Union Zindabad! — South Asian Canadian Labour History in British Columbia

Tod Inlet
Vancouver Portland Cement Company’s plant at
Tod Inlet was an early—though short-lived—location
where South Asians worked in an industry
other than sawmilling. The story of South Asians
at Tod Inlet includes one of the earliest mentions
of South Asian workers asserting control over their
labour by going on strike.
The cement plant was beside the limestone
quarry now known as Butchart Gardens north of
Victoria BC. The first 40 Sikh men are believed to
have come from Jandiala village (in the Jullundar
district of Punjab) on the CPR steamship Tartar in
1906. 7
“When we landed in Victoria, I heard there is a
cement mill about 20 miles from Victoria. There
is one of our friends, who is come from our village,
he was a foreman over there. So we, about 30 or
40 people, go to that cement mill.” They learned
that people working there were getting a dollar and
a quarter a day for 10 hours of work. “So … my
friend tried to the mill owner, if they could hire
some more people. But unfortunately, is another
foreman beside my friend, and some his friends
coming the same ship as we coming. They went to
the mill owner, they offer, they can supply the man
for dollar a day. So he get the job, we been refused.” 8
7 David R. Gray, Deep and Sheltered Waters: The History of Tod
Inlet (Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum, 2018), 51.
8 Gurdit Singh Bilga, “Komagata Maru Affair”, interview
by Laurence Nowley, 1964, Canadian Museum of History
Archives, cited in David R. Gray, Deep and Sheltered Waters,
52.
Sikhs at the Tod Inlet wharf wore scarves around their necks to
filter the cement dust, 1907. Bonnycastle Dale photo, courtesy David Gray.
Living and cooking quarters at Tod Inlet were racially segregated
and crude. Cardboard was used for insulation and flour
sacks as blankets. The 1911 Census recorded sixty-three men
living in the “Hindu Camp” and 239 in the Chinese Camp. Tod
Inlet ca. 1910.
Image A-09159, courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.
Chapter 2 • Finding Work | 13