My thoughts are as follows:
1) There was an Asian woman on a $100 bill? That's awesome!
Oh but she's not on there anymore? THAT SUCKS!!
2) There are focus groups that comment on the design, whose comments actually effect change? How does one get on a focus group like that? Does it pay?
3) Is it possible that being on a $100 bill can have a negative impact on an ethnic group's overall social status within Canadian society?
Would not appearing on the $100 make a person, effectively, MONEY? And is that not a good thing? Would being depicted doing a cool job like "science" not ALSO be a good thing? Be even more, how shall we say, MONEY?
4) Do people really understand how racist stereotypes work?
This is not LONG DUCK DONG.
This is not Asian face.
This is an image of a person of an ethnicity other than white.
Any and all depictions of people who are something other than white is not defacto racist.
Should we not depict Black people dancing on TV because it contributes to the stereotype that Black people are better dancers than, say, everyone else? Should we remove all references to Asian people owning convenience stores and dry cleaners because that ALSO is a stereotype?
I get that both these images contribute to a larger, stereotypical image. But query me this.
If that is your plan, who will we show dancing and cleaning our clothes? MORE WHITE PEOPLE???
5) What does it say that the default NOT ASIAN person is a white person? That when you REMOVE features, say, ASIAN features, what you are left with is a white person?
Seriously? Canada. Come ON!!