost another $50,000. If everyone who has been on our GoFundMe page could just contribute $8.00 we may have enough to help us fight this as it has put us into financial hardship.
We sincerely thank each and everyone of you for your ongoing support.
Andreas Kargut
We are the owners of townhouses at Wellington Court, located in Richmond, BC. We are Canadians of German, Hong Kong, Columbian, Ukrainian, British and Malaysian heritage.
In 2015, the strata council of our townhouse building decided to conduct a council meeting with Andreas Kargut in attendance in Mandarin only. We had advised them of our intention to attend this meeting as observers prior to the meeting and were told it would be held in Mandarin only. We asked them to reconsider as neither one of us speaks Mandarin. In December of 2015 we filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of BC based on racial discrimination, the case was accepted in February 2016. The respondents (The Strata Council) hired a lawyer and, as a response, we hired legal help as well. We need to raise funds to support our legal case.
The case is on-going and our first official settlement meeting was on July 7th. We reached a mutual settlement that day and signed it, however the respondents did not and made amendments in order to back out of the agreement.
Our AGM was held on August 29th, with 2 hired security guards, a hired lawyer and a certified independent translator in attendance. The majority votes were held through 2 council members with 25 proxies. A motion to continue using a certified and independent translator in all meetings going forward was defeated. We are now told to rely on an owner to translate from Mandarin to English at all future meetings.
This ordeal has ruined a once great neighbourhood. This issue also destroyed our ability to live together respectfully in a multicultural environment. We want to be living in a place where neighbours respect each other’s culture and language and not discriminate by majority.
We believe that, as Canadians, it is important for Canada's official languages to be used as the principle part of communication no matter the case of a strata corporation or a global Canadian company.
Our group of 6 owners here at Wellington Court really appreciates contributions no matter how small they are. Your contribution can be very discrete and can be made anonymously. It will have a big impact. Our dispute has cost us over $25,000.00 in legal fees. On the flip side of things, the strata council paid $0 to their insurance lawyer.
For further reading on this complex issue you can check out these links or simply google us.
http://www.theprovince.com/technology/mandarin+only+edict+splits+richmond+strata+council/11608387/story.html
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/b-c-human-rights-tribunal-will-hear-richmond-strata-case-1.2177611
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/english-speaking-b-c-condo-owner-files-human-rights-complaint-after-board-holds-meetings-in-mandarin
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/mr-proxy-opposed-interpreter-services-for-mandarin-speaking-strata-council-1.2335722
Chinese (Complex format) – for HK, Taiwan immigrants
我們是住在 惠靈頓公寓 的業主, 位於卑詩省的列志文.我們是德國, 香港, 和越南裔的加拿大人. 從2015年開始，我們的公寓大樓的物業管理委員會不管我們的投訴, 決定只用普通話主持會議. 在2015年12月我們向卑詩省人權法庭提出申訴這個歧視案例，案件已被接受。大樓的物業管理委員聘請了一名律師，在這種情況下我們聘請了一名律師
我們需要籌集資金來支持我們的法律案件。目前，此案正在進行，我們的第一次正式會議定居點是在7月7日.
這件事毀了一個曾經友好和熱情的鄰里, 這個問題也破壞了我們可以共同生活在一個多元文化環境的能力. 我們希望可以住在一個鄰居互相尊重彼此的文化和語言的社會，而不是用多數票歧視少數. 我們認為, 作為一個加拿大人, 用加拿大的官方語言來溝通, 主持會議 或者做生意是非常重要的, 無論是公寓大樓的物業管理委員會或全球性的加拿大公司
我們6個惠靈頓公寓的業主真的非常感謝大家的貢獻, 不管您的貢獻是多麼渺小, 您的貢獻全都能匿名. 這將會對我們的情況有很大的正面的影響, 這也將會對我們制止種族歧視的能力有很大的幫助。
我們從我們的內心深處感謝大家。
有關這一複雜問題進一步閱讀你可以檢查出這些鏈接
Chinese (Simplified format) – for Mainland Chinese immigrants
我们是住在惠灵顿公寓的业主, 位于卑诗省的列志文.我们是德国, 香港, 和越南裔的加拿大人. 从2015年开始，我们的公寓大楼的物业管理委员会不管我们的投诉, 决定只用普通话主持会议. 在2015年12月我们向卑诗省人权法庭提出申诉这个歧视案例，案件已被接受。大楼的物业管理委员聘请了一名律师，在这种情况下我们聘请了一名律师
我们需要筹集资金来支持我们的法律案件。目前，此案正在进行，我们的第一次正式会议定居点是在7月7日.
这件事毁了一个曾经友好和热情的邻里, 这个问题也破坏了我们可以共同生活在一个多元文化环境的能力. 我们希望可以住在一个邻居互相尊重彼此的文化和语言的社会，而不是用多数票歧视少数.我们认为, 作为一个加拿大人, 用加拿大的官方语言来沟通, 主持会议或者做生意是非常重要的, 无论是公寓大楼的物业管理委员会或全球性的加拿大公司
我们6个惠灵顿公寓的业主真的非常感谢大家的贡献, 不管您的贡献是多么渺小, 您的贡献全都能匿名. 这将会对我们的情况有很大的正面的影响, 这也将会对我们制止种族歧视的能力有很大的帮助。
我们从我们的内心深处感谢大家。
有关这一复杂问题进一步阅读你可以检查出这些链接
Organizer
Andreas Kargut
Organizer
Vernon, BC