Early life in Prince Rupert  

Margaret Lee was born in Vancouver and grew up in Prince Rupert during the 1930s. From an early age, she busied herself with school while helping out in her family’s confectionary store.

Outside of school and the family business, Margaret went to church and during her teenage years, was part of the Canadian Girls In Training (CGIT) similar to the Girl Guides of today. In the pre-WWII era, she was involved in the Chinese Youth group that petitioned the Canadian government to stop sending scrap metals to Japan during the Japanese invasion of China. Her diverse group of friends that included a Scottish, English, Japanese, and Yugoslavian girl was dubbed the “United Nations.”

Margaret grew up during the Great Depression and remembers how much hardship the family store faced. “If we made $5 a day, it was considered a good day,” reminisces Margaret, as she　recalls the period when there was very little food, no social security, nor jobs.

WWII and the boom after

In her late teens, Margaret felt the effects of WWII. In Prince Rupert resources were very limited and food was rationed. Margaret remembers there being “black outs” during the night when the entire neighbourhood lined their windows with dark curtains to minimize outdoor light to prevent enemy aircrafts from targeting the town.

After the war, Prince Rupert boomed. Margaret landed her first job working in payroll at a plant building project in Port Edward. The Chinese Canadian men who had volunteered to go overseas to fight in the war started coming back, and amongst them, Margaret met her future husband.

A “life-changing” marriage and military life

In 1950, 25 year old Margaret married an army man, Dan Shiu in Vancouver. From then on, her life took a drastic turn as she went to live in an army camp. Margaret and her family lived in the Vancouver Wireless Station army camp in Ladner (currently Boundary Bay Airport) from 1950-1968. They would later be sent across Canada to Ottawa, Inuvik (NWT) and Masset (Queen Charlotte Islands, now Haida Gwaii).

Margaret’s daughter Martha remembers life being very structured and the community being very close-knit. Vancouver Wireless was a 24-hour station which meant someone was always on duty. The children had to play quietly in the daytime since they never knew which of their neighbours were sleeping in preparation for their graveyard shift.

Aside from having to move wherever her husband was stationed, Margaret also had to spend time on her own with her 3 children when her husband was sent away on courses. When he was gone for 6 month assignments to Alert, the most northern station on Ellesmere Island, vocal communication with her husband was extremely limited and could only be done through a HAM radio. She vividly remembers one particular year, as a young mother, when all 3 of her children became ill with chicken pox at the same time and she miraculously survived through it alone and nursed them back to health.

The military base in Ladner was quite self-sustainable, with its own school, church, fire-hall and a store with basic necessities. The people formed a close community. The camp was surrounded with barbed wire fencing and had a guardhouse where visitors had to sign in before entering. “It’s not like we were in a prison,” says Margaret, and Martha adds, “It’s not like we couldn’t get out. It’s just that not everyone could get in.”

Once a month, an army bus took the women from VWS to New Westminster to shop at the “Golden Mile” (Columbia Street) and the Woodwards department store. There were also bus runs in the morning and afternoon for people to go grocery shopping in Ladner.

At home, the Shiu family ate Chinese food and bought fresh fish from Mr. Ho, whose truck was allowed into the military station once a week. Despite their racial and cultural difference, the family was well-integrated within the community. “We were very lucky to have met such good people and friends in that camp,” recalls Margaret. “I only realized I was Chinese in university,” laughs Martha.  Whenever they moved to a different posting, the Shiu family always met another family they knew from another camp, which made it easier for them to adapt to their new homes – even as far north as Inuvik.

Life in Inuvik in the late 60s

When Margaret’s husband was transferred to Canadian Forces Station Inuvik in the late 60s, there were many newcomers arriving in the native town. They were the only Chinese there amongst a mix of Indians, Eskimos, government, armed forces and oil and gas exploration people. However, within such a small community, any initial tension was eliminated as people got to know them on a personal level. Margaret interacted with the natives working as a substitute teacher and later, as a receptionist at the town’s hospital. Dan and the children took part in many community activities and joined badminton, curling, table tennis, darts, baseball and hockey teams.

According to Margaret, her children “hated” living in Inuvik during the first weeks of arrival in the summer. Martha describes the town as an isolated, dusty place with swarms of black flies and nothing pretty in the summer time, but beautiful during the winter. She recalls how the -30 degree average weather brought activities like skidoo-riding and skiing, as well as magnificent ice sculptures outside Inuvik’s Our Lady of Victory Church (also known as the Igloo Church). The most difficult adjustment to living in the North was the isolation and the 6 months of daylight and 6 months of darkness.

