B.C. man against Mandarin-only council meetings wants official languages law
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man who filed a human rights complaint against his townhouse council for conducting Mandarin-only meetings says he wants the law changed to prohibit the use of unofficial languages.
Andreas Kargut lives in a 54-unit townhouse complex in Richmond, where he served on various council positions between 2005 and 2014.
Kargut and six other residents filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal in December because they couldn’t participate in a 90-minute meeting where only Mandarin was spoken.
Kargut said Wednesday that he was vice-president during his last year on the council but was ousted by a group that wanted to conduct meetings only in the Chinese language.