Vancouver street to see honourary name: ‘Komagata Maru Place’

A notable street in Vancouver will be getting a new honourary name to acknowledge the Komagata Maru incident of 1914.

On Tuesday, the City of Vancouver announced that Canada Place Way, which runs in front of the iconic building of the same name, will also be called “Komagata Maru Place” as a secondary name.

Mayor Ken Sim says the honorary naming is a “meaningful step” towards acknowledging the city’s historical “missteps.”

“By designating ‘Komagata Maru Place’ as a secondary name for ‘Canada Place,’ we look to honour those affected by the 1914 incident and renew our commitment to learn from the past and build a more inclusive future,” he said in a statement.

The Komagata Maru, also known as the Guru Nanak Jahaaz, was a ship carrying 340 Sikh, 27 Muslim, and 12 Hindu passengers that was denied entry into Vancouver in 1914. The refusal has since been regarded as a racist incident.

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Vice President of the Komagata Maru Society, Raj Singh Toor, whose grandfather was on the ship, welcomes the recognition from the city.

“This is five years of hard work, so finally, the city is going to recognize the Komagata Maru passengers,” he told CityNews.

He adds it’s important to have an understanding of some of the city’s wrongs of the past.

“We can’t undo the past but we can move forward,” Toor said.

“If they know the history, the history will not be repeated again.”

The street renaming was done through consultations with the city’s South Asian community. In addition to the street, the monument in Harbour Park is also set to be enhanced, the city says.