162-511: Pitt Meadows is a municipality within Metro Vancouver in southwestern British Columbia , Canada . Incorporated in 1914, it currently has a land area of 86.34 square kilometres (33.34 sq mi) with a population of 19,146 as of 2021. The municipality received its name from the Pitt River and Pitt Lake . Pitt Meadows is one of 21 municipalities including Electoral Area A that comprises
324-621: A humid continental climate with widely variable precipitation. For example, the average daily low in Prince George (roughly in the middle of the province) in January is −12 °C (10 °F). Small towns in the southern interior with high elevation such as Princeton are typically colder and snowier than cities in the valleys. Heavy snowfall occurs in all elevated mountainous terrain providing bases for skiers in both south and central British Columbia. Annual snowfall on highway mountain passes in
486-551: A "defence measure". On January 14, 1942, the federal government issued an order calling for the removal of male Japanese nationals between 18 and 45 years of age from a designated protected area of 100 miles (160 km) inland from the British Columbia Coast . The federal government also enacted a ban against Japanese-Canadian fishing during the war, banned shortwave radios, and controlled the sale of gasoline and dynamite to Japanese Canadians. Japanese nationals removed from
648-564: A "prominent banker of Vancouver" and a "manager of some of the largest lumbering companies in British Columbia". They saw Japanese Canadians as being important partners in helping to open Japanese markets to businesses in British Columbia. Despite the work of organizations like the Japan Society, many groups still opposed Japanese immigration to Canada, especially in BC's fishing industry during
810-809: A Community Birthday Party were held. The Mission Folk Music Festival Society will present the 27th and 28th editions of the Mission Folk Music Festival in 2014/2015. Pitt Meadows is located in the Lower Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver. Most residents live in the urban town centre, which is located on a highland area. 82% of Pitt Meadows is within the Green Zone, lands, including watersheds and 200-year floodplains, forests, wilderness areas, wildlife habitats, wetlands, recreational areas, farms and forestry areas that are fundamental to Metro Vancouver's character and ecology. Pitt Meadows, an agricultural town,
972-735: A TransLink bus stop on Highway 7 (Lougheed Highway) in Pitt Meadows was voted the "sorriest bus stop in America" by StreetsBlog . The Pitt Meadows Paddling Club received the 2011 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Accessibility and Inclusion Award in both the Leisure and Recreation and the Volunteer Categories; the PaddleALL programs are for individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities. Access Transit provides accessible door-to-door transportation service in
1134-506: A desire to become Canadian. These arguments reinforced the idea that the Japanese remained strictly loyal to Japan. The situation was exacerbated when, in 1907, the United States began prohibiting Japanese immigrants from accessing the mainland US through Hawaii, resulting in a massive influx (over 7,000 as compared to 2,042 in 1906) of Japanese immigrants into British Columbia. Largely as
1296-406: A forced landing was carried out in a cranberry field, 400 metres (1,300 ft) west of the airport. Four of the parachutists received serious injuries and the aircraft was substantially damaged although there was no fire and the occupants were evacuated. Pitt Meadows Water Aerodrome , (TC LID: CAJ8), is located 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) southwest of Pitt Meadows. Lougheed Highway
1458-813: A former internee, attested to the "intense cold during the winter" and her only source of heat was from a "pot-bellied stove" within the stable. General conditions were poor enough that the Red Cross transferred fundamental food shipments from civilians affected by the war to the internees. Some internees spoke out against their conditions, often complaining to the British Columbia Security Commission directly whenever possible. In one incident, 15 men who had been separated from their families and put to work in Slocan Valley protested by refusing to work for four days straight. Despite attempts at negotiation,
1620-499: A group of Nisei refused to be shipped out and so were sent to prisoner-of-war camps in Ontario to be detained. The Nisei Mass Evacuation Group was formed to protest family break-ups and lobbied government organizations on the topic. However, their attempts were ignored and members of the group began going underground, preferring to be interned or sent to Ontario rather than join labour groups. By July 1942, after strikes occurred within
1782-686: A land area of 86.34 km (33.34 sq mi), it had a population density of 221.8/km (574.3/sq mi) in 2021. According to the 2021 census , religious groups in Pitt Meadows included: Pitt Meadows is naturally isolated from the rest of the Lower Mainland by the Pitt River and the Fraser River. The major urbanized portion of the Lower Mainland is located on the Burrard Peninsula , on
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#17328384148921944-552: A logging operation at Devine (near D'Arcy in the Gates Valley ), which was in the protected zone but without road access to the coast. Japanese-Canadians interned in Lillooet Country found employment within farms, stores, and the railway . The Liberal government also deported able-bodied Japanese-Canadian labourers to camps near fields and orchards, such as BC's Okanagan Valley . The Japanese-Canadian labourers were used as
2106-470: A new demand for soldiers and an increased need for domestic labour, which meant that the recruitment of minorities was reconsidered. Under this new policy, Japanese Canadians were able to enlist individually by travelling elsewhere in Canada where their presence was deemed less of a threat. By the end of World War I, 185 Japanese Canadians served overseas in 11 different battalions. During World War II , some of
2268-588: A patriarchal structure, meaning the husband was the centre of the family. Since husbands were often separated from their families, wives were left to reconfigure the structure of the family and the long-established divisions of labour that were so common in the Japanese-Canadian household. Oftentimes after internment, families could not be reunited. Many mothers were left with children, but no husband. Furthermore, communities were impossible to rebuild. The lack of community led to an even more intensified gap between
2430-519: A result, on August 12 that year, a group of Vancouver labourers formed an anti-Asiatic league, known as the Asiatic Exclusion League , with its membership numbering "over five hundred". On September 7, some 5,000 people marched on Vancouver City Hall in support of the League, where they had arranged a meeting with presentations from both local and American speakers. By the time of the meeting, it
2592-600: A saw mill on Bonson Rd. British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC ) is the westernmost province of Canada . Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains , the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders
2754-516: A series of devastating epidemics of diseases the people had no immunity to. The population dramatically collapsed, culminating in the 1862 smallpox outbreak in Victoria that spread throughout the coast. European settlement did not bode well for the remaining native population of British Columbia. Colonial officials deemed colonists could make better use of the land than the First Nations people, and thus
2916-723: A small island off the coast of Haida Gwaii . Many healthy populations of fish are present, including salmonids such as several species of salmon , trout , steelhead , and char . Besides salmon and trout, sport-fishers in BC also catch halibut , bass , and sturgeon . On the coast, harbour seals and river otters are common. Cetacean species native to the coast include the orca , humpback whale , grey whale , harbour porpoise , Dall's porpoise , Pacific white-sided dolphin and minke whale . Some endangered species in British Columbia are: Vancouver Island marmot , spotted owl , American white pelican , and badgers. White spruce or Engelmann spruce and their hybrids occur in 12 of
3078-461: A solution to a shortage of farm workers. This obliterated any Japanese competition in the fishing sector. During the 1940s, the Canadian government created policies to direct Chinese, Japanese, and First Nations into farming, and other sectors of the economy that "other groups were abandoning for more lucrative employment elsewhere." In early March 1942, all ethnic Japanese people were ordered out of
3240-534: A threat to national security, including select senior officials of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Royal Canadian Navy , and Department of Labour and Fisheries . Notable individuals on the side of the Japanese Canadians included Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside , Assistant Under-Secretary at External Affairs during the internment of Japanese Canadians. Sunahara argues that Keenleyside
