Pacific Canada Heritage Centre - Museum of Migration Society Celebrates Asian Heritage Month

May is Asian Heritage Month. The history of Asian immigration in Pacific Canada dates back more than two hundred years, tracing its origins to the arrival of Chinese workers to the West Coast in 1788 as part of Captain John Meares's expedition to Nuu-Chah-nulth territory and later in 1880 to build the Pacific Railway. Since then, Pacific Canada has witnessed an influx of immigrants and refugees from diverse ethnicities who view Pacific Canada as a land of freedom and opportunity for growth. Asian Heritage Month has been celebrated since the 1990s. In December 2001, the Senate officially adopted a motion proposed by The Hon. Dr. Senator Vivienne Poy (PCHC-MoM’s Honorary Patron) to designate May as Asian Heritage Month in Canada. In May 2002, the Government of Canada officially declared May as Asian Heritage Month, recognizing the significant contributions of Asian Canadians to the rich tapestry of Canadian society. However, in the current Pacific Canada landscape, Asian Canadians continue to struggle with discriminatory challenges and rising anti-Asian sentiment while striving to preserve their cultural identity. These facts are particularly distressing in a region renowned for its ethnic diversity, where Asian immigrants have been integral to the Canadian socio-cultural landscape.

The Pacific Canada Heritage Centre - Museum of Migration (PCHC-MoM) plays a vital role in celebrating and promoting Asian heritage and the diverse heritages of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures in Pacific Canada.

During Asian Heritage Month, we honour all Pacific Canada communities' resilience, power, and beauty and contribute to broader community-building efforts to promote acceptance and sharing opportunities for all. Through our internal education and public programming focused on multiculturalism, anti-racism, and equitable opportunities, we aim to showcase the worth of every underrepresented community, including their identities, values, beliefs, aspirations, attitudes, knowledge, memories, and heritage.

The Komagata Maru 100th Anniversary Stamp

Harbhajan Gill, President of the Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation & Past President of PCHC-MoM (2016-2017)

This Heritage Week I share a piece of Canadian History incident that took place in 1914. We all know the discriminotory policies in the past by Canadian Gov't towards early immigrants. Komagata Maru Ship was denied entry to Canada due to these policies at the time. Komagata Maru carried 376 Punjabi passengers who were landing in Canada after 62 days court battle while stranded on board.On 100th Anniversary of arrival of the ship at Burrard inlet in Vancouver. Canada Post released a stamp on this incident. It was the proudest moment in my life that the incident's historical status with all Canadians. Until the release of the stamp it was difficult to tell our Komagata Maru story to Canadians.

Upon release of the Stamp the younger generation was able to get the story through social media at the time and our youth took over and started telling the incident stories to their elders at home and abroad as this was International incident. We released this stamp in Ottawa in the Parliament Building with Prime Minister Harper and all members of Parliaments. This picture is taken at the events that took place in Vancouver on 100 year anniversary. My Grandfather Rattan Singh came to Canada in 1906 and was a Vancouver resident at the time Komagata Maru was forced to stay in Vancouver for two months without proper food and medical supplies. Local Canadian residents with Sikh Temple leadership the passengers were able to get food supplies for two months. I am so proud and thankfull to Canada Post and Komagata Heritage Foundation for issuing this stamp thus two years later Canadian Goverenment did issue an apology in Canadian Parliament in 2016.

Minister Harjit Sajan speaking at 100th Anniversary and the stamp release at Vancouver 2014.

Harbhajan Gill in Mumbai,India Gate is in the background.