New Westminster City council has unanimously voted to rename the Q to Q ferry docks to remember the 1914 incident, following others that have taken steps to remember the tragedy. The Japanese steamship carrying 376 Indian immigrants arrived off the coast of B.C., only to be denied entry into Vancouver, which at the time was the country’s most diverse city.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff

NEW WESTMINSTER – The City of New Westminster is renaming local ferry docks after Komagata Maru to commemorate the passengers who were not allowed to land in Canada due to the country’s racist policies at the time.

New Westminster City council has unanimously voted to rename the Q to Q ferry docks to remember the 1914 incident, following others that have taken steps to remember the tragedy.

The Japanese steamship carrying 376 Indian immigrants arrived off the coast of B.C., only to be denied entry into Vancouver, which at the time was the country’s most diverse city.

Immigration regulations at the time required migrants to arrive in Canada directly from their country of origin — a journey that was virtually impossible from India in 1914.

“I would like to say thank you to the City of New Westminster Respected Mayor and Councillors for recognizing the Komagata Maru passengers and passed the Motion unanimously the naming the QtoQ Ferry docks in Queensborough and Downtown in commemoration of the Komagata Maru,” said Raj Singh Toor, member of the Komagata Maru Descendents Society, which has been lobbying for recognition of the historical tragedy.

The Komagata Maru Society consists of 15 families all over Canada who are direct descendants of the passengers (children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren). The South Asian community supports us because we are the ones who suffered in losing loved ones and deeply shared the pain of our parents, grandparents, or great grandparents being rejected by Canada in 1914. 

About 2000 South Asian families lived in BC in 1914, and many of these families lived in New Westminster. The local community helped the stranded passengers of the Komagata Maru by giving them food, water, and medication. There was even an attempt by the community to try to lease the ship in an attempt to keep it from being sent back.   

On October 7, 2019, Councillor Chinu Das brought forward the Komagata Maru recognition motion. Toor spoke for the motion, sharing his grandfather’s and the other Komagata Maru passengers’ painful story. He requested that the Council name a park, street or other civic asset in memory of the Komagata Maru passengers. 

The council then passed unanimously a motion "THAT staff report on the connection of New Westminster to the Komagata Maru incident. In particular, the report should provide documentation of the support the New Westminster South Asian community provided to the passengers of the Komagata Maru." 

The mover of the motion, Councillor Das, advised that the verification of this history could lead to the naming of a city asset after the Komagata Maru.    

“On behalf of the Descendents of the Komagata Maru Society, I would like to say thank you to Respected Mayor Jonathan X. Coté and Councillor Chinu Das for bringing the Motion on behalf of the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society. Thanks also to all the other councillors, City Manager Robert McCullough, and the rest of the city staff for their work in making this recognition of the Komagata Maru a reality,” Toor said  

The Canadian and the B.C. government have both previously issued formal apologies for the incident and in 2019, Surrey renamed a street in recognition of it.