3402-655: A very wide range of birds, has long been popular. Bears ( grizzly , black —including the Kermode bear or spirit bear) live here, as do deer , elk , moose , caribou , big-horn sheep , mountain goats , marmots , beavers , muskrats , coyotes , wolves , mustelids (such as wolverines , badgers and fishers ), cougars , eagles , ospreys , herons , Canada geese , swans , loons , hawks , owls , ravens , harlequin ducks , and many other sorts of ducks. Smaller birds ( robins , jays , grosbeaks , chickadees , and so on) also abound. Murrelets are known from Frederick Island,
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#17328384148923564-455: A wholly unorganized area of British North America under the de facto jurisdiction of HBC administrators; however, unlike Rupert's Land to the north and east, the territory was not a concession to the company. Rather, it was simply granted a monopoly to trade with the First Nations inhabitants. All that was changed with the westward extension of American exploration and the concomitant overlapping claims of territorial sovereignty, especially in
3726-478: Is Vancouver . Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada , with the 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver . British Columbia is Canada's third-largest province in terms of total area, after Quebec and Ontario . The first known human inhabitants of the area settled in British Columbia at least 10,000 years ago. Such groups include
3888-533: Is a diverse and cosmopolitan province, drawing on a plethora of cultural influences from its British Canadian , European , and Asian diasporas , as well as the Indigenous population . Though the province's ethnic majority originates from the British Isles , many British Columbians also trace their ancestors to continental Europe , East Asia , and South Asia . Indigenous Canadians constitute about 6 percent of
4050-676: Is a major route that takes commuters from Coquitlam down to Port Coquitlam and into Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge. Pitt Meadows is also served by the R3 Rapid Bus , although its route takes it along Lougheed Highway. Route 791 serves as another major route that takes commuters from Braid station to Pitt Meadows via the Mary Hill Bypass. The 722 and 719 community shuttle routes go from Osprey Village through different residential Pitt Meadows routes, both ending in Meadowtown Centre. In 2018,
4212-578: Is a significant centre for maritime trade : the Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the most diversified port in North America . Although less than 5 percent of the province's territory is arable land , significant agriculture exists in the Fraser Valley and Okanagan due to the warmer climate. British Columbia is home to 45% of all publicly listed companies in Canada. The province's name
4374-564: Is an important area for log storage. The Alouette River continues to be important to the farming areas. Its first land-based transportation route came in 1885 with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) through to Port Moody. The main portion of the town of Pitt Meadows is bisected by the CPR mainline. The highway bridge over the Pitt River was opened in 1957. As of 2003, the CPR intermodal yards and distribution centre west of
4536-548: Is generally in the subarctic climate zone, but even there, milder air can penetrate far inland. The coldest temperature in British Columbia was recorded in Smith River , where it dropped to −58.9 °C (−74.0 °F) on January 31, 1947, one of the coldest readings recorded anywhere in North America. Atlin in the province's far northwest, along with the adjoining Southern Lakes region of Yukon , get midwinter thaws caused by
4698-485: Is home to First Nations groups that have a deep history with a significant number of indigenous languages. There are more than 200 First Nations in BC. Prior to contact (with non-Aboriginal people), human history is known from oral histories, archaeological investigations, and from early records from explorers encountering societies early in the period. The arrival of Paleoindians from Beringia took place between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago. Hunter-gatherer families were
4860-406: Is home to at least 34 distinct Indigenous languages . Major sectors of British Columbia's economy include forestry , mining , filmmaking and video production , tourism , real estate , construction , wholesale , and retail . Its main exports include lumber and timber , pulp and paper products, copper , coal , and natural gas . British Columbia exhibits high property values and
5022-472: Is now the United States include Vancouver, Washington ( Fort Vancouver ), formerly the "capital" of Hudson's Bay operations in the Columbia District, Colville, Washington and Walla Walla, Washington (old Fort Nez Percés ). With the amalgamation of the two fur trading companies in 1821, modern-day British Columbia existed in three fur trading departments. The bulk of the central and northern interior
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5184-541: Is over 68% within a floodplain with 86% of Pitt Meadows lying within the BC Agricultural Land Reserve as protected farmland. Lands designated as environmentally sensitive include wildlife conservation areas such as Pitt-Addington Marsh and Codd Wetland Ecological Conservancy Area, and the banks of the Fraser , Pitt and Alouette Rivers . Other areas of Pitt Meadows that are within the Green Zone include most of
5346-579: Is the main road route through Pitt Meadows and along the north shore of the Fraser River. The Pitt River Bridge links it to the Burrard Peninsula to the west. The Pitt River Bridge and Mary Hill Interchange Project included a new seven-lane bridge that replaced the existing swing bridges, as well as an interchange to replace the current Lougheed Highway and Mary Hill Bypass intersection. Golden Ears Bridge , which connects Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge to Surrey and Langley , opened in 2009. Golden Ears
5508-608: Is the name of the summit that lies north of Pitt Meadows. In 2011, Lougheed Highway upgrades included the widening and extension of the westbound HOV lane between the Golden Ears Bridge and Harris Road, the addition of bus queue jump lanes in both directions, at the Kennedy Road intersection leading to and from the Pitt River Bridge. The Golden Ears Bridge, completed in summer of 2009, connects Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge with
5670-462: Is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbia's highest mountain is Mount Fairweather ; the highest mountain entirely within the province is Mount Waddington . British Columbia's capital is Victoria , located at the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island . Only a narrow strip of Vancouver Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated. Much of
5832-575: The British Columbia Interior . The official policy stated that Japanese Canadians must move east of the Rocky Mountains or be deported to Japan following the end of the war. By 1947, many Japanese Canadians had been granted exemption to this enforced no-entry zone. Yet it was not until April 1, 1949, that Japanese Canadians were granted freedom of movement and could re-enter the "protected zone" along BC's coast. On September 22, 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney delivered an apology, and
5994-494: The Canadian Forces . On the home front , many businesses began hiring groups that had been underrepresented in the workforce (including women, Japanese immigrants, and Yugoslavian and Italian refugees who had fled to Canada during the war) to help fill the increasing demands of Britain and its allies overseas. Businesses that had previously been opposed to doing so were now more than happy to hire Japanese Canadians as there
6156-1042: The Chinook effect, which is also common (and much warmer) in more southerly parts of the Interior. During winter on the coast, rainfall , sometimes relentless heavy rain, dominates because of consistent barrages of cyclonic low-pressure systems from the North Pacific. Average snowfall on the coast during a normal winter is between 25 and 50 centimetres (10 and 20 in), but on occasion (and not every winter) heavy snowfalls with more than 20 centimetres (8 in) and well below freezing temperatures arrive when modified arctic air reaches coastal areas, typically for short periods, and can take temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F), even at sea level. Arctic outflow winds can occasionally result in wind chill temperatures at or even below −17.8 °C (0.0 °F). While winters are very wet, coastal areas are generally milder and dry during summer under
6318-582: The Coast Salish , Tsilhqotʼin , and Haida peoples, among many others. One of the earliest British settlements in the area was Fort Victoria , established in 1843, which gave rise to the city of Victoria, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island . The Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was subsequently founded by Richard Clement Moody , and by the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment , in response to
6480-609: The Columbia in the name Columbia Rediviva came from the name Columbia for the New World or parts thereof , a reference to Christopher Columbus . The governments of Canada and British Columbia recognize Colombie-Britannique as the French name for the province. British Columbia is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean and the American state of Alaska , to the north by Yukon and
