City of Burnaby makes formal apology for decades of discrimination against people of Chinese descent

Farmworkers in a field owned by F.J. Hart, whose mansion at Deer Lake is now the Hart House Restaurant. Chinese farm workers were an essential part of Burnaby’s early agricultural industry. (City of Burnaby Archives)

Burnaby has delivered a formal apology for decades of discrimination against people of Chinese descent, acknowledging that historic municipal laws and policies barred them from working for the city, owning land and earning a living.

At a special council meeting on Saturday, Mayor Mike Hurley said the city accepts responsibility for the racism and discrimination perpetrated by Burnaby's municipal government and elected officials between 1892 and 1947.

"The goals of these actions was exclusion," he said.

Read more on the original article : https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/burnaby-apology-discriminating-chinese-descent-9.6980642