VANCOUVER — A community newspaper in the Vancouver area published its first Chinese-language paper last week with mixed reviews, a sign that some residents are uncomfortable with the move, despite Canada’s reputation as a multicultural oasis.

But translating a mainstream newspaper into other languages could in fact help newcomers integrate into the English-speaking community, according to sociologists.

The Chinese-language version of the North Shore News will include stories originally written in English by the outlet’s current reporters. A select number of stories will be translated from English into simplified Chinese, according to an article on North Shore News’ website.

Some readers supported the decision, but the announcement also sparked resentment on the news outlet’s Facebook page.

“Nice way to propagate lack of cultural integration,” wrote Ron Steeper.

“…[G]o ahead and pander to people who refuse to assimilate or contribute to the community,” wrote someone using the pseudonym Amor De Cosmos on Facebook. Amor De Cosmos was the name of B.C.’s second premier.

That kind of sentiment doesn’t surprise Rima Wilkes, an associate professor of sociology who studies race and media at the University of British Columbia.

“Language is about power,” she said in an interview.

“If you can read and understand a language, you have a lot more power. That was why the Bible used to be published only in Latin.”

Translating news stories, originally written in English, into Chinese, makes the stories accessible to more people, she said.

“You are threatening the power structure, so some people aren’t going to like that.

Metro Vancouver is already home to several well-established news organizations that serve the Chinese-speaking community. But newcomers who don’t speak English don’t always have access to mainstream media, which is largely published and broadcast in English.

North Shore News’ Chinese-language paper is one opportunity for newcomers to access a wider range of stories, said Wilkes.

Yue Qian, an assistant professor of sociology at UBC, agreed.

“I think this is a great way to help newly-arrived immigrants to learn what is going on in Canada and feel more integrated in Vancouver,” she said.

“They are interested in a lot of the local news and politics, but their English might not be fluent … so this is a great way for them to make transition into life in Vancouver.”

But media observers are watching North Shore News closely. Other news outlets, like Global TV, have tried to produce Chinese-language versions of their content before and those programs were short-lived, according to Mario Conseco, president of Research Co.

“People reacted very negatively,” said the pollster.

Anti-Chinese sentiment has become more visible in B.C. in recent years due to perceptions that foreign ownership of real estate is pushing the cost of housing out of reach for many residents, he said.

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“Unfortunately, because of the discussions related to foreign ownership of homes, there has definitely been an increase in negative perceptions of specific groups that come to Canada.”

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Canadians’ attitudes toward multiculturalism and whether newcomers should assimilate or keep their culture are mixed, according to polling Canseco and others have conducted in recent years.

In an Insights West poll — where Canseco used to work — commissioned by Vancity in 2017, more than half of respondents in B.C. said “cultural differences within society are valuable and should be preserved,” while about four in 10 respondents said “immigrants should assimilate and blend into Canadian society.”

But in a 2016 Angus Reid Institute poll, two thirds of respondents in Canada said “newcomers should do more to fit in.”

North Shore News did not make anyone available for comment by StarMetro’s deadline.

In a North Shore News article announcing the launch of its Chinese-language newspaper, publisher Peter Kvarnstrom noted that many immigrants from Mainland China have chosen to settle in West Vancouver and North Vancouver.

“These new residents are keenly interested in integrating into our community and are looking for information in a format that they can easily understand,” he said.

“This really is an issue of accessibility for many of our newest residents. We hope that our initiative will, in a small way, pave the way to greater understanding and greater engagement with our communities.”

Clarification - July 10, 2018: This article was updated from a previous version to make clear that Amor De Cosmos is a pseudonym of a person who uses it for a Facebook profile.

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