6642-638: The Dakelh (Carrier) and the Tsilhqotʼin . The inlets and valleys of the British Columbia coast shelter large, distinctive populations, such as the Haida , Kwakwakaʼwakw and Nuu-chah-nulth , sustained by the region's abundant salmon and shellfish. These peoples developed complex cultures dependent on the western red cedar that included wooden houses, seagoing whaling and war canoes and elaborately carved potlatch items and totem poles . Contact with Europeans brought
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6804-578: The Fraser Canyon , close to the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers, where the terrain is rugged and covered with desert-type flora. Semi-desert grassland is found in large areas of the Interior Plateau , with land uses ranging from ranching at lower altitudes to forestry at higher ones. The northern, mostly mountainous, two-thirds of the province is largely unpopulated and undeveloped, except for
6966-557: The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . Moody selected the site for and founded the mainland colony's capital New Westminster . The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were incorporated in 1866, subsequent to which Victoria became the united colony's capital. In 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as the sixth province of Canada, in enactment of the British Columbia Terms of Union . British Columbia
7128-551: The Governor General abolished the puller licence entirely despite Japanese-Canadian protests. This resulted in many younger Japanese Canadians being forced from the fishing industry, leaving Japanese-Canadian net men to fend for themselves. Later that year, in August, a change to the borders of fishing districts in the area resulted in the loss of licences for several Japanese-Canadian fishermen, who claimed they had not been informed of
7290-460: The Inside Passage 's many inlets provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. 75 percent of the province is mountainous (more than 1,000 m [3,300 ft] above sea level ); 60 percent is forested; and only about 5 percent is arable. The province's mainland away from
7452-469: The Kootenay Country in southeastern British Columbia. Leadership positions within the camps were only offered to Nisei , or Canadian-born citizens of Japanese origin, thereby excluding Issei , the original immigrants from Japan. The internment camps in the B.C. interior were often ghost towns with little infrastructure to support the influx of people. When Japanese Canadians began arriving in
7614-742: The League of Nations in 1933, ignored the naval ratio set up by the Washington Naval Conference of 1922, refused to follow the Second London Naval Treaty in 1936, and allied with Germany with the Anti-Comintern Pact . Because many Canadians believed that resident Japanese immigrants would always remain loyal to their home country, the Japanese in British Columbia, even those born and raised in Canada, were often judged for these militant actions taken by their ancestral home. When
7776-527: The Metro Vancouver Regional District . Indigenous Peoples have resided in Pitt Meadows for approximately 1000 years. James McMillan explored the area in 1874. The Municipality of Maple Ridge, which included the Pitt Meadows area, was incorporated in 1874. In 1892, residents of the Pitt Meadows area petitioned for their removal from the District of Maple Ridge. In 1893, the first dyking district
7938-520: The North Coast just south of Southeast Alaska . The exception to British Columbia's wet and cloudy winters is during the El Niño phase. During El Niño events, the jet stream is much farther south across North America, making the province's winters milder and drier than normal. Winters are much wetter and cooler during the opposite phase, La Niña . There are 14 designations of parks and protected areas in
8100-607: The North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), effectively established a permanent British presence in the region. The Columbia District was broadly defined as being south of 54°40 north latitude, (the southern limit of Russian America ), north of Mexican-controlled California, and west of the Rocky Mountains . It was, by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 , under the "joint occupancy and use" of citizens of
8262-649: The Northwest Territories , to the east by the province of Alberta , and to the south by the American states of Washington , Idaho , and Montana . The southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, although its history is tied with lands as far south as California . British Columbia's land area is 944,735 square kilometres (364,800 sq mi). British Columbia's rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres (17,000 mi), and includes deep, mountainous fjords and about 6,000 islands, most of which are uninhabited. It
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#17328384148928424-574: The Oroville–Osoyoos Border Crossing , is one of several wine and cider -producing regions in Canada. Other wine regions in British Columbia include the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley . The Southern Interior cities of Kamloops and Penticton have some of the warmest and longest summer climates in Canada (while higher elevations are cold and snowy), although their temperatures are often exceeded north of
8586-466: The Pacific War began, discrimination against Japanese Canadians increased. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japanese Canadians were all categorized, regardless of citizenship, as enemy aliens under the War Measures Act , yet the place of residency at the outbreak of the war significantly affected the removal of their personal rights. Starting on December 8, 1941, 1,200 Japanese-Canadian-owned fishing vessels were impounded as
8748-402: The Pitt Meadows station in the town centre are being expanded. In 1963, the Pitt Meadows Airport was opened. There are height restrictions on buildings due to the proximity of the Pitt Meadows Airport to the southeast, although the recent development of a 10-storey building less than two kilometres (1.2 mi) from the east–west runways puts those restrictions in doubt. In 2003, the airport
8910-441: The fur trade , rather than political considerations. In 1794, by the third of a series of agreements known as the Nootka Conventions , Spain conceded its claims of exclusivity in the Pacific. This opened the way for formal claims and colonization by other powers, including Britain, but because of the Napoleonic Wars , there was little British action on its claims in the region until later. The establishment of trading posts by
9072-473: The interior . The internment in Canada included the theft, seizure, and sale of property belonging to this forcefully displaced population, which included fishing boats, motor vehicles, houses, farms, businesses, and personal belongings. Japanese Canadians were forced to use the proceeds of forced sales to pay for their basic needs during the internment. In August 1944, Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced that Japanese Canadians were to be moved east out of
9234-1101: The 14 biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia . Common types of trees present in BC's forests include western redcedar , yellow-cedar , Rocky Mountain juniper , lodgepole pine , ponderosa or yellow pine , whitebark pine , limber pine , western white pine , western larch , tamarack , alpine larch , white spruce , Engelmann spruce , Sitka spruce , black spruce , grand fir , Amabilis fir , subalpine fir , western hemlock , mountain hemlock , Douglas-fir , western yew , Pacific dogwood , bigleaf maple , Douglas maple , vine maple , arbutus , black hawthorn , cascara , Garry oak , Pacific crab apple , choke cherry , pin cherry , bitter cherry , red alder , mountain alder , paper birch , water birch , black cottonwood , balsam poplar , trembling aspen . First Nations peoples of British Columbia used plants for food, and to produce material goods like fuel and building products. Plant foods included berries, and roots like camas . Environment Canada subdivides British Columbia into six ecozones : The area now known as British Columbia
9396-526: The 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas. British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks and National Park Reserves: British Columbia contains a large number of provincial parks , run by BC Parks under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment. British Columbia's provincial parks system is the second largest parks system in Canada, the largest being Canada's National Parks system. Another tier of parks in British Columbia are regional parks , which are maintained and run by
9558-499: The 1920s and 1930s. Prior to the 1920s, many Japanese labourers were employed as pullers, a job that required them to help the net men row the boats out to fish. The job required no licence, so it was one of the few jobs for first-generation Japanese immigrants who were not Canadian citizens. In 1923, however, the government lifted a ban on the use of motorboats and required that pullers be licensed. This meant that first-generation immigrants, known as Issei , were unable to get jobs in
