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Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19349
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (wav) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (49 min., 21 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of an oral history interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Assistant Curator, Kate Petrusa. Raj Chouhan shares his ancestral background and personal experiences immigrating to Canada from India in 1973 and living and working in Canada as an immigrant…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (wav) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (49 min., 21 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: Kate Petrusa Interviewee: Honourable Raj Chouhan Location of Interview: Residence of Honourable Raj Chouhan Interview Date: December 2, 2022 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: (00:49:21) Digital master recording (wav) was converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of an oral history interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Assistant Curator, Kate Petrusa. Raj Chouhan shares his ancestral background and personal experiences immigrating to Canada from India in 1973 and living and working in Canada as an immigrant and the organizations that he became involved with. Honourable Raj Chouhan recalls how he arrived in Burnaby with his family in 1973 and that his family worked in farming. Chouhan imparts his first hand experiences as a new immigrant working as a labourer in the farming industry and describes the unsafe and unfair working conditions that he and migrant workers faced. Chouhan conveys how this experience lead him to become an activist for better working conditions for migrant workers. This lead Chouhan and others to form the Canadian Farm Workers Union in 1980. Chouhan recollects his experiences flying from India to Canada with his wife, his first impressions after arriving in Vancouver and driving to Burnaby and what he brought with him. Chouhan explains his connections to Burnaby. Members of Chouhan's wife's family immgrated to Canada in 1957 and his wife and her three brothers joined them in 1970. Chouhan's father in law, Hardial Singh Grewal immigrated in 1957 and became president of the Sikh temple in New Westminster. Hardial Singh Grewal worked in a lumber mill in Vancouver and eventually bought a house in Burnaby. Chouhan married to his wife at the Sikh temple in New Westminster and lived in Burnaby for a period before moving to New Westminster where they could find more affordable housing. Chouhan shares that he first worked as a farm labourer in Abbotsford and then found a job in the sawmill which paid more. Chouhan describes the extreme racism and discrimination that he and other immigrants faced which lead to the formation of the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism under the leadership of Dr. Hari Prakash Sharma. Chouhan describes this organization that he was a part of and the Canadian Farm Workers Union that were both formed in Burnaby. Chouhan shares that he moved to Victoria in 1988 to serve on the Hospital Employee's Union and moved back to the mainland in 1993 and returned to Burnaby in 2001. Chouhan reflects on the history of South Asian immigration in Canada, how many of the migrants settled in the lower mainland including Burnaby, New Westminster and Vancouver establishing temples in Vancouver and New Westminster which became the centre for the South Asian community. He conveys how earlier occupations were limited to farming and millwork and how over time employment opportunities and education have broadened but there is still work to do. He imparts how second generation Canadians’ experiences differ from first generations providing examples of his own daughters’ and the occupations that they are working in. Chouhan provides his insights into the South Asian Canadian experience imparting “We make history every day and that history needs to be recorded and learned from.."... “People from different communities, different backgrounds who lived in Burnaby have contributed so much and South Asians are just like another community and participated in all aspects of social life, cultural, religious, economy. I'm so proud of our community, our forefathers who had that vision to fight for our rights. I'm inspired by people who struggled so much to gain basic rights, like the right to vote". Chouhan refers to these first immigrants as “Gadri Babbas” “revolutionary old people” who were also the main motivation that lead to India becoming a free country in 1947 and for fighting for basic rights here in Canada and how they made their contributions for future generations. Chouhan expresses what he imparts to students “Do not forget your past... if you remember your past then you are much more knowledgeable. Then we know what we need for the future. If we don't know the past, we don't know what the future is going to be like. To make a better future, you have to learn from the past and improve".
