Missing at the Olympics opener...

**Zardoz** · 17th February 10, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by robthehiker

I too was surprised by the lack of Chinese representation and was taken aback by the amount of Celtic representation.

Interesting, and you have a point. From what I read on a brief cruise around the interweb , Chinese Canadians account for just under 4% of Canadians, and Aboriginal peoples about the same percentage. So yeah I'd guess the Chinese were under-repesented. On the other hand over 15% of Canadians identify as being of Scottish heritage, and Irish 14%.

**robthehiker** · 17th February 10, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by Zardoz

Interesting, and you have a point. From what I read on a brief cruise around the interweb , Chinese Canadians account for just under 4% of Canadians, and Aboriginal peoples about the same percentage. So yeah I'd guess the Chinese were under-repesented. On the other hand over 15% of Canadians identify as being of Scottish heritage, and Irish 14%.

True, but Chinese Canadians account for almost 10% of the population of British Columbia and 19% of the population of Vancouver. Scots account for 16% of the Vancouver population.

With a population of 400,000, Chinese Canadians are Vancouver's second largest ethnic group after the English (with 480,000).

And as Raphael noted, they built the railway.

**JSFMACLJR** · 17th February 10, 07:35 PM

Post Deleted.

**robthehiker** · 17th February 10, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by JSFMACLJR

I thought my great-great grandfather Sir Sandford Fleming built the Canadian Pacific Railway.

He surveyed much of it (is he really your great-great grandfather?).

from wikipedia (which is never wrong... rolls eyes)

In British Columbia, the CPR hired workers from China, nicknamed coolies. A navvy received between $1 and $2.50 per day, but had to pay for his own food, clothing, transportation to the job site, mail, and medical care. After two and a half months of back-breaking labour, they could net as little as $16. Chinese navvies in British Columbia made only between $0.75 and $1.25 a day, not including expenses, leaving barely anything to send home. They did the most dangerous construction jobs, such as working with explosives. The families of the Chinese who were killed received no compensation, or even notification of loss of life. Many of the men who survived did not have enough money to return to their families in China. Many spent years in lonely, sad and often poor conditions. Yet the Chinese were hard working and played a key role in building the western stretch of the railway; even some boys as young as 12 years old served as tea-boys. In 2006 Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology to the Chinese population in Canada for their treatment both during and following the construction of the CPR.