If you know of any areas on the West Shore that are of historical significance to Chinese heritage, now is your chance to help them get recognized.
The province is calling for nominations to formally recognize more locations that are historically important to B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Chinese community. Up to 10 of the nominated historic places will be officially recognized by the government and placed on the B.C. Register of Historic Places, as well as the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
The Canadian register currently includes 97 records for historic places in British Columbia with Chinese-Canadian heritage values. The call for nominations B次元官网网址渋s the first milestone in the Historic Places Project,B次元官网网址� Steve Thomson, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations said in a release. B次元官网网址淚t marks the beginning of implementation of eight legacy recommendations made in the Chinese Historical Wrongs Consultation Final Report issued in May 2014.
B次元官网网址淩ecognition of sites that have historical significance to Chinese Canadians will serve as an opportunity to celebrate British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 diversity, and recognize and acknowledge the contributions Chinese Canadians have made to the province B次元官网网址� both past and present,B次元官网网址� he stated.
Nominations will be accepted until Feb. 20 by Heritage BC, the not-for-profit contracted to administer the process.
Kathryn Molloy, executive director of Heritage BC, hopes this is the first of many similar initiatives to highlight the diverse cultural history of the province. The organization is especially interested in sites outside the major centres of Vancouver and downtown Victoria.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e really looking to reach out into these (smaller) communities and ask people, B次元官网网址榃hat do we value in our cultural history, and how should we best acknowledge it?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e looking to really expand that recognition.B次元官网网址�
One of the ways to do that is to make it easier for the public to engage with the process, Molloy said.
Heritage BC is currently working on a B次元官网网址渃ultural mappingB次元官网网址� project which she hopes will help encourage that engagement, where the public can add sites and stories of historical or cultural heritage themselves, as well.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檒l be a Google Maps-type thing, except there will be layers of information and history within it.B次元官网网址�
The format will make for an interactive historical and cultural experience, kind of like a Wikipedia for B.C. culture mapping.
To find out more about this round of nominations or anything else about heritage sites in B.C., go to and have a look around.