9720-415: The 1920s, other groups had begun to come forward to the defence of Japanese Canadians, such as the Japan Society. In contrast to rival groups' memberships consisting of mostly labourers, farmers, and fishermen, the Japan Society was primarily made up of wealthy white businessmen whose goal was to improve relations between the Japanese and Canadians both at home and abroad. The heads of the organization included
9882-413: The BC coast. Small numbers of military-age Japanese-Canadian men were permitted to serve in the Canadian Army in the Second World War as interpreters and in signal/intelligence units. By January 1945, several Japanese Canadian men were attached to British units in the Far East as interpreters and translators. In total, about 200 Canadian Nisei joined Canadian forces during World War II. Throughout
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#173283841489210044-435: The Canadian government announced a compensation package, one month after President Ronald Reagan made similar gestures in the United States following the internment of Japanese Americans . The package for interned Japanese Canadians included $ 21,000 to each surviving internee, and the reinstatement of Canadian citizenship to those who were deported to Japan. Following Mulroney's apology, the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement
10206-644: The Canadian government issued order in council PC 1486, which allowed for the removal of "all persons of Japanese origin". This order in council granted the minister of justice the broad powers of removing people from any protected area in Canada, but was meant for Japanese Canadians on the Pacific coast in particular. On February 25, the federal government announced that Japanese Canadians were being moved for reasons of national security. In all, 27,000 people were detained without charge or trial, and their property confiscated. Others were deported to Japan. However, not all Canadians believed that Japanese Canadians posed
10368-401: The Greater Vancouver Area for its soccer and hockey programs, some of which can be offered as an alternative to Physical Education. The school has enrolled around 800 students. PMSS has a Student Council which as of 2019 changed its logo to be a female marauder. In Pitt Meadows, there are cultural, recreation and other community facilities and public uses in the Civic Centre, the Town Centre and
10530-551: The Interior during mid-summer, with the record high of 49.6 °C (121.3 °F) being held in Lytton on June 29, 2021, during a record-breaking heat wave that year . The extended summer dryness often creates conditions that spark forest fires, from dry-lightning or man-made causes. Many areas of the province are often covered by a blanket of heavy cloud and low fog during the winter months, in contrast to abundant summer sunshine. Annual sunshine hours vary from 2200 near Cranbrook and Victoria to less than 1300 in Prince Rupert , on
10692-404: The Japanese are an assimilable race." Bordering the Pacific Ocean, British Columbia was believed to be easily susceptible to enemy attacks from Japan. Even though both the RCMP and the Department of National Defence lacked proof of any sabotage or espionage, there were fears that Japanese Canadians supported Japan in the war. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King , for example, agreed with
10854-411: The Letters Patent for Pitt Meadows, and Grant of Arms, Supporters, Flag and Badge was made on March 12, 2005, in Volume 139, page 688 of the Canada Gazette. The Arms consist of the colours purple and gold, its heron emblem and a band running parallel to the edge of the shield which represents the dykes which protect the lands of the municipality. The crenellated outer edge represents gearwheels and refer to
11016-536: The Metro Vancouver region, which includes Pitt Meadows using specially equipped vehicles designed to carry passengers with physical or cognitive disabilities who are unable to use public transit without assistance. As a primarily residential area, approximately 85% of Pitt Meadows residents commute to work beyond its borders. Within the community, the largest employment sectors are, in order of importance: Primary (20%); Education and Health (19%); Accommodation, Food, and Beverage (16%); and Construction (9%). In addition to
11178-476: The Pacific Ocean, inscribing a stone marking his accomplishment on the shoreline of Dean Channel near Bella Coola . His expedition theoretically established British sovereignty inland, and a succession of other fur company explorers charted the maze of rivers and mountain ranges between the Canadian Prairies and the Pacific. Mackenzie and other explorers—notably John Finlay , Simon Fraser , Samuel Black , and David Thompson —were primarily concerned with extending
11340-486: The Pitt Meadows Cenotaph was constructed "in memory of all those who have served and died for us." The City of Pitt Meadows received funding for the restoration of the Pitt Meadows Cenotaph, in 2009. In 2012, British Columbia formally apologized to the Japanese-Canadian community for the internment of thousands of people during the Second World War. Tosh Suzuki's family spent nine years in Manitoba after being displaced from their Pitt Meadows berry farm. The announcement of
11502-455: The Pitt Meadows area approximately 1000 years ago. James McMillan explored the area during the 1824 Hudson's Bay Company expedition to the Lower Fraser. Europeans started a settlement known as Bonson's Landing in the area in the 1870s. Early settlers were mostly Anglo-Saxon until after 1910. The municipality takes its name from the Pitt River and Pitt Lake. The river, the lake and the settlement were named for British prime minister William Pitt
11664-460: The Pitt River to the Fraser River, which is the southern boundary of Pitt Meadows. The Pitt River flows backwards at high tide and has created a delta where it joins Pitt lake. The Thompson Mountain Range rises along the Pitt Meadows's northeast edge. Pitt Meadows is protected from flooding by 64 kilometres of dikes which provide a multi-use trail system alongside the farmland and marshes, and offer views of
11826-524: The Sawyer's Landing Waterfront Village. River access park areas provide active and passive use, parking, viewpoints and picnic use. There are public sports facilities, open spaces, trails and bike paths, protected natural areas and recreational programs. Indoor recreational facilities in Pitt Meadows include a recreation centre and ice skating rinks. Joint agreements with Maple Ridge and the School District allow
11988-579: The Site. The store, which contained the community's first Post Office and the first telephone, has been the home of the Pitt Meadows Museum and Archives since June 1998. In 1892, residents of the Pitt Meadows area petitioned for their removal from the District of Maple Ridge. In 1893, the first dyking district was organized. The Fraser River Flood of 1894 flooded many acres of land in the spring. Pitt Meadows reverted to unorganized territory from 1892 until it
12150-546: The UK and the United States. Prime Minister King wrote in his diary daily for most of his life. These diary entries have provided historians with a sense of the thoughts and feelings King held during the war. Historian N.F. Dreisziger has written that, "though he undoubtedly considered himself a man of humanitarian outlook, he was a product of his times and shared the values of his fellow Canadians. He was—beyond doubt—an anti-Semite , and shouldered, more than any of his Cabinet colleagues,
12312-781: The United States and subjects of Britain (which is to say, the fur companies). This co-occupancy was ended with the Oregon Treaty of 1846. The major supply route was the York Factory Express between Hudson Bay and Fort Vancouver . Some of the early outposts grew into settlements, communities, and cities. Among the places in British Columbia that began as fur trading posts are Fort St. John (established 1794); Hudson's Hope (1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. James (1806); Prince George (1807); Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); Fort Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo (1853). Fur company posts that became cities in what
12474-518: The Younger . The Municipality of Maple Ridge , which included the Pitt Meadows area, was incorporated in 1874. In 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway was constructed through Pitt Meadows to Port Moody , and Vancouver soon after. The Pitt Meadows General Store, which was constructed in 1886, was moved to its current location in 1908. A garden has existed since the early years of development on
12636-553: The actions taken against Japanese Americans in neighbouring United States, this forced relocation subjected many Japanese Canadians to government-enforced curfews and interrogations, job and property losses, and forced repatriation to Japan. From shortly after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor until 1949, Japanese Canadians were stripped of their homes and businesses, then sent to internment camps and farms in British Columbia as well as in some other parts of Canada, mostly towards