A disappearing history – The Ladner military station and Chinese heritage in New Westminster

Margaret has gone back to visit the military station, which is now the Boundary Bay Airport. In place of all the houses, school, church, and community space that previously filled the site, there are, at least, plaques to mark the history. However, Margaret laments the fact that fewer and fewer people know that there ever was a military station there. The history of Ladner military station may soon be eradicated by modern land developments and infrastructures. The same can be said about the Chinese-Canadian history in New Westminster.

Margaret and her family moved to New Westminster in the 70s and since then, notes the significant increase of high-rise buildings and demolition of older heritage sites being replaced by new malls, parks, and structures that appear out of place in the city.

In spite of their lifestyle, moving from one military station to another, Margaret and Martha always maintained a sense of their Chinese-Canadian identity. Naturally, they still feel strongly about the Chinese-Canadian community in New Westminster and the heritage buildings, all of which have been destroyed by consecutive fires or replaced by new developments. Both of them are actively working to preserve the Chinese-Canadian history by participating in activities like this documenting project, and calling attention to the importance of heritage sites and the prevention of their continuous demolition.

When asked what she would tell her 20-year old self, Margaret immediately says, “learn how to drive.”

A “dream childhood” and Typhoon Freda

Karl was born in 1952 and grew up in New Westminster, two houses away from Queen’s Park. His parents were refugees from Latvia in Eastern Europe having escaped from the war front to Sweden and then six years later moving to Canada. His father was a fisherman in his home country and after his arrival in New Westminster, started working at Pacific Veneer (now the Canadian Forest product) near Braid and Burnette Ave.

Karl had what he describes as a “dream childhood” in which his daily life was spent close to nature. In the 1950s to early 60s, a large part of Queen’s Park was still an undeveloped natural forest – nothing like the recreational destination it is today, with its playground, picnic benches, and petting zoo.

Karl vividly recalls Typhoon Freda to be one of the most significant events of his earlier life. The wind storm toppled about one-third of the trees in Queen’s Park in 1962. His house was nearly crushed when a twin trunk tree fell down parallel to his home. He describes what was left of the park, with uprooted trees and craters, as a “war zone.” This was the most destructive natural disaster Karl ever witnessed first-hand as a child.

Transformation of New Westminster

Growing up in New Westminster, Karl has witnessed the geographic and cultural transformation of the city. He remembers landmarks like the Centennial Lodge, the penitentiary ground, and Glen Creek in their natural state of swamps, streams, and untouched wilderness that was a haven for adventurous young boys like him.

During the 60s, New Westminster and other suburbs like Coquitlam, previously a “forest with few scattered houses” went through incredible growth. According to Karl, the waterfront was a significant shipping port during the 1950s and 60s and Vancouver was seen as a big mill town. In the 1950s and even early 60s New Westminster was the commercial centre and heart of the Fraser Valley community, with a bustling farmers market, retail stores, many sawmills, commercial fishing dock, and the Woodward Department store in the uptown part of town. It was at Woodward’s that Karl landed his first job at the gas station and the automotive parts department.

The Woodstock era and social movements

As a youth growing up in the 60s, Karl fondly recalls the Woodstock era and his first outdoor rock n’ roll concert at Strawberry Mountain Festival in May, 1970. He ended up at the concert in Mission for only an hour since he promised his mom to go to church afterwards, but still remembers how he hoped to see big names like Rod Stewart or Big Brother and the Holding Company.

The 70s was also an era of social movements such as civil rights, women’s liberation, anti-Vietnam war, gay rights, native right’s, and environmental causes. Having spent his childhood living with nature and growing up in a time of mass social change led Karl to pursue environmental and biology studies at UBC. He also became an active member of Greenpeace Canada around the same time.

From “dream job” to connecting with the First Nations

During his time at UBC, Karl landed his “dream job” with the Fish and Wildlife Branch when in 1974 he was helicoptered into unlogged watersheds on Vancouver Island. His task was to observe and record any signs of wildlife there along with 11 other students. Since then, he has moved onto a career in environmental assessment, travelling throughout BC and the Northwest Territories to work with the First Nations.

Karl’s encounter with the native community began from his childhood. He remembers his neighbour, Beth Wood who was the city Mayor at the time, had a small totem in her backyard. In elementary and high school, Karl learned very little about the local First Nations. According to him, the natives were for the most part ignored and forced to live in small reserves. Karl views their isolation from the rest of the community as a “cultural genocide.” Being a child of East European refugees who escaped from Soviet Russia’s crackdown on non-Russian ethnic minorities, Karl shared a personal connection with the natives whose language, culture, and way of living were also being suppressed.

