The History Waltz

Tong Chuang - Yi Meng
                               Chinese Proverb



1870
By now coal-mining on Vancouver Island has become a major industry - turning a tiny Hudson's Bay trading-post of about 50 - Nanaimo - into a major settlement; around 700 Chinese work in several collieries. Not miners but no-name gofers.
Robert Dunsmuir had been employed by Hudson's Bay to establish coal-mines around Nanaimo's harbor, after the company was told about coal in the area by an Indian leader. He soon quit his job to become one of the first independent miners; promptly hit coal; established a company to become eligible for crown-land at next to nothing - and the Wellington Colliery was born. Nanaimo quickly grew in size - the energy-push was on! Soon making Mr. Dunsmuir a man of enormous wealth and power. His wealth to a great extent based on physical and financial exploitation of his workforce. A Vancouver street bears his name.

1875
According to the British Columbia Annual Mining Report: hands employed by Wellington number 124 whites and 110 Chinese, plus 8 Indians. Whites are paid between $2.50 and $5.00 per day; Chinese and Indians get a flat $1.10. The report also states the number of hands does not include Indians and Chinamen working for miners.

Initially the breaking-off is done by whites, who then load coal into wagons and take these to the surface. The difference in pay is: the more coal - the more money. So they sort-of subcontract loading/moving to Chinese and Indians, paying them out of their own pockets. Not having to waste time with that any longer: they now can concentrate on the more-money part.
But paying their gofers $1.10 per day supposedly takes too much out of their income - so they lower even that.

Officially these Chinese and Indians don't exist. Even those Chinese working for mines directly are known and identified only superficially. By a number-tag or a number/surname tag. Chinese names here are useless as ID, because so many are the same. Those run by and running for miners are known - examples here - as Fred Miller's Chinaman or Tom Brown's Celestial.

With conditions being extremely primitive, there are frequent accidents, even deaths. Recording them seems pointless: after all, these men generally are alone here - China is far away. And all looking alike, acting alike, sounding alike - being alike, period - makes them just a number, indeed. So, one more or less ....! Plus there is the language-nuisance - not a barrier to remove but ultimate proof of differentness accepted.

Thus the hurt are patched-up perfunctorily and sent back down - or away if too damaged to get on with it. Those who die are buried unceremoniously and unmarked - deaths even of "employed" Chinese - here or anywhere else in BC - not having to be reported until 1897.

1883
300 white miners go on strike at Dunsmuir mines over work/money-issues - having to pay their gofers plays a big part. Dunsmuir promptly replaces them all with so far compliant Chinese, who have picked-up on how to do the work by watching their white handlers. And - BIG and - they only have to be paid the standard Chinese rate. All around a good deal for Dunsmuir!
This infuriates the white miners even more - it all eventually leads to labor-unions - while intensifying their resentment towards the Chinese.

The problem with Chinese for the ever so British Columbians running everything is their availability in (scarily) great numbers and willingness to work hard - the latter not necessarily part of the whites'-at-hand gene-pool. BC doesn't want the Chinese - but they do come cheap, and without them there would be far less economic growth. So the movers and shakers are stuck with them. But decidedly not interested in assimilation.

To the Chinese, having work - any kind of work - simply means life and a future for their families back home. They don't understand the whites' preoccupation with as much money as possible for as little work as possible.


1887

An explosion - deep underground in the Number One Mine of the Vancouver Coal Company - kills 150 miners; 7 survive. Supposedly 53 are Chinese, and in the official inquest and subsequent Mining report they are listed as Chinamen, names unknown. But what with deaths of Chinese not having to be reported and miner-run gofers being unlisted - the actual number is anyone's guess if.
So the conveniently too dead to object Chinese are blamed for the explosion, because supposedly they couldn't read signs and instructions. This bypassing the fact that safety - time-and-money intensive - is just not a concern in these mines: only the fact of coal is.

2012
HD Mining International is planning to establish a coal-mine in Tumbler Ridge, BC - the first of several.
Provincially/nationally advertising for people to do their work - specifically: long-wall mining with relevant machinery - results in about 300 applications, of which over 200 don't follow-up. Of the 97 preliminarily considered - none are suitable. No experience!
After supposedly following the route mandated by law - making sure and coming-up empty - HD Mining hires 200 experienced miners on a temporary basis in - DRUMROLL! - CHINA! HD also buys the needed machinery there! The irony!

'Round and 'round we go .....!

Of course - continuing the happy BC tradition of China-bashing - there is the requisite union-splutter: Sure we have plenty men can do the work in BC or somewhere in Canada! Which is disingenuous, seeing that hitherto there has been no long-wall coal-mining nor the necessary machinery over here. And - from another union-brain - a couple of weeks ago: Maybe it's 200 today but could turn into a thousand real quick! Then - the most recent: What about  safety, like can they understand, speak, read enough English in an emergency?

Turning, turning, turning .....!

These reasons - not to argue their merit here - have been tried one at a time, over time - begging the obvious question: Why wasn't there a comprehensive well-reasoned presentation by the unions when all this began, months ago? Instead of this dribbled predictability.
So now it's provincial vs. federal politics and unions bringing in the courts, because they lack in-house brains to focus on a non-adversarial resolution.

'Round and 'round we go .....!



This coming at a time when demonization of China by plodding Canadian minds - particularly the progressive - is once again in full form: the trade-agreement between Canada and China in the news recently. What's conveniently ignored here is - EXCUSE ME! - that this is an agreement between two parties. Therefore it's not that big bad China imposed this on poor helpless Canada - this is business. So dump on - better yet dump - the Harper-Government, if dump you must!

Turning, turning, turning .....!

Anyway, others say: any planned additional coal-mines here - and more to follow nationally - mean employment. And having knowledgeable people - who just happen to be Chinese - start it all and then train Canadians in the process - who, in turn, will train other Canadians later - looks like a good thing!

This is also the general opinion on the CBC's BC Almanac, with its do-you-want-them-here-or-not.

And now, the Tumbler Ridge News is suggesting its readers learn a few phrases in Mandarin. Like: Ni hao! Xie xie! Mei wenti! Zai jian! Ting budong!

'Round and 'round we go .....!

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