- History
- Interviewee biography: Honourable Raj Chouhan was born in the city of Ludhiana in the Province of Punjab in India and immigrated to Canada in 1973. After arriving in Canada, Raj's family settled in Burnaby. Raj grew up in Burnaby and attended schoool. Honourable Raj Chouhan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as the MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds in 2005 and was re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2020. He was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on December 7, 2020. Honourable Chouhan is the founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers Union and the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism and has served as a director of the Hospital Employees' Union, the Labour Relations Board of B.C. and the Arbitration Bureau of B.C. Honourable Chouhan has also served as the Vice President of B.C. Human Rights Defenders since 2003 and has taught courses in Human Rights, the B.C. Labour Code and Collective Bargaining since 1987. Interviewer biography: Kate Petrusa is the Assistant Curator at the Burnaby Village Museum. In her role, she manages all aspects of the collection – including caring for physical artifacts and making their digital counterpart accessible. Before coming to Burnaby Village Museum in 2019, Kate has worked at several Museums around the Lower Mainland as a Curator and contractor since 2013.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Social Issues
- Social Issues - Racism
- Occupations - Agricultural Labourers
- Migration
- Organizations - Unions
- Rights
- Rights - Human Rights
- Agriculture
- Agriculture - Farms
- Government - Provincial Government
- Government
- Names
- Chouhan, Raj
- British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism
- Sharma, Dr. Hari Prakash
- Grewal, Hardial Singh
- Canadian Farmworkers Union
- Hospital Employees Union
- Khalsa Diwan Society
- Responsibility
- Petrusa, Kate
- Accession Code
- BV022.29.4
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available on Heritage Burnaby
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan, [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan, [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2022_0029_0004_002.mp3
Building Letters
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact90803
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- BV020.40.1
- Description
- Eight bronze capital letters: "OURT ROOM" Each letter has small protrusions on the backside where they were afixed to the exterior wall of Burnaby's Provincial courtroom.
- Object History
- The Court Room letters came from the 1965 Provincial Courthouse built adjacent to City Hall at 4949 Canada Way. This courtroom closed down in 2002.
- Object Term
- Sign, Identification
- Marks/Labels
- "OUR ROOM" is missing the C and the "T" to finish spelling courtroom.
- Colour
- Bronze
- Measurements
- 6" in height
- Subjects
- Building Components
- Buildings - Judicial - Courthouses
- Government - Provincial Government
- Officials - Judges
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Douglas-Gilpin Area
Images
Handcuffs
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact90547
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- BV020.32.6
- Description
- Gray metal handcuffs, in locked position. Cuffs joined by three links.
- Object History
- Ross was known as "Padre" at Oakalla. Padre means 'father' and is a word often used in a military context for chaplain. Ross joined the Oakalla staff full time as a Presbeterian Minister in 1971, employed by the BC Correctional Services Branch. He worked there as Chaplain until 1991 when Oakalla closed. He was often called in from home to help with high pressure situations that arose at Oakalla to help defuse incidents like hostage taking and other high pressure conflicts. Ross collected several items from Oakalla when it closed, but some were given to him because of the significance of his time there.
- Classification
- Regulative & Protective T&E
- Marks/Labels
- SAF-LOK-MK.1 / MADE IN AUSTRALIA
- Colour
- Silver
- Country Made
- Australia
- Names
- Oakalla Prison Farm
- Planning Study Area
- Oakalla Area
Images
Lock
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact90541
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- BV020.32.1
- Description
- This metal lock is painted black with several rusted corners and edges. The bottom third of the lock is divided into 6 sections by metal bars. The main lock is solid with a rused keyhole in the centre and a logo that reads "Yale". The top of the lock has brass-like rectangular piece.
- Object History
- This item was the main gate lock to Oakalla on the entrance off or Royal Oak Avenue. Given to Ross Manthorpe when Oakalla was demolished. Ross joined the Oakalla staff full time as a Presbeterian Minister in 1971, employed by the BC Correctional Services Branch. He worked there as Chaplain until 1991 when Oakalla closed. He was often called in from home to help with high pressure situations that arose at Oakalla to help defuse incidents like hostage taking and other high pressure conflicts. Ross collected several items from Oakalla when it closed, but some were given to him because of the significance of his time there.
- Marks/Labels
- YALE
- Colour
- Black
- Gold
- Measurements
- 15.5cm l x 20.5 cm h
- Maker
- Yale
- Names
- Oakalla Prison Farm
- Planning Study Area
- Oakalla Area
Images
Sign
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact90550
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- BV020.32.9
- Description
- Emobssed metal sign that reads "PADRE". The sign is white, and the letters are raised up in blue. There is a dot after the "E".
- Object History
- This was a sign posted at Rev Ross Manthorpe's parking spot to ensure he always had it reserved. Ross was known as "Padre" at Oakalla. Padre means 'father' and is a word often used in a military context for chaplain. Ross joined the Oakalla staff full time as a Presbeterian Minister in 1971, employed by the BC Correctional Services Branch. He worked there as Chaplain until 1991 when Oakalla closed. He was often called in from home to help with high pressure situations that arose at Oakalla to help defuse incidents like hostage taking and other high pressure conflicts. Ross collected several items from Oakalla when it closed, but some were given to him because of the significance of his time there.
- Classification
- Visual Communication T&E
- Object Term
- Sign
- Measurements
- 28.5cm l x 8cm h
- Names
- Oakalla Prison Farm
- Planning Study Area
- Oakalla Area
Images
