History Mystery

Many people who’ve come to Canada for safety and freedom ended up in big cities like Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. But others settled in much smaller towns and cities where they were often the first of their people to live. Which of these stories do you think might be true?

Freedom in Alberta

Black people living in the American West wanted to get away from racist violence and governments that were taking away their rights. Canada tried to discourage Black Americans who wanted to move here by telling them it was cold and harsh. Still, about 1,500 Black settlers moved to Alberta and Saskatchewan between 1909 and 1911. Amber Valley, Alta., soon became a busy all-Black community of about 300 people with its own church, post office and school.

Starting in Greenwood

After the northern European country of Yugoslavia fell apart in the 1990s, terrible wars broke out. Many of its former provinces wanted to get rid of all the people in their areas that were not from the main group. So many people were being killed that in 1999 Canada sent planes to bring more than 7,000 people here from the province of Kosovo. Many of the Kosovars started life in Canada at Canadian Forces Base Greenwood in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley.

Life in Lindsay

Tibet was a mountainous country just north of India until China invaded and took it over, starting in 1950. After an uprising against China failed, Canada started bringing Tibetans here, mostly to Ontario. About 25 ended up in the small town of Lindsay in central Ontario, where some still live. Sisters Tashi and Losang Rabgey grew up there and, together with their parents, started a charity called Machik that has built a school and done other work in Tibet.

Langley at Last

Karen is a woman’s name. But it’s also the name of a group of people from Myanmar (also called Burma), a country in east Asia near Thailand. The military government there was killing the Karen (kuh-REN) or forcing them to work, so many of them fled to refugee camps. From there, hundreds have made their way to Langley, B.C., over the past 20 years. Although it was a big change, many Karen people there say they have been warmly welcomed to their new home in Canada.

Bonjour à Saint-Jérôme

Bhutan is a country between India and China. In the 1990s, its king kicked out anybody who didn’t fit his idea of who belonged in Bhutan. Of the 5,000 refugees who came to Canada, about 50 Bhutanese people ended up in the small town of Saint-Jérôme north of Montreal. At first, the newcomers had a hard time learning French and getting used to a new way of life, but they were free. One described their new home as being like a palace compared with their tiny hut with no electricity in the refugee camp.