12798-753: The area east of the Rockies , where the Peace River Country contains BC's portion of the Canadian Prairies , centred at the city of Dawson Creek . British Columbia is considered part of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion , along with the American states of Alaska, Idaho, (western) Montana, Oregon , Washington, and (northern) California . Because of the many mountain ranges and rugged coastline, British Columbia's climate varies dramatically across
12960-496: The armed forces, and, when the forced removal and internment of Japanese Canadians was underway, the conditions Japanese Canadians faced in internment camps. William Lyon Mackenzie King served his final term as prime minister between 1935 and 1948, at which point he retired from Canadian politics. He had served two previous terms as prime minister, but this period was perhaps his most well-known. His policies during this period included unemployment insurance and tariff agreements with
13122-587: The blocking presence of successive mountain ranges, the climate of some of the interior valleys of the province (such as the Thompson, parts of the Fraser Canyon, the southern Cariboo and parts of the Okanagan) is semi-arid with certain locations receiving less than 250 millimetres (10 in) in annual precipitation. The annual mean temperature in the most populated areas of the province is up to 12 °C (54 °F),
13284-448: The camp. Japanese-Canadian women and children faced a specific set of challenges that greatly affected their way of life and broke down the social and cultural norms that had developed. Whole families were taken from their homes and separated from each other. Husbands and wives were almost always separated when sent to camps and, less commonly, some mothers were separated from their children as well. Japanese-Canadian families typically had
13446-408: The change. While these events did result in reduced competition from Japanese Canadians in the fishing industry, it created further tensions elsewhere. Japanese Canadians had already been able to establish a secure position in many businesses during World War I, but their numbers had remained relatively small as many had remained in the fishing industry. As Japanese Canadians began to be pushed out of
13608-514: The city. Major agricultural products include cranberry and blueberry farms, horticultural products, greenhouse crops (cut flowers and specialty peppers), grazing, dairy farming, and other farm activities. Agritourism is developed in conjunction with agricultural operations. The Meadows Maze, for example, one of the largest corn mazes in the Pacific Northwest is on the Hopcott Farm; which
13770-410: The coast after the January 14 order were sent to road camps around Jasper, Alberta .On February 19, 1942, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 , which called for the removal of 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the American coastline. Anne Sunahara , a historian of internment, argues that "the American action sealed the fate of Japanese Canadians." On February 24,
13932-584: The coast in 1775. In doing so, Pérez and Quadra reasserted the Spanish claim for the Pacific coast , first made by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513. The explorations of James Cook in 1778 and George Vancouver in 1792 and 1793 established British jurisdiction over the coastal area north and west of the Columbia River. In 1793, Sir Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to journey across North America overland to
14094-535: The coastal regions is somewhat moderated by the Pacific Ocean. Terrain ranges from dry inland forests and semi-arid valleys, to the range and canyon districts of the Central and Southern Interior , to boreal forest and subarctic prairie in the Northern Interior. High mountain regions both north and south have subalpine flora and subalpine climate . The Okanagan wine area , extending from Vernon to Osoyoos at
14256-430: The commercial activity that already exists in Pitt Meadows, a new retail shopping centre, Meadowtown Centre , has been built on the border with Maple Ridge. Despite recent additions to its non-agricultural economy, 86% of the Pitt Meadows landmass is located within the province's Agricultural Land Reserve . Pitt Meadows' agricultural lands includes extensive large parcels located in the southwest and northeast portions of
14418-531: The communities of Langley and Surrey south across the Fraser River. Construction of the new Pitt River Bridge, connecting Pitt Meadows with Port Coquitlam to the west, was completed in autumn 2009. TransLink operates the West Coast Express with a stations at Maple Meadows and Pitt Meadows stations . Buses are operated by the Coast Mountain Bus Company , a subsidiary of TransLink. Route 701
14580-505: The day." In 1919, 3,267 Japanese immigrants held fishing licences and 50% of the total licences issued that year were issued to Japanese fishermen. These numbers were alarming to European-descended Canadian fishermen who felt threatened by the growing number of Japanese competitors. While groups like the Asiatic Exclusion League and the White Canada Association viewed Japanese Canadians as cultural and economic threats, by
14742-514: The first time) their new husbands, became common after 1908. The influx of female immigrants—and soon after, Canadian-born children—shifted the population from a temporary workforce to a permanent presence, and Japanese-Canadian family groups settled throughout British Columbia and southern Alberta . Japan during World War I was an ally of the United Kingdom and opinions of Japanese Canadians improved slightly. Some Japanese Canadians enlisted in
14904-433: The fishing industry, they increasingly began to work on farms and in small businesses. This outward move into farming and business was viewed as more evidence of the economic threat Japanese Canadians posed towards white Canadians, leading to increased racial tension. In the years leading up to World War II , approximately 29,000 people of Japanese ancestry lived in British Columbia; 80% of these were Canadian nationals. At
15066-523: The fishing industry, which resulted in large–scale unemployment among these Issei . Second-generation Japanese Canadians, known as Nisei , and who were born in Canada, began entering the fishing industry at a younger age to compensate for this, but even they were hindered as the increased use of motorboats resulted in less need for pullers and only a small number of fishing licences were issued to Japanese Canadians. This situation escalated in May 1938, when
15228-516: The generations. Children had no one with whom to speak Japanese outside the home and as a result they rarely learned the language fluently. This fracturing of community also led to a lack of Japanese cultural foundation and many children lost a strong connection with their culture. Mothers had also learned to be bolder in their own way and were now taking on wage-earning jobs, which meant that they had less time to teach their children about Japanese culture and traditions. The internment camps forever changed
15390-574: The golf course scenes, was filmed in Pitt Meadows at the Swan-e-set Bay Resort & Country Club. In the pilot episode of Smallville , the scene where the Porsche drives off the bridge was filmed at Silverbridge on Harris Road. The movie Duets starring Gwyneth Paltrow & Paul Giamatti had a scene filmed at the Ramada Inn on Lougheed Highway. The movie 3000 Miles to Graceland was filmed at
15552-400: The groups were hindered in their attempt to assimilate due to the difficulty they had in finding steady work at equal wages. In reference to Japanese Canadians specifically, human geographer Audrey Kobayashi argues that prior to the war, racism "had defined their communities since the first immigrants arrived in the 1870s." Starting in 1877 with Manzo Nagano —a 19-year-old sailor who
15714-542: The historic Hoffman garage. The horizontal bands symbolize the CP railway line around which the District grew. The motto is Prosperity through endeavour. The crest coronet represents Golden Ears peaks to the north of the District. The white drops in the crest recall the early dairy industry. The Katzie eagle symbol in the crest recalls the original Aboriginal inhabitants and recreational aviation. In 2014, in recognition of Pitt Meadows' centennial, anniversary special festivities and
15876-487: The hopes of gaining previously denied citizenship rights. In the early years of the war, however, the supply of enlisting men surpassed demand, so recruiting officers could be selective in who they accepted. Still, large numbers of Japanese Canadians volunteered, as did members of other visible minorities like Black Canadians and First Nations , so the Canadian government proposed a compromise that, if enlisted, minorities could fight separately. The Japanese Canadian community
16038-523: The influence of stable anti-cyclonic high pressure. Southern Interior valleys are hot in summer; for example, in Osoyoos , the July maximum temperature averages 31.7 °C (89.1 °F), making it the hottest month of any location in Canada; this hot weather sometimes spreads towards the coast or to the far north of the province. Temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in the lower elevations of valleys in
