blood and iron

  • Workingmen's protective association

    British Columbia had there very first trade union in the Workingmen's Protective Association.The Protective Association was formed in 1878.
  • Anti-Chinese

    In 1879, the Anti-Chinese Association was formed
    by Noah Shakespeare, who would later become Mayor of Victoria and a member of the
    legislative assembly.
  • Canadian Pacific Railway

    It was in this hostile climate that the Canadian Pacific
    Railway (CPR) was incorporated.The western portion of the railway (Built in 1881-1885).
  • Harsh Conditions

    Only a few months after work on the CPR began, Onderdonk was forced to recruit
    Chinese labourers from San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. Most of them were hired
    using the services of the Lian Chang Co.
  • Chinese Labour

    More Caucasian than Chinese
    people worked on the Canadian
    Pacific Railway, but the project
    could not have been completed
    without Chinese labour. Several
    sections of the CPR were
    contracted entirely to the Chinese,
    including the 90 miles from Port
    Moody to Yale and the 70 miles
    from Lytton to Savona’s Ferry.