Georgia Straight – Guided Historical Chinatown Tours with Judy Lam

Guo Ding: Chinese Canadian Museum will counter flawed narratives about B.C. and Canadian history

by Guo Ding, August 2nd, 2020, The Georgia Straight

Last month, the B.C. government announced $10 million in funding for the Chinese Canadian Museum project.

This marks the first time that a North American government has supported such a project. And $10 million is only the beginning.

This shows that Premier John Hogan is a leader who fulfils his campaign promises.

I still remember when I wrote an article in Sing Tao Daily on May 1, 2017, suggesting that B.C. should build a Chinese Canadian history museum to identify the contributions of the Chinese community since 1860. The next day, I received a phone call from NDP headquarters, telling me that the party leader, Horgan, endorsed my idea. read more…

COVID-19 in B.C.: Dr. Bonnie Henry on B.C. travel and Chinese Canadian community’s role in breaking the curve

Craig Takeuchi, The Georgia Straight, June 5th, 2020

Many experts predicted that British Columbia would be one of the hardest-hit regions in Canada, if not North America, during the pandemic.

In an in-depth profile of B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry in the New York Times today (June 5), Toronto infection control epidemiologist Colin Furness was quoted as saying that “by all rights, British Columbia should have been clobbered.”

However, he credited the fast action taken by health officials and Dr Henry’s communication skills.

But as the pandemic developed across the world, some of the locations closest to China have maintained some of the lowest case counts, while the most troubling hotspots have been farther away. Read more…

B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix

B.C.’s COVID-19 pandemic spread largely because of virus strains from Europe, Eastern Canada, and Washington state

Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight, June 4th, 2020

B.C.’s provincial health officer has shown that visitors from China are not the main cause of a public health problem that has caused widespread economic hardship.

In presentation touching on epidemiology and genomics, Dr Bonnie Henry demonstrated that the primary source of COVID-19 infections in B.C. came from travellers from Europe, Eastern Canada, and Washington state.

She showed this with a series of charts featuring different colours. They represented strains of the virus from different regions. Read more…

No more tall buildings in Chinatown suggested by Vancouver city planners

Carlito Pablo, The Georgia Straight, May 30th, 2018

Vancouver city staff are recommending in a report that tall buildings should no longer be allowed in Chinatown.

Staff have proposed a height limit of 90 feet on new developments in order to preserve the character of the historic neighbourhood.

This could mean that council has to revoke its 2011 decision that permitted developers to seek approval of rezoning applications for towers in areas south of Pender Street. Read more…

The City of Vancouver is taking action to calm speculation in Chinatown.

Patti Bacchus: Renaming Crosstown elementary a chance for Vancouver School Board to do the right thing

Patti Bacchus on January 25th, 2018

Crosstown is a fine name for a bus route or a low-rent strip mall, or perhaps a condo complex built on formerly vacant suburban land. But it’s a bland and meaningless moniker for a school built on the edge of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, in a vibrant urban community with a rich and fascinating history.

It’s a gentrification name that obliterates the past in a misguided gesture toward a shiny new future—a rebranding that paves over the lives, contributions, and tribulations of those who came before. A building that’s dedicated to the education of present and future generations of Vancouver children deserves something better. Read more…

Vancouver architect and heritage advocate Joe Wai dies

by Charlie Smith on January 13th, 2017

A greatly admired Vancouver architect and community leader has passed away at the age of 76.
Joe Wai leapt to public prominence in the late 1960s when he and other activists, including Shirley Chan and storefront lawyer and future premier Mike Harcourt, campaigned against a freeway that would have destroyed much of Chinatown and Gastown. Read more …

Architect Joe Wai left a large mark on Vancouver.

City of Vancouver approves measures to protect unique character of Chinatown

by Carlito Pablo on December 10th, 2015

Vancouver council has moved to preserve Chinatown’s heritage for present and future generations. Read more

Heritage buildings in Chinatown are in need of repairs. by MARK AMPANA

City council to vote on spending $3.6 million to help restore Chinatown heritage buildings

by Charlie Smith on December 9th, 2015

A Vancouver city staff report has raised an urgent alarm over the future of 12 heritage buildings in Chinatown. Each is more than 100 years old and each is owned by a historic Chinatown society. And according to the report, these societies cannot finance their restoration.

Twelve historic Chinatown buildings could fall into irreparable condition without a civic program to rehabilitate them. Photo by KYLE LAWRENCE

Damage to Chinatown murals linked to Vancouver housing affordability and anger at so-called “foreign buyers”

by Travis Lupick on September 8th, 2015

Someone has defaced a series of historical murals in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighborhood.

A mural celebrating Chinese Canadian history at the corner of Pender and Columbia streets was recently defaced by graffiti. Photo by RICHARD MARQUEZ

Vancouver’s vandalized Chinatown gate still awaiting repairs

by Carlito Pablo on June 3rd, 2015

Most of the plaques decorating the pillars of the majestic arches linking historic Chinatown to downtown Vancouver have been missing for about a year.