Check against delivery.
April 24, 2005
We are here in Chinatown today, Vancouver’s Chinatown. This is one of the most historic communities that we have in this city.
When people come to Vancouver, to British Columbia, they go and visit some of our natural surroundings, like Stanley Park.
But many visitors also come right here to Chinatown – one of the great centres of diversity in North America.
And in British Columbia I think we should recognize there is great strength in our diversity. People have come from all over the world to make this province an exceptional place for all of us to live and for our children to build their future.
We’re known for our cultural diversity throughout the world. In fact, last night we announced a new Olympic symbol for 2010, and I think we should know it was the power of our diversity that allowed us to succeed in getting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games right here for Vancouver, British Columbia.
And the interesting thing is this has always been a place of great diversity. We have 60 First Nations that call this home. We are today on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people.
People from around the world have come to this place for more than a century now. And many of the people that came to this place came in search of what people still search for -- opportunity, wealth, a better future for their families.
Some of the people that visited us first called our place in the world Gold Mountain. Gold Mountain was a place where if you worked hard you could provide for yourself, for your family and for your future.
And as we look to our future today, it is important for us to build on that strength. To build on the power of our great diversity here. Just think, without people of Chinese origin coming to British Columbia and building our railroads, we would not have Canada as we know it today.
Without people of Japanese background coming to our shores and building the strong fishery we wouldn’t have the same fishery industry we have today.
Without people that came here to our shores from the Punjab, we would not have the forest industry that we have here today.
And I think at a time when we’re talking about our diversity, we should reflect back. We should think back about the commitment of those who came because as you all know it was not always as welcoming as it should have been here.
But because of the commitment of our pioneers, with a Chinese background, with an Indian background – because of the commitment of our pioneers from Europe and from Asia, we now live in a land that celebrates our diversity.
It is important for us to reflect back on the tenacity of all those people who came here. They believed in a dream called Canada and they helped make that dream come true for thousands and indeed millions of Canadians.
We today, who are living in Canada, living in British Columbia, have a responsibility to build on those traditions – to build on that strength and diversity from the entire Asia-Pacific.
As I said to people over the last number of months, we are Canada’s only Pacific province.
We have a strategic asset. The citizens that live here speak English and French and Mandarin and Cantonese and Punjabi and Tagalog and Japanese and Spanish from up and down the Pacific coast, the western coast, the eastern coast – we bring them all together at a great crossroads called British Columbia, Canada.
So today, I’d like to tell you two initiatives that we intend to undertake that will strengthen and build on the power of our diversity in this great province.
First, we will be establishing what I call Multicultural Dialogues.
Dialogues will take place in communities across British Columbia, where we bring delegates together to talk about how we can strengthen our educational system, our economy, our trading system. We will talk about how we can improve the quality of life for people across this province.
We will talk about how we can be sure that new people who come to our shores to contribute to our country are able to contribute to the fullest of their ability through credentialing programs – through making sure that they can create the future for their families that they want right here in British Columbia.
We’ve already launched an expansion of the provincial nominee program to increase the supply of foreign trained doctors and nurses and health professionals. We launched the Dream Home China project to make sure that people in China know about the opportunities that British Columbian products present to them as their economy grows and as their quality of life improves.
We are going to be host to the World Trade University which – working with the United Nations – will bring people from around the world to develop the talents that they need to have an open trading economy in their communities, as well as in ours.
We have established an Asia-Pacific Trade Council under the chairmanship of Arthur Hara to improve trade and investment and cultural opportunities in British Columbia.
But we want to do more, and we have an opportunity to do more. We have a unique opportunity in Canada to do more. So the dialogue will be held across our province in every region. It will help build the power of diversity as we move into the future.
And the first order of business for the dialogue will be to look at how we can move forward with another project that we would like to develop over the next five years.
This is a project that will require all of you. It will require your creativity. Your understanding of your history. Your understanding of your culture. It will be a project that will help us expand not just our understanding of one another but make it an even greater place for us to invite the world to be part of British Columbia.
As I mentioned, in 2010 the world’s eyes will be focused on our province as we host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics Games.
In 2008, as you know, there will be the Summer Games in Beijing. In 2010 the Commonwealth games will be in New Delhi. And Expo will take place in Shanghai.
When we bring people to British Columbia we would like them to know the place. So working with First Nations, with leaders of our multicultural communities across the province, we intend to establish a brand new Asia-Pacific Museum of Trade and Culture here in our province.
It is important as we move to establish the new Asia-Pacific Museum of Trade and Culture that we imagine what we want it to be. And I ask this, we cannot lose sight of our true history.
We cannot lose sight of the true history of the people who came and visited our shore. We cannot lose sight of the fact that people that came and helped us build the railroad were not treated properly. We cannot lose sight of the fact that people who came from India were held in our harbour in the Komagata Maru.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that Canadians of Japanese descent had their properties confiscated as we entered the Second World War. We cannot lose sight of the problems that people faced if we are going to learn and build and create an even better future for those who will follow us.
And so we will be asking you and your leaders, from the Filipino community, from the Chinese community, from people that speak Cantonese and Mandarin, we would like this facility to be a place where we show our history.
And we show our history in a whole array of languages.
A hundred million visitors may come to Canada by 2020 as a result of our new approved destination status. Imagine when some of those visitors come to the new Asia-Pacific Museum of Trade and Culture where they can hear the history of Canadians of Chinese descent in Mandarin, in Cantonese, as well as a French and English.
Imagine what happens when a Japanese visitor comes and visits and can see the history of Canadians of Japanese descent in Japanese and French and English.
Imagine what happens when someone from the Filipino community comes and hears the history of the Filipino community in Canada in Tagalog and French and English.
Imagine what we can do as we engage our young people in learning and understanding about the strength and the power and the commitment in the face of those who came before us to build this great country.
Imagine what you want and join us in creating a facility that will be recognized around the world as Canada’s Asia-Pacific Museum of Trade and Culture. As British Columbia’s centre of celebration of diversity, and a reflection to the world of what we can be when we take the best place on earth and work together to make it even better.
Thank you all very much.
