ASIAN CANADA
The economic and cultural energy that Asian
immigrants are bringing may turn a green and promising land into the
next California.
by Marc Star
Page 1 of 5
t's green, the air's clean and it's arguably the earth's most culturally
diverse country. The U.S. pretends to be a melting pot, but the recipe
calls for free input from northern European nations with tightly measured
input from Asia, Latin America and Africa. Canada is more honestly
multicultural. It eschews the somewhat dishonest melting pot metaphor in
favor of the more apt salad bowl. Each citizen is free--even encouraged--to
retain his unique heritage, and Canada embraces them all. That's why many
otherwise qualified Asian immigrants, especially those from the sister British
commonwealth state of Hong Kong, forego the quest for the elusive U.S.
immigrant visa in favor of Canada's open arms.
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"I moved here because Canada seemed to me the greatest country in the world. My expectation was correct."
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Canada is the largest trading partner of the U.S. The two-way trade
exceeded $268 billion in 1993. Canada ships 75% of its exports to the U.S.
and gets two-thirds of its imports from the U.S. Toronto, the economic capital
for its 27 million, is just across a very open border from 265 million
Americans.
Investors from 70 foreign countries operating 6,000-plus businesses
contribute to the opportunities that make Canada a land of opportunity in its
own right, especially when combined with its vast resources--seas of wheat,
bottomless oil fields and ore deposits, vast virgin forests and rich fishing
grounds.
Nearly three million Asians call Canada home. Half are of Chinese
descent. Most of the 1.4 million Chinese Canadians live in the metropolitan
districts of Vancouver and Toronto. Toronto alone has five distinct downtown
Chinatowns. They look more like California's Monterey Park or Alhambra
than the decrepit tourist traps most Americans associate with Chinatowns.
The Chinese areas of Vancouver and Toronto offer modern shopping malls
bristling with bilingual signs, crowds of Chinese shoppers and plenty of dim
sum.
The Chinese first arrived in late 19th century to take part in the
construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. From 1880 to 1885, 17,000
men from Guangdong Province blasted and chiseled the treacherous western
stretch of railway through the Canadian Rockies. More than 4,000 died in the
effort.
Japanese Canadians began to arrive in the 1890s as merchants and
fishermen. They currently number around 120,000 and are among the best
established of Asian Canadians. Today, however, they are quickly being
dwarfed in numbers by exploding communities being built by the huge wave
of immigration that began in the early 1970s. Coreans now number 130,000.
Perhaps the fastest growing in proportionate terms are the Vietnamese
whose 1996 population is estimated at 170,000. Asian Canadians now
include a presence from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Philippines,
Indonesia and Malaysia, among other countries.
It's a harmonious spectrum and it makes up the mainstream of
Canadian life. The Atlanta Olympics, for example, saw Asian Canadian
competitors like Richard Ikeda on the men's gymnastic team, Taro Tan in
judo, Daryl Yung on the men's badminton team and Sian Deng on the
women's. Pop star Sook-Yin Lee is a VJ for MuchMusic TV, Canada's answer
to MTV. FANT-ASIA, an Asian fantasy film festival featuring Hong Kong
live-action and Japanese animation, is currently touring the country.
Canada is increasingly becoming a hotspot for Asian tourists. 323,893
Japanese, Coreans and Taiwanese visited Ontario from January to September
1995, a 4.4% increase of Japanese, 21.9% of Coreans and 24.7% of Taiwanese.
Canada has seen a steady flow of Asian immigrants over the past 20
years. The past five years has seen the most. The single biggest reason is
June 30, 1997, the day Hong Kong reverts to the Chinese. Hong Kong
emigrants have found a welcoming safety net in Canada. Since January 1995
over 1,000 Hong Kong Chinese entrepreneurs have each brought in an
average of $1.7 million of capital to the province of British Columbia alone.
They're setting up small businesses in the growing Chinese commercial
districts, sending their kids to school and fueling the real estate market.
Their Canadian homesteads give them an option should the new Chinese
rulers prove less than hospitable to Hong Kong businesses.
An Asian Canadian couple enjoys the view
from a restaurant atop Toronto's landmark CN Tower. Courtesy Ontario Ministry of Culture,
Tourism & Recreation
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If the Communists make a smooth transition, however, the rest of
Canada has something to worry about, Robin Ajello wrote in Vancouver
magazine. "If Hong Kong survives China's takeover, this city will suffer a
colossal drain of brains and money," so valuable is the Asian contribution
now.
VANCOUVER
n 1792 when Captain George Vancouver first caught sight of this
rugged and beautiful area, he declared that once settled, it would be "the
most lovely country that could be imagined." High above the Vancouver of
today rise towering snowcapped mountains, adorned by ancient forests that
extend toward the deep blue Pacific. Miles of sun-soaked beaches border
Vancouver to the west. Small islands and fiords carved into the Coastal
Mountains, grasslands and lakes--all lie in proximity to the city which
Geneva-based Corporate Resources Group ranked second among 118
international cities for quality of life.
Vancouver, British Columbia is a Pacific
Rim boomtown that attracts over 30,000 Asian immigrants each year. Asians of Chinese descent account for
about 25% of Vancouver's 1.8 million residents.
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The Vancouverites take their nature seriously. Ever since pioneers in
1886 created the 1,000 acre Stanley Park--giving Vancouver a stunning
oceanfront oasis just beyond downtown--lush forested parks and huge
gardens have popped up everywhere, decorating the city with the life and
character that alabaster grey Chicago and New York seem to miss. It's little
wonder that Chinese railroad workers of the 19th century remained,
spawning what is now the second-largest Chinese population in North
America. Little wonder Vancouver lays claim to the continent's second
largest Chinatown.
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