16200-540: The interned Japanese Canadians were combat veterans of the Canadian Expeditionary Force , including several men who had been decorated for bravery on the Western Front . Despite the first iterations of veterans affairs associations established during World War II, fear and racism drove policy and trumped veterans' rights, meaning that virtually no Japanese-Canadian veterans were exempt from being removed from
16362-403: The internees – green wood to build accommodation and a stove was all that most received. Men could make some money in construction work to support their families, but women had very few opportunities. Yet, finding work was almost essential since interned Japanese Canadians had to support themselves and buy food using the small salaries they had collected or through allowances from the government for
16524-621: The islands of southern Alaska and northern British Columbia. The Na-Dene language group is believed to be linked to the Yeniseian languages of Siberia: the Dene of the western Arctic may represent a distinct wave of migration from Asia to North America. The Interior of British Columbia is home to the Salishan language groups such as the Shuswap (Secwepemc) , Okanagan and Athabaskan language groups, primarily
16686-449: The labour camps themselves, the federal government made a policy to keep families together in their removal to internment camps in the BC interior or sugar beet farms across the prairies. Many Canadians were unaware of the living conditions in the internment camps. The Japanese Canadians who resided within the camp at Hastings Park were placed in stables and barnyards, where they lived without privacy in an unsanitary environment. Kimiko,
16848-479: The land should be owned by the colonists. To ensure colonists would be able to settle properly and make use of the land, First Nations were forcibly relocated onto reserves , which were often too small to support their way of life. By the 1930s, British Columbia had over 1500 reserves. Lands now known as British Columbia were added to the British Empire during the 19th century. Colonies originally begun with
17010-464: The loss of life that it [the bomb] will occasion among innocent people as well as those that are guilty." On August 6, 1945, the day of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, King wrote in his diary: "It is fortunate that the use of the bomb should have been upon the Japanese rather than upon the white races of Europe. For many Japanese Canadians, World War I provided an opportunity to prove their loyalty to Canada and their allies through military service in
17172-484: The low-lying land in Pitt Meadows after World War II. Pitt Meadows joined the Greater Vancouver Water District in 1948. In 1948, a major flood occurred after cool weather through mid-May allowed an unusually large snowpack to accumulate, and a sudden shift to warm temperatures caused a fast melt. In 1957, the second Pitt River Bridge , opened. Replacing the first bridge built in 1915. A twin bridge
17334-559: The main social structure from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago. The nomadic population lived in non-permanent structures foraging for nuts, berries and edible roots while hunting and trapping larger and small game for food and furs. Around 5,000 years ago individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally. Coast Salish peoples had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience. Forest gardens on Canada's northwest coast included crabapple, hazelnut, cranberry, wild plum, and wild cherry species. Thus with
17496-465: The men and their families were processed through Hastings Park in Vancouver; others were sent immediately for various destinations eastward. Many of the men at the park were separated from their families and sent into the British Columbia Interior or elsewhere in Canada, but most women and children stayed in the park until they were sent to Internment Camps in the interior or decided as a family to join
17658-517: The men were eventually informed that they would be sent to the Immigration Building jail in Vancouver for their refusal to work. Their mistreatment caused several of the men to begin hoping that Japan would win the war and force Canada to compensate them. Tashme , a camp on Highway 3 just east of Hope, was notorious for the camp's harsh conditions and existed just outside the protected area. Other internment camps, including Slocan , were in
17820-647: The mildest anywhere in Canada. The valleys of the Southern Interior have short winters with only brief bouts of cold or infrequent heavy snow, while those in the Cariboo , in the Central Interior , are colder because of increased altitude and latitude, but without the intensity or duration experienced at similar latitudes elsewhere in Canada. Outside of the driest valleys, the Southern and Central Interior generally have
17982-466: The mob without any serious injury or loss of life. After the riot, the League and other nativist groups used their influence to push the government into an arrangement similar to the United States' Gentlemen's Agreement , limiting the number of passports given to male Japanese immigrants to 400 per year. Women were not counted toward the quota, so " picture brides ", women who married by proxy and immigrated to Canada to join (and in many cases, meet for
18144-399: The mountains to the north. The northern sector of the flood plain, closest to Pitt Lake, presents several challenges to development; it is largely a peat bog containing a large wildlife refuge. The deep peat and bog soil conditions sometimes require considerable fill and/or pre-loading prior to development. On the west side of the Pitt River is Port Coquitlam . Pitt Meadows is located between
18306-741: The name of " national security ". The majority were Canadian citizens by birth and were targeted based on their ancestry. This decision followed the events of the Japanese Empire 's war in the Pacific against the Western Allies , such as the invasion of Hong Kong , the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , and the Fall of Singapore which led to the Canadian declaration of war on Japan during World War II . Similar to
18468-470: The native population of what became British Columbia. The arrival of Europeans began around the mid-18th century, as fur traders entered the area to harvest sea otters . While it is thought Sir Francis Drake may have explored the British Columbian coast in 1579, it was Juan Pérez who completed the first documented voyage, which took place in 1774. Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra explored
18630-414: The other side of the Pitt River from Pitt Meadows. The Fraser, Pitt and Alouette Rivers played a pivotal role in the development of Pitt Meadows by providing transportation routes, fishing areas and nourishing flood water to the farm areas. Today, the Fraser River is an extensively used navigation channel for both industrial traffic and recreational use. Although the Pitt River sees less traffic, its foreshore
18792-565: The passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization with a more sedentary lifestyle . These indigenous populations evolved over the next 5,000 years across a large area into many groups with shared traditions and customs. To the northwest of the province are the peoples of the Na-Dene languages , which include the Athapaskan-speaking peoples and the Tlingit , who live on
18954-612: The populace in British Columbia (BC). Canadian sociologist Forrest La Violette reported in the 1940s that these early sentiments had often been "organized around the fear of an assumed low standard of living [and] out of fear of Oriental cultural and racial differences." It was a common prejudiced belief within British Columbia that both Japanese and Chinese immigrants were stealing jobs away from white Canadians . Canadian academic Charles H. Young concluded that many Canadians argued based on this fear that "Oriental labour lowers
19116-510: The power to intern all "persons of Japanese racial origin". A 100-mile (160 km) wide strip along the Pacific coast was deemed "protected", and men of Japanese origin between the ages of 18 and 45 were removed. Thereafter, the entire Japanese Canadian population was uprooted from this designated zone. By November 1942, 22,000 people were displaced. Japanese Canadians on the west coast were forcibly moved to road camps, sugar beet farms, or prisoner-of-war camps . Before being sent off, many of
19278-643: The protected area, and a daytime-only curfew was imposed on them. Various camps in the Lillooet area and in Christina Lake were formally "self-supporting projects" (also called "relocation centres") which housed selected middle- and upper-class families and others not deemed as much of a threat to public safety. The forced removal of many Japanese-Canadian men to become labourers elsewhere in Canada created confusion and panic among families, causing some men to refuse orders to ship out to labour camps. On March 23, 1942,
19440-405: The province of Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories to the north; the U.S. states of Washington , Idaho and Montana to the south, and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of over 5.6 million as of 2024, it is Canada's third-most populous province . The capital of British Columbia is Victoria , while the province's largest city
