Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Mayor Olivia Chow gave a key to the city on Thursday to a Toronto doctor, community leader and long-time seniors’ advocate.
Dr. Joseph Wong is a “man who showed up every time for people who needed someone to support them,” Chow said at a presentation in Scarborough.
The key recognizes his lifelong commitment to advocacy, multiculturalism, refugees, seniors and his philanthropy, according to the city.
Wong’s advocacy led to the 1994 opening of the first Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, which provides culturally and linguistically appropriate care to seniors, the city said in a news release on Thursday. The centre, which now has four locations across the Greater Toronto Area, has become a model for geriatric centres around the world.
“There are people who see injustice and suffering and look away, and there are those who immediately organize for change,” Chow told the gathering.
“Dr. Joseph Wong is the second kind of person. Again and again across five decades, he has looked at a community being failed, refugees without a home, seniors without dignity, students without justice. And instead of accepting it, he brought people together and got to work.”
Wong, born in Hong Kong, immigrated to Canada as a young man and opened a family medical practice in Toronto, where he began his “lifetime of service” to others, the city said in the release.
Key ‘not mine alone at all,’ Wong says
Wong told the gathering that the key is a community honour.
“Today’s award, the key to the city is not mine alone at all,” Wong said.
“It belongs to the great group of people, volunteers who have been together … since the late 1970s, now close to 48 to 49 years, in various community projects.”
Wong said he has fought to bring justice to “people on the margins” and Chow, now mayor, worked with him.
“I want to acknowledge all my volunteers who are here today and who are not here today. This is your work, this is your award, this is your honour, this is the honour of the whole Chinese Canadian community.”
Mayor Olivia Chow presents a key to the city to Dr. Joseph Wong. Chow says of Wong: ‘Again and again across five decades, he has looked at a community being failed, refugees without a home, seniors without dignity, students without justice. And instead of accepting it, he brought people together and got to work.’ (Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC)Wong ‘fought systematic barriers,’ mayor says
Chow said Wong has organized communities in pursuit of fairness and equity and fought discrimination along the way.
“When Dr. Wong witnessed seniors living out their years in nursing homes where no one spoke their language, they’re lonely, there’s nothing familiar. He didn’t accept that either. He fundraised. He fought systemic barriers. He convinced government of his vision.”
Wong has advocated for refugees and raised funds for medical research and disaster relief since 1976, according to the city. He helped to found the Chinese Canadian National Council, an organization that works to promote equity, social justice, inclusive civic participation, and respect for diversity.
He also founded ALPHA Education, a charity that promotes a critical historical inquiry of the Second World War and contributes to peace and reconciliation. And he founded the WongAvery Asia Pacific Peace Museum, which describes itself as a “people’s museum with humanity and peace as its core.” It opened two years ago in Scarborough.
In 1979, Wong led the Chinese Canadian community to help persuade Canada to open its doors to thousands who fled by boats from Southeast Asia and he fought media stereotypes of Canadian students of Chinese descent who were depicted as foreign students in a TV program, resulting in a public apology from CTV.
Later, he helped to lead a 23-year advocacy effort that resulted in a formal federal apology and redress for the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.
Key awarded to ‘inspiring individuals,’ city says
In the release, the city said the mayor awards the key to the city to “inspiring individuals” from diverse backgrounds who embody the spirit and potential of Toronto and who have contributed significantly to civic life.
Recipients last year included Oscar winning filmmakers Sarah Polley and Guillermo del Toro and the singer The Weeknd.