1.5 British Columbia

Immigration

James Douglas

• Can you speak British

Columbian?

• Douglas was the first

governor of British

Columbia

• He was half-Black, and

helped bring about 400

Black immigrants to

Victoria.

Asian Labour

• Many Chinese ended up here in British Columbia because of the railroad and the Gold Rush.

• After these ended, Chinese workers looked for work in other places.

• Mines

• Stores

• Chinese were often willing to accept low wages in order to work.

Anti-Asian Riots

• Once the railway was

complete, many of the

Chinese began looking for

other work.

• This began to cause

conflict with European

workers. In Vancouver,

things came to a head with

the Anti-Asian riots in

1907.

Government Response

• The Canadian government

was pressured to do

something about the

problem.

• They decided to limit

immigration from Asian

countries, and created a

Head tax for each person

entering.

Immigration from India

• It was a bit more difficult to

restrict immigration from

India because they were

part of the British Empire.

• The government passed the

“Continuous Passage Law”

to prevent ships coming

from long distances.

• This lead to the Komagata

Maru Incident in 1914.

Scandinavians

• “Scandinavians” are from

Norway, Sweden, Denmark

• They migrated to California

and then north.

• Usually focused on fish and

timber trade.

Germans

• The largest group of non-

British immigrants to BC in

the 1900’s

• Germans were usually

interested in ranching,

construction, and the

trades.

Doukhobors

• The Doukhobors were a minority religious group in Russia

• They believed in pacifism, among other things.

• They migrated from Ontario to the Prairies, then finally to British Columbia

• They became famous when a small group of them started nude protests.

Mennonites

• Mennonites moved to

Canada in waves

1. From the United States in

the 1700’s

2. From Russia in the 1800’s

3. From Germany in the 1900’s

• Most Mennonites were

interested in farming

• Many moved here to

Chilliwack after the lake

was drained.

WW1 Internment

• The British Empire joined World War I from 1914 to

1918.

• About 8000 Canadians from Germany, Ukraine, and

Austria were identified as “enemy aliens” and

rounded up and put into internment camps.

WW2 Internment

• The British Empire joined World War II from 1939

to 1945.

• After the bombing of Pearl Harbour, about 21000

Japanese-Canadians were rounded up and put into

internment camps.

Same Issues Today!

• Union fights influx of Chinese miners in B.C. court

(CTV News, Dec 2012) Immigrant workers taking our jobs!

• Tamil asylum-seekers spark Canadian vitriol, anger:

“send them back.”

(Toronto Sun, August 2010) We don’t want “boat people” here!