Mr. Speaker, for thousands of years, families of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese heritage, and others, have gathered beneath the autumn moon to celebrate family, gratitude and harvest, but this tradition is not new to Canada. Chinese communities have been living on the land we now call Canada since even before Confederation. Chinese artisans first arrived on Vancouver Island as early as 1788, and tens of thousands more arrived in British Columbia in the decades that followed. They brought their traditions and languages with them, but they left their conflicts behind.
They did not come looking for a handout. They came looking for opportunity. They worked and raised families. They served in the armed forces. They built businesses, new towns and a railway that connected Canada. Despite barriers and enormous hardship, they persevered and helped build this country from the ground up. Generations later, their descendants enjoy the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship that earlier generations fought so hard to attain.
This Mid-Autumn Festival, we celebrate not only an ancient tradition but one that is deeply rooted in the Canadian story: people coming here for freedom and opportunity, working hard, contributing to their communities and proudly calling Canada home.
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.
[Member spoke in Chinese]
[English]