CBC

Last night the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired my comments on their flagship program of tv evening news The National. The evening before they had run a five minute item on the research by an architectural archaeologist from Yale who has found what he claims to be evidence of Chinese settlement in Canada, Cape Breton Island on the Atlantic coast to be precise. If China indeed came to North America before Columbus there is some rewriting of history to be addressed! I made two submissions to the segment Your Turn, as follows, and then I quote the edited version they aired;

1. China had the means to explore beyond its territory long before 1492 and Columbus. It did not await to be "discovered" by the likes of Marco Polo. Zhang Qian travelled Central Asia and defined the eventual Silk Road for his Chinese emperor around 140 BC. Admiral Zheng He sailed to Africa with an impressive flotilla around 1