19602-401: The province that reflect the different administration and creation of these areas in a modern context. There are 141 ecological reserves, 35 provincial marine parks, 7 provincial heritage sites, 6 National Historic Sites of Canada , 4 national parks and 3 national park reserves. 12.5 percent of the province's area (114,000 km or 44,000 sq mi) is considered protected under one of
19764-525: The province's regional districts . The Ministry of Forests operates forest recreation sites. In addition to these areas, over 47,000 square kilometres (18,000 sq mi) of arable land are protected by the Agricultural Land Reserve . Much of the province is undeveloped, so populations of many mammalian species that have become rare in much of the United States still flourish in British Columbia. Watching animals of various sorts, including
19926-543: The province's total population. Christianity is the largest religion in the region, though the majority of the population is non-religious. English is the common language of the province, although Punjabi , Mandarin Chinese , and Cantonese also have a large presence in the Metro Vancouver region. The Franco-Columbian community is an officially recognized linguistic minority, and around one percent of British Columbians claim French as their mother tongue . British Columbia
20088-552: The province. Coastal southern British Columbia has a mild and rainy climate influenced by the North Pacific Current . Most of the region is classified as oceanic , though pockets of warm-summer Mediterranean climate also exist in the far-southern parts of the coast. Precipitation averages above 1,000 mm (39 in) in almost all of the coastal region, and Hucuktlis Lake on Vancouver Island receives an average of 6,903 mm (271.8 in) of rain annually. Due to
20250-464: The provision of community recreation facilities and programs to Pitt Meadows residents. Outdoor recreational opportunities include a system of dikes top trails along the river systems of Pitt Meadows for walking, cycling and equestrian use as well as boating opportunities on the Alouette, Fraser and Pitt Rivers. The Widgeon Valley National Wildlife Area (NWA), which is 125 ha in size located near Pitt Lake,
20412-451: The rapidly developing communities of Coquitlam , Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge , Surrey and Langley . Like most of the lower mainland, Pitt Meadows features an oceanic climate , with warm summers and cool, rainy winters. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Pitt Meadows had a population of 19,146 living in 7,404 of its 7,628 total private dwellings, a change of 3.1% from its 2016 population of 18,573. With
20574-433: The responsibility of keeping Jewish refugees out of the country on the eve of and during the war." Prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan , Prime Minister King was not considered a racist. He seemed concerned for humanity and was against the use of the atomic bomb and even its creation. When King learned of the estimated date of the bomb dropping, he wrote in his diary: "It makes one very sad at heart to think of
20736-461: The river side of the dikes, municipal parks and greenways. Pitt Meadows is sandwiched on the north side of the Fraser River at its junction with the Pitt River on the west and Maple Ridge on the east. Two arms of the Alouette River run through Pitt Meadows, along with a number of other sloughs and waterways. To the north, Pitt Lake is the largest freshwater tidal lake in the world, connected by
20898-526: The southern Columbia Basin (within present day Washington and Oregon ). In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia , with the area south of this boundary (excluding Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands ) transferred to sole American sovereignty. The Colony of Vancouver Island was created in 1849, with Victoria designated as the capital. New Caledonia, as
21060-404: The southern interior rivals some of the snowiest cities in Canada, and freezing rain and fog are sometimes present on such roads as well. This can result in hazardous driving conditions, as people are usually travelling between warmer areas such as Vancouver or Kamloops , and may be unaware that the conditions may be slippery and cold. Winters are generally severe in the Northern Interior which
21222-491: The standard of living of White groups." It was also argued that Asian immigrants were content with a lower standard of living. The argument was that many Chinese and Japanese immigrants in BC lived in unsanitary conditions and were not inclined to improve their living space, thereby proving their inferiority and their unwillingness to become truly Canadian. Violette refuted this claim by stating that, while Japanese and Chinese immigrants did often have poor living conditions, both of
21384-607: The sugar beet farms in the Prairies . Many of the Japanese nationals removed from the coast after January 14, 1942, were sent to road camps in the BC interior or sugar beet projects on the Prairies, such as in Taber, Alberta . Despite the 100-mile quarantine, a few Japanese-Canadian men remained in McGillivray Falls , which was just outside the protected zone. However, they were employed at
21546-402: The summer and fall of 1942, any accommodations given were shared between multiple families and many had to live in tents while shacks were constructed in the summer of 1942. The shacks were small and built with damp, green wood. When winter came, the wood made everything damp and the lack of insulation meant that the inside of the shacks often froze during the night. Very little was provided for
21708-591: The support of the Hudson's Bay Company (Vancouver Island, the mainland) were amalgamated, then entered Confederation as British Columbia in 1871 as part of the Dominion of Canada. During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30 percent of the Pacific Northwest First Nations . This devastating epidemic was the first in a series; the 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic killed about half to two-thirds of
21870-493: The time, they were denied the right to vote and barred by law from various professions. Racial tensions often stemmed from the belief of many Canadians that all Japanese immigrants, both first-generation Issei and second-generation Nisei , remained loyal to Japan alone. In Maclean's Magazine , a professor at the University of British Columbia stated that the "Japanese in B.C. are as loyal to [Japan] as Japanese anywhere in
22032-490: The unemployed. The relief rates were so low that many families had to use their personal savings to live in the camps. By the spring of 1943, however, some conditions began to change as Japanese Canadians in the camp organized themselves. Removal from the coast to ghost towns had been done based on location, so many communities moved together and were placed in same camp together. This preserved local communal ties and facilitated organizing and negotiating for better conditions in
22194-516: The uprooting and internment of Japanese Canadians under the Defence of Canada Regulations . Since the arrival of Japanese, Chinese, and South Asian immigrants to British Columbia in the late 1800s, there had been calls for their exclusion. Vancouver Member of Parliament Ian Mackenzie saw the war as an opportunity to expel Japanese Canadians from British Columbia. He wrote to a constituent that "their country should never have been Canada ... I do not believe
22356-558: The view that all Japanese Canadians "would be saboteurs and would help Japan when the moment came." In total, 22,000 Japanese Canadians (14,000 of whom were born in Canada) were interned starting in 1942. Widespread internment was authorized on March 4, 1942, with order-in-council 1665 passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act , which gave the federal government
22518-431: The war, Canadians of "Oriental racial origin" were not called upon to perform compulsory military service. Japanese Canadian men who had chosen to serve in the Canadian army during the war to prove their allegiance to Canada were discharged only to discover they were unable to return to the BC coast, or unable to have their rights reinstated. After Canada's declaration of war on Japan on December 8, 1941, many called for
22680-452: The way of Japanese-Canadian life. The dispossession began in December 1941 with the seizure of fishing vessels owned by Japanese Canadians, and eventually led to the loss of homes, farms, businesses and smaller belongings such as family heirlooms. Ian MacKenzie , the federal Minister of Pensions and National Health and British Columbia representative in Cabinet, was a political advocate for
22842-492: The western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by temperate rainforest . The province's most populous city is Vancouver, which is at the confluence of the Fraser River and Georgia Strait , in the mainland's southwest corner (an area often called the Lower Mainland ). By land area, Abbotsford is the largest city. Vanderhoof is near the geographic centre of the province. The Coast Mountains and
23004-443: The whole of the mainland rather than just its north-central Interior came to be called, continued to be an unorganized territory of British North America, "administered" by individual HBC trading post managers. Internment of Japanese Canadians From 1942 to 1949, Canada forcibly relocated and incarcerated over 22,000 Japanese Canadians —comprising over 90% of the total Japanese Canadian population—from British Columbia in
