By Province |
The province says people called for the museum to celebrate the importance of Chinese immigrants who helped build British Columbia, and to bridge history with contemporary culture.
The City of Vancouver is getting a $1 million boost from the B.C. government to support the establishment of a Chinese Canadian museum, with the goal of creating branches in other communities n the province.
This so-called hub-and-spoke model is inspired by opinions expressed at public meetings earlier this year, said Bill Yee, who became the first Chinese Canadian elected to Vancouver city council in 1982.
Yee is also a member of the working group for the proposed museum and says it’s natural to pursue partnerships with municipalities, such as Victoria, where Chinese immigrants first began to arrive in the late 1850s.
“We are hoping that the museum will touch all the areas in the province that in the past have (had) Chinese people,” said Yee, noting that Kamloops could be a good place to explain the exploitation of Chinese labourers who helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway.
It would be up to each community that chooses to participate to determine what their local museum branches, or spokes, would look like, said Yee. When that time comes, he said the plan is to hire a professional curator.