Tag Archives: Chinese Canadians

History

How did settlers get to British Columbia?

Europeans knew about North America for over a century before they began settling here. Basque, Portuguese, French, and English fishermen regularly sailed to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in the 1500s and 1600s for the rich offshore cod harvest. They often camped on the beaches but rarely stayed through the harsh winters. At the time, most Europeans lived in smoky, windowless huts heated by an open fire on the floor—hardly an incentive to brave even colder conditions overseas.

Archaeologist William Gilbert, working at Cupids in Newfoundland, suggests a few changes in homes construction changed everything.

“Recently it has been suggested that the late 16th century innovations such as fireplaces, wooden floors, glazed windows and woolen and felt clothing may have made it easier for Europeans to adapt to and survive during our cold northeastern winters. The first successful colony was established at Port Royal in Nova Scotia in 1605, followed by Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, Quebec City in 1608, and Cupids in 1610.”

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Forests, History

Early Logging on Cortes Island and Vicinity: Local History with Lynne Jordan

Originally Published on April 14, 2023

Lynne Jordan has contributed to historical booklets available at the Cortes Island Museum and is currently researching the history of early logging activity in Whaletown.

In the course of an extensive 3-part interview, Lynne draws on original documents, archives, and oral histories to paint a picture of early settler loggers on Cortes — their equipment, their floating camps, the economy in which some prospered and some failed.

The logging community was always a really mixed bag… Much of the logging was done by hand. Some of it using horses.

Logging was not a good way to get rich.

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Arts

Cumberland Gold for Frank Mottl

Frank Mottl’s latest novel, Cumberland Gold, takes us to the quaint village of Cumberland BC. This is the same setting as his first novel,  The Cumberland Tales, in which Mottl described the community he knew in the 1960s. Only now he is writing about the late 19th century, when Lord Dunsmuir (1825-89) was attempting to recruit Chinese immigrants to work in his coal mine.   

Mottle explained, “ I did some research at the Cumberland Museum, and there was an unsolved homicide in the 19th century in the old Cumberland Chinatown. Nobody knew much about it, other than it was unsolved. That really appealed to me, so I just ran with it. Of course I spent a year teaching in China, so it did have a lot of that Chinese influence inside of it.” 

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History, Indigenous Nations History

June 6-8, 1911: A point in time look at Cortes Island

Unlike most local histories, which often celebrate the accomplishments of prominent settlers, Canadian census records give us a quick peek into communities as a whole. 

The 1911 census is especially interesting for Cortes Island because, for the first time, all of the island’s 135 ‘settler’ entries are grouped together. Similarly, there is a segment for the 60 Klahoose First Nation residents in Squirrel Cove. There was also a second First Nation with a reserve on Cortes, but any relevant Tla’amin entries appear to be included with those from their main village to the south in what is now qathet Regional District. 

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Community

EXCLUSIVE: Hong Kong asylum applicants suddenly shun Canada. What’s happening?

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Editor’s note: There are very few Chinese ‘immigrants’ in North Vancouver Island. Most new Canadians appear to be attracted to more urban areas of British Columbia, and our area is primarily populated by descendants of earlier ‘settlers.’ Most of the foreign born residents in our area reached Canada sometime prior to 1980. The 2021 census reports some Chinese immigrants in Comox (100), Courtenay (80), Powell River (55) and Campbell River (50). There were no Chinese immigrants reported on Cortes Island or in Area C. 

The vast majority of people who ‘look Chinese’ in our area, are actually Canadians. The numbers of people who stated their ethnic origin is Chinese are: in the Comox Valley (795), Courtenay (460), Campbell River (310), Powell River (200) and Area C (20). While no of Chinese ancestry was reported on Cortes Island, there could be 1 or 2 as Statistics Canada rounds numbers off to the closest multiple of 5.

One of the hindrances to immigration for Hong Kong mentioned below, is that it is a Cantonese speaking area and when Canadians speak a Chinese language it is usually Mandarin. This is not true of our area. Only 5 of the 20 people of Chinese origin in Area C speak a Chinese language: Cantonese. There are more Cantonese speakers than Mandarin in Comox (180 vs 110) and Campbell River (80 vs 65). There are almost equal numbers of people speaking these languages in Courtenay (110 vs 115). Powell River is the only place where Mandarin was used by the vast majority of people still speaking a Chinese language (60 vs 30).

Two other hindrances to immigration: difficulty finding high-quality work and lack of affordable housing.

By William Koblensky Varela, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Hongkongers have largely stopped applying for Canadian work and study permits under a policy for those fleeing the Beijing-imposed national security law, previously unpublished data from Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows.

Thousands of people from Hong Kong fled to Canada after China cracked down on dissent and free speech in the former British colony by imposing the national security law in 2020. Since then, many pro-democracy activists have been silenced, civil society groups have been shut down and outspoken media outlets have been closed.

However, a tough job market for new immigrants, housing challenges, competition from the UK and Taiwan, as well as a downturn in the Hong Kong economy could all be behind the sudden slowdown in asylum applications to Canada, according to expert opinion.

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