From the very first day I arrived in Canada, I felt welcomed and accepted. When immigrating to a new country you have to roll up your sleeves and work hard to build a better life, and it takes time to succeed when you have nothing else to fall back on. I can only imagine what it was like for generations of Chinese people who arrived here without speaking English or French, and then faced sustained discrimination and racism on top of the challenge of starting anew.
The City has acknowledged that for more than half a century, Burnaby enacted policies that denied Chinese Canadians the right to vote, own property, and work for the municipality. When our museum staff brought these bylaws to my attention while working with the Chinese community on the City’s history, I was in absolute shock that this could have happened. Of course, they were very different times, but it’s still hard to believe that humanity could treat others this way. Sadly, we still see similar attitudes alive in the world today.
At Saturday’s ceremony recognizing decades of systemic exclusion, harm and the city’s racist treatment of Chinese residents, many of those families affected were seated right in front of me. They brought pictures of their parents and grandparents, who lived through these experiences, to carry their spirit with them as witnesses to the event. Looking from the stage and seeing what it meant to those families, it was impossible not to feel the weight of the emotion and the profound impact this acknowledgment had on them.
Over a third of people who live in Burnaby today are of Chinese descent and although they're very proud Canadians, they really celebrate their culture and share it. Chinese New Year for example is now a huge event in Burnaby, inclusive of the whole community. The Chinese spirit is ingrained in the very fabric of our city, whether that be in the medical fields, entrepreneurship, or the many experts and leaders across the great businesses in our city. So in every walk of life in Burnaby we see that spirit of working hard to get ahead and making a better life for your family.
One person I spoke to over the weekend, his dad trained as a commando and fought for Canada in the Second World War. He was dropped in behind enemy lines and was killed, his son was only three years old. The ultimate sacrifice. I think of the Hong family’s story in Burnaby, which began with Hong Gay Tim immigrating from Guangdong, China to Canada in 1921. Together with his son, they settled in the Big Bend area and transformed their land into Hop On Farms, a thriving market garden that became a cornerstone of Burnaby’s local agricultural community.
That’s where many Chinese families started off - farming the land. Which is a difficult world in any case, but they were able to make it work. With incredible tenacity, sticking with it and seeing it through in the hardest of times, with everything stacked against them.
Richard Samuel Lee was the first Chinese Canadian to work for the City of Burnaby in 1953. He stuck to his guns, and didn’t just break a barrier for himself, he opened the door for future generations. Imagine how hard it must have been to show up at City Hall, as a Chinese Canadian, feeling you weren’t accepted, and yet to keep pushing so that others wouldn’t face the same discrimination.
We have so much to thank these people and their families for. The incredible entrepreneurial spirit that they brought to our city, their work ethic, perseverance and culture - it has shaped the Burnaby we see today.
Watch the Special Council Meeting and official apology ceremony
This formal apology has been the result of about four years of work for our staff, sitting down with families who were willing to share their experiences, helping guide the process. It involved a lot of listening, discussions, and finding ways to move forward together. Our staff did incredible work and showed immense respect for the families who had been affected so profoundly. Over the past few months there have been surveys, dialogue sessions, and interviews conducted in English, Cantonese and Mandarin to ensure the ceremony hosted at the Crystal Ballroom at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown was a fitting acknowledgment.
While this day focused on the Chinese community, it sends an important message: everyone in our City must be included and treated equally, no matter their background.
This principle applies to all aspects of City business - hiring staff, interacting with the public, and working with contractors and partners. Everyone involved with the City is expected to act in line with these values. I believe this apology from the City of Burnaby gives these families an opportunity to move on and make even better lives. It's not to say that they'll ever forget the historic discrimination they faced, but at least they know it's been recognized. It's understood that those were big mistakes that made a huge difference in the lives of their parents and grandparents.
The amazing part of the story for me is that these historical families in Burnaby, they were never bitter, which is hard to believe. They just wanted to be treated equally. They still saw the opportunities within the Canadian system and they just gritted it out and built great lives for themselves.
So to all those families, please accept our appreciation for the contributions your parents and grandparents made to our community and their efforts for change. Our actions made life harder for them and for all community members of Chinese descent. For that, the City of Burnaby is deeply sorry.