 I Am Canada  Blood and Iron Building the Railway  Written by Paul Yee  Blue Case  240 pages  Series/Historical Fiction

About This Book  “There is a saying that one Chinese worker died for every mile of track laid. The length of railway that the Chinese  worked on in British Columbia was 615 kilometres (382 miles). Even the lowest estimate of Chinese workers’  deaths backs up this wretched observation.” — Paul Yee

CPR: Historical Perspective  Creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a task originally undertaken for a combination of reasons by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald. ConservativePrime MinisterSir John A. Macdonald ConservativePrime MinisterSir John A. Macdonald  British Columbia had insisted upon a transport link to the east as a condition for joining the Confederation of Canada (initially requesting a wagon road). British ColumbiaConfederationCanada British ColumbiaConfederationCanada  The government however, proposed to build a railway linking the Pacific province to the eastern provinces within 10 years of July 20, PacificprovincePacificprovince  Macdonald also saw it as essential to the creation of a unified Canadian nation that would stretch across the continent. Moreover, manufacturing interests in Quebec and Ontario desired access to sources of raw materials and markets in Canada's west. manufacturingQuebecOntarioraw materials marketsCanada's westmanufacturingQuebecOntarioraw materials marketsCanada's west

Chinese Workers  Though the Chinese had come to what is now Canada in search of gold in 1858, it was the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway that brought large numbers of Chinese men to British Columbia from 1880 to Desperate to escape the harsh conditions at home in China, these men came to Canada seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Many returned to China, but many more stayed. Some eventually brought their families over.  These hard-working people gradually moved east, in search of work and opportunities. They prospered and improved their lives, but not before facing poverty, loneliness, discrimination, dangerous work and poor living conditions.

 Between 1881 and 1884, as many as Chinese men came to B.C. to work as labourers on the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Chinese workers worked for $1.00 a day, and from this $1.00 the workers had to still pay for their food and their camping and cooking gear. White workers did not have to pay for these things even though they were paid more money ($1.50-$2.50 per day). As well as being paid less, Chinese workers were given the most back-breaking and dangerous work to do. They cleared and graded the railway's roadbed. They blasted tunnels through the rock. There were accidents, fires and disasters. Landslides and dynamite blasts killed many. There was no proper medical care and many Chinese workers depended on herbal cures to help them.

 The Chinese railway workers lived in camps, sleeping in tents or boxcars. They did their own cooking over open outdoor fires. They mainly ate a diet of rice and dried salmon, washed down with tea. With their low salaries they could not afford fresh fruit and vegetables, so many of the men suffered from scurvy (a painful disease caused by a diet without vitamin C).  The camps were crowded. Diet and living conditions were poor. Many got sick. In the winter it was very cold and the open fires were the only way of keeping warm. Whenever the workers put down more tracks, the camps had to be moved further down the line. When it was time to move camp, the Chinese workers would take down their tents, pack their belongings and move everything to the next camp, often hiking over 40 kilometres.

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