Vancouver, B.C.
A ‘settler’ reminisces about Vancouver
By Rizalina Guilatco Carr
History is alive!
41 years ago today, (October 7, 1980), I arrived in Vancouver on a beautiful, bright, cool sunny day. Sitting in the car, my favourite British rock band, “Queen,” blasted “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” through the car stereo. I remember looking around at False Creek, at that time an old industrial area. It would slowly transform to make a way for the new Vancouver!
(Pierre Elliot Trudeau was the Prime Minister of Canada in the 80s and recently his son, Justin Trudeau, was re-elected as Prime Minister.)
One of the “must visit” places back then was Chinatown. If you were a new immigrant (or a tourist) it was the go-to place to experience Asian cuisine. As the car took me along Main and Hastings Streets, I noticed an indigenous couple (First Nations) having an argument and becoming physical with each other. It would have been so wrong to let that one scene, form my opinion of that ethnic group.
Expo ’86 debuted Vancouver on the world stage. Facebook was not a thing yet and Mark Zuckerberg, was a 2-year-old kid, somewhere in New York. Thirty years down the road, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics gave the world a chance to experience the “kind and polite” attitude of Canadians. The rock band “Queen” was still popular – now blasting the victory anthem song, “We are the Champions!”
Today, as I sit in my living room and gaze across False Creek Southside at “Athletes’ Village,” I remember the feeling I had forty-one years ago, seeing the then-industrial site. Little did I know then that I would be a part of the history of such dramatic change. The False Creek area is now a desirable and vibrant residential and entertainment community. BC Place has had a 500 million dollars makeover and a new, attached hotel boasts a popular, busy casino.
Last Sunday, for the first time since March 20, 2020, there were fans at the Roger’s Arena and the boisterous crowd of 18, 871 hockey enthusiasts witnessed Vancouver Canuck’s victory against the Jets – while the pandemic is still on. British Columbia keeps on surprising us with new things to see and do.
The Indigenous People
41 years after landing here, I am still learning more about our First Nations and what they have endured over the centuries. “Truth and Reconciliation” has rightly become part of our discourse and the collective conscience of our country.
Many who were born in Canada are only now learning about how indigenous children were taken from their families to live in residential schools, “to kill the Indian in the child.” More than half of the residential schools were run by the Catholic Church, as part of a systemic colonization. (That same assumption of European superiority had spurred Spain to colonize the Philippines, and the influence of Spanish culture and traditions remaining today.) The residential schools in Canada are no longer in operation, but they have been replaced by what some would argue is an equally patronizing foster care system that continues the cultural genocide.
We often hear about the many abuses of the Catholic Church around the world (in the Philippines, the USA, Central and South America, Europe and Asia). The newest one involves a French report about more than 200,000 sexual abuse cases by French Catholic priests since 1950. How we allow this long history of continuing abuse of power and cruelty is beyond me!
Departure for Canada
Back in 1980, when booking my date of departure for my new life in Canada, I chose October 7 – because that was my father’s birthday, and it would be a double celebration. My father asked me for one thing for his gift or “pasalubong” – a pair of Florsheim shoes (made in the U.S. – preferred by people with fine taste). A promise is a promise, so I sent my father “Florsheim.” But there was a problem! My father noticed that they were “Made in China.” The ‘80s was a time when North America was being flooded by Chinese products and knock-offs that were seen as inferior to those made in North America. China is now dubbed as a “lion” that has awakened and is a global powerhouse. And history continues to be made!
Remembering a kind, loving, intelligent man, a good provider, a voracious reader, a wonderful husband to Bella, and an adoring father of 10 children – Rosauro Guilatco Sr.
False Creek North and (southside – right picture where Athlete’s Village is located) – now and then
Franklin Baker Company of the Philippines (moved to San Pablo City in 1927).
About Rizalina Guilatco Carr
I was born in the Philippines and came to Vancouver in 1980. After working in a nursing home and then in a big film laboratory in Vancouver, I became a Community Health Worker. After retiring, I found my calling of being a “story-teller.” I live in Yaletown with my second husband, Robin. Two of our children live in Vancouver, while our third and oldest son lives in Laguna, Philippines.