For 25 years, Karl has been working with the First Nations people in developing land use plans and negotiating resource development agreements with companies and government. He has been involved in projects in Port Hardy, Prince George, and other regions of Northern BC to protect wildlife and their natural habitat. It was also during his time in Port Hardy working with the Kwakiutl District Council that he met his wife-to-be, Holly Nathan, a newspaper reporter who shared an interest and passion for issues surrounding First Nations rights.

While living and working closely with the Sekanni of Tsay Keh Dene, Karl was struck by how their culture that aspired to a balanced life to coexist with their natural environment. He witnessed native groups working to prevent projects like mining that threatened to fill up an important lake that would destroy their connection with the land.

A balanced life between the community and nature

This idea of leading a balanced life with nature and our increasingly urbanized community has stayed with Karl throughout his life, and underlines much of what he does today, including his interest in the ongoing project to bring back salmon to Brunette River.

“Why can’t we have more of a balance in the city? If we have it in our mind and heart to do it, we can bring things back,” he claims, referring to the Brunette project. He emphasizes that protecting and caring for the environment is an important thing to consider but should also reflect a positive feeling and spirit of fun. Karl says it is something that can be integrated into daily life, like walking or biking to work. Karl has always lived relatively close to his work place so that he could walk to work. When he lived in Prince George, he took 45 minutes to walk to work. It was viewed by some of his work colleagues as strange or unusual given the winter weather and some people even thought his license had been taken away.

Karl has just returned to New Westminster to live and in the future he hopes to write a book about the pioneer settlers and their first interaction with First Nations. He also hopes to continue with his environmental interests, which his daughter who currently studies at UVic, has also shown an interest in. Karl acknowledges that while BC is still rich in natural resources, they are quickly disappearing and we have a responsibility to protect and sustain them for our continued well-being.

Marcus Antonius and the Ocean in Venezuela

When Marco’s father went to Rome to study international law, he was captivated by Roman law and named his son after Marcus Antonius, one of the integral players who founded the Roman Empire in support of Julius Caesar. As the son of a father who worked in the Mexican Foreign Services, Marco was destined for travelling and growing up in multiple countries.

From age 8-18, Marco lived in Caracas, Venezuela where he encountered his first life changing moment. Young Marco struggled from asthma, but a Jewish doctor recommended him to swim in the ocean. Soon after Marco began swimming and surfing, his asthma outbreaks drastically decreased. Gradually, his body became immune to certain asthmatic triggers and his asthma disappeared. Marco was captivated by the power of the ocean and the words of his wise doctor who told him how the sea water contained elements that would help his body fight asthma. It was only natural for him to pursue his studies in oceanography when he entered university.

Life in Baja California

Marco spent 8 years in Baja California, home to the lagoons where whales give birth to and nurse their babies. He studied and researched in Ensenada about the ecology of the water, land, and animals. There, he fondly recalls meeting many bright researchers, including female scientists, who worked to uncover aspects of science that would be useful for improving civil engineering, raw construction, agriculture, and the ecosystem.

A difficult decision

Marco’s second life changing moment came when he was 24 in Mexico, involving a relationship and a job offer. Marco had fallen in love with a colleague in his university but was invited to join a research project involving seaweed in another city. Not knowing how to manage a distant relationship, Marco took the job and relocated to join the research team with his two university friends.

His research began in a marine lagoon where he spent a year and 3 months harvesting and cultivating seaweed and researching on their quality level. In the end, Marco and his other friend dropped the project due to their disappointment in the low quality of seaweed. Looking back now, Marco realizes that he jumped to conclusions too quickly. He thinks that if he had stayed onwards, there may have been ways to find success. The first propagator of the project did persist, and founded a company that processes and sells seaweed as pet food.

Europe – A whole new world of languages, cultures, and encounters

From late 1980s to early 1990s, Marco moved to Europe. To Marco, whose previous world mostly evolved around his studies in science, Europe was a foreign destination rich in cultures, languages, and encounters. Marco completed a masters in chemical and environmental engineering in Spain and then moved to Germany after meeting a German woman studying translations. The couple got married, and Marco lived in Germany for 3 years while studying geology. However, because of his “lack of experience in relationships,” they parted ways and Marco went back to Mexico.

Marco admits that growing up in an all-boys school during his childhood and youth affected his relationships. If he were to advice his 20 year old self, he wishes he grew up in a co-educational environment that would have better prepared him for the real world. But Marco cheerfully recognizes that we all learn the best from our mistakes. His worldly experience in Europe improved his relationships not only with women, but with people of diverse backgrounds.

Back to Mexico and then Canada

When talking about Earth and Ocean sciences, Marco describes how it is the only way to learn about where we live and the way we use our supplies, and decide how we want to continue doing so. His studies and career in the discipline has taken him all over the world from Mexico, Europe, the United States, and Canada.