23166-427: The world." Other Canadians felt that tensions, in British Columbia specifically, originated from the fact that the Japanese were clustered together almost entirely in and around Vancouver . As a result, as early as 1938, there was talk of encouraging Japanese Canadians to begin moving east of the Rocky Mountains . The actions of Japan leading up to World War II were also seen as cause for concern. Japan withdrew from
23328-456: Was "more than enough work for all". However, by the end of the war, soldiers returning home to find their jobs filled by others, including Japanese immigrants, were outraged. While they had been fighting in Europe, the Japanese had established themselves securely in many business and were now, more than ever, perceived as a threat to white workers. "'Patriotism' and 'Exclusion' became the watchwords of
23490-440: Was a sympathetic administrator who advocated strongly against the removal of Japanese Canadians from the BC coast. He unsuccessfully tried to remind other government officials of the distinction between Japanese foreign nationals and Canadian citizens in regards to personal and civil rights. Frederick J. Mead, RCMP Assistant Commissioner, also used his position to advocate for Japanese Canadians and mitigate government actions. Mead
23652-558: Was built to complement the 1957 bridge in 1978. The Pitt Meadows Regional Airport opened in 1963. A Heritage Preservation Area contains several buildings of significant heritage value, including the old General Store (now the Pitt Meadows Museum) and Hoffman and Sons Garage. Hans Hoffmann, a mechanic, worked in and then ran the family business of Hoffmann and Son Ltd. for almost 45 years. In 1974, Hans began his hobby of collecting and restoring stationary gasoline engines. In 1990,
23814-657: Was chosen by Queen Victoria , when the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) , i.e., "the Mainland", became a British colony in 1858. It refers to the Columbia District , the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River , in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre- Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company . Queen Victoria chose British Columbia to distinguish what
23976-463: Was convicted for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1992 while in his 30s. After conviction he resigned his position as councillor. He served 9 months in prison. Pitt Meadows has one secondary school, and four elementary schools, all of which are part of School District 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows . Pitt Meadows Secondary School (PMSS) in particular is well known around the Fraser Valley and
24138-538: Was established in 1988, along with the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation (JCRF; 1988–2002), to issue redress payments for internment victims, with the intent of funding education. The tension between Canadians and Japanese immigrants to Canada existed long before the outbreak of World War II. Starting as early as 1858 with the influx of Asian immigrants during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush , beliefs and fears about Asian immigrants began to affect
24300-533: Was estimated that at least 25,000 people had arrived at the City Hall and, following the speakers, the crowd broke out in rioting, marching into Chinatown and Japantown . The rioters stormed through Chinatown first, breaking windows and smashing store fronts. Afterwards, the rioters turned to the Japanese-Canadian neighbourhood. Alerted by the previous rioting, Japanese Canadians in Little Tokyo were able to repel
24462-441: Was given the task of implementing several federal policies, including the removal of Japanese Canadians from the "protected zone" along the coast in 1942. Mead attempted to slow down the process, allowing individuals and families more time to prepare by following the exact letter of the law, which required a complicated set of permissions from busy government ministers, rather than the spirit of quick removal it intended. However, it
24624-441: Was not just government officials, but also private citizens, who were sympathetic to the Japanese-Canadian cause. Writing his first letter in January 1941, Captain V.C. Best, a resident of Salt Spring Island , advocated against mistreatment of Japanese Canadians for over two years. Best wrote to Keenleyside directly for much of that period, protesting anti-Japanese sentiment in the press, advocating for Japanese-Canadian enlistment in
24786-833: Was organized into the New Caledonia district, administered from Fort St. James. The interior south of the Thompson River watershed and north of the Columbia was organized into the Columbia District, administered from Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River. The northeast corner of the province east of the Rockies, known as the Peace River Block, was attached to the much larger Athabasca District , headquartered in Fort Chipewyan , in present-day Alberta. Until 1849, these districts were
24948-500: Was organized; however, the Fraser River Flood of 1894 flooded many acres of land in Pitt Meadows. In 1914, Pitt Meadows was a small, agricultural community of less than 250 individuals which supplied Vancouver and New Westminster with produce and dairy products. In 1995, Pitt Meadows became a member municipality of Metro Vancouver. In 2007, the District of Pitt Meadows was incorporated as the City of Pitt Meadows. In 2014, Pitt Meadows' centennial occurred. Indigenous Peoples resided in
25110-440: Was purchased by the Nature Trust of British Columbia in 1973 and declared a NWA in October 1973. Nearby areas of high wetland value include Widgeon Slough and Addington Point along the Pitt River, the shallow southern end of Pitt Lake, and the extensive dyked wet areas of the Pitt Meadows. As a result, the valley is very attractive to wildlife and for human recreational pursuits. Much of the movie Happy Gilmore , including most of
25272-434: Was purchased in 1932. A growing trend, particularly in areas close to urban centres, is the use of agricultural lands for rural estate use with little or no agricultural use of land. Pitt Meadows is represented by a mayor and six councillors. The mayor is Nicole MacDonald and the councillors are Tracy Elke, Alison Evans, Mike Hayes, Mike Manion, Bob Meachen and Gwen O'Connell. In 2017 former Pitt Meadows councillor David Murray
25434-529: Was separately incorporated as a municipality in 1914. In 1914, Pitt Meadows was a small, agricultural community of less than 250 individuals which supplied Vancouver and New Westminster with produce and dairy products. After 1910, many French Canadians and Japanese arrived as settlers. During World War II , Pitt Meadows lost servicemen including: Aircraftman 2nd Class William George Bend; Ordinary Seaman John Pastorek and Flight Lieutenant Robert Arnold Samuel Lasser. A large group of Dutch farmers reclaimed much of
25596-404: Was the British sector of the Columbia District from the United States' ("American Columbia" or "Southern Columbia"), which became the Oregon Territory on August 8, 1848, as a result of the treaty. Ultimately, the Columbia in the name British Columbia is derived from the name of the Columbia Rediviva , an American ship which lent its name to the Columbia River and later the wider region;
25758-434: Was the first Japanese person to officially immigrate to Canada, and entering the salmon-exporting business—the Japanese were quick to integrate themselves into Canadian industries . Some European-descended Canadians felt that, while the Chinese were content with being "confined to a few industries", the Japanese were infiltrating all areas of industry and competing with white workers. This sense of unease among white Canadians
25920-449: Was undergoing expansion to support scheduled passenger service for short-haul prop-driven planes. The airport is also home to a skydiving school, as well as a number of other businesses. On August 3, 2008, a Beech 65-A90 King Air took off from Pitt Meadows Airport, with the pilot and seven parachutists for a local sky diving flight. The pilot reported an engine failure and turned back towards Pitt Meadows Airport, which could not be reached and
26082-422: Was very energetic on this front. The Canadian Japanese Association of Vancouver offered to raise a battalion in 1915 and, upon receiving a polite reply, proceeded to enlist and train 277 volunteers at the expense of the Japanese Canadian community. This offer, however, was rejected by Prime Minister Robert Borden and his federal cabinet. Yet, by the summer of 1916, the death toll in the trenches had risen, creating
26244-467: Was worsened by the growing rate of Japanese fishermen in the early 1900s. Japanese immigrants were also accused of being resistant to assimilation into British Canadian society, because of Japanese-language schools, Buddhist temples, and low intermarriage rates, among other examples. It was asserted that the Japanese had their own manner of living, and that many who had become naturalized in Canada did so to obtain fishing licences rather than out of
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