After coming back from Europe, Marco worked with the Mexican government on projects to reduce carbon emission alongside a brilliant English researcher who implemented the air care program in Mexico and India.

Marco’s move all the way from Mexico to Canada began with his grandfather who was a railroad engineer in Colombia, and a long way radio. Marco’s grandfather used the radio to communicate with his wife when working on the mountain. One day, one of his family members using the radio connected with someone in Canada. Amazingly, a single connection from two radios in two separate countries eventually led to marriage. This led Marco’s 3 aunts to go to Toronto, prompting Marco and his family to visit them.

One thing led to another and soon after, Marco became a landed immigrant, and in 2003, he started working in construction in BC. He eventually moved on to work in a lab studying soil analysis, then came to New Westminster to work in exploration and mining. Currently, Marco focuses on land development in hopes of improving BC’s rocky terrain and difficult transportation system.

The convenience of New Westminster is what attracts Marco to the city. Due to the nature of his work, he prefers to be closer to farm lands like Richmond, Surrey, or Pitt Meadows, but the well-linked transportation system – its Sea-to-Sky highway connecting West Vancouver to Whistler – improved roads to Pemberton, Portman Bridge, and the sky train, have held Marco back.

Becoming Canadian in a “broken society” of multiculturalism

Living in Canada for over 10 years, Marco shows no hesitation in identifying himself as a Canadian. But he has had his share of challenges starting fresh in a foreign country with a mosaic of cultures and a “precarious social and employment system.” Although Marco lived in several places during his childhood and youth, he admits that from his viewpoint, Mexico and Venezuela mostly had a single, unified identity. His life in Germany and Canada was a steep learning curve as he learned how to communicate with diverse groups of people.

Nevertheless, Marco points out that an integrated culture leads to better solutions. He is grateful for Canada’s strong education system and technological infrastructure. Marco hopes to continue contributing to the country through his expertise in Earth and Ocean studies, which has been a life-long passion since his childhood in Venezuela.

The following is Marco’s additional story.

Marco’s spiritual belief 

“A winter snowfall in early 2009 set Marco to be a “solidarian neighbor” and inspired him to shovel snow around his block in New Westminster. He was helping others to find a way through the cold streets on that Sunday morning but little did he know that the Lord was also opening a way for him to be saved and “Born Again” in Christianity.

He met his revival in Christianity through a lady named Nancy, from Manitoba, who was evangelizing on the streets, recruiting more Christians in her campaign for the salvation of lost souls. Nancy McMillan, the pianist of the Apostolic Faith Church was on that morning not aware that she might have found a good friend when she convinced Marco to enroll in the church’s Biblical Studies through Sunday school. Marco accepted Nancy’s challenge to revive his spiritual life by learning the Bible, Jesus and the Christian faith through her church. Ever since that day, Marco has not only been a faithful follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit but also of the School Lessons where he is finally studying parts of the Bible he never read before.”

Becoming a founding member and director of the North American Legacy

The North American Legacy Foundation (or NALF) has been Marcos’ volunteering experience while living and working with Canadians in British Columbia. He plans to make the NALF a leading Canadian non-for-profit organization capable of introducing educational programs in basic agriculture and ranching to everyone interested across the country and the United States. There is still lots to do before the foundation takes-off but Marco is sure to make it happen.

It was in 2006 when he and Lisa Brooke, a social worker from MOSAIC, her brother Paul, Marco’s sister and one of Lisa’s sons got together as a team to incorporate a non-profit that could help our communities in North America through education and skills development. In those days, they noticed that the number of people in Canada who were not learning English as part of their integration process was growing. The team thought of doing something that could invite them to learn English and develop more skills. They also noticed that basic skills for horticulture, farming, and ranching needed to be reinforced with basic training programs adequate for youth and adults.

It took him and his team four years to clear the vision, conceive the mission, and define the programs of the foundation. After a close look at the government’s resources for learning English, Marco and the other founders realized that there was very little left to do. Education in horticulture, on the other hand, was an open ended road with opportunities to create programs in urban farming, animal husbandry and some other aspects of biology and ecology that apply to sustainable living. The challenge of how to interpret the name correctly became an opportunity when Marco created the program titled “Recycling Seeds” – a program that envisions rescuing seeds from going into composting bins from every home that adopts the program. The goal of “Recycling Seeds” is to build seed stocks that are able to germinate and supply viable seedlings for home-grown gardens, urban farms, and nurseries.

He invites all to find out more about the foundation by visiting:

http://skillfulpeople.wix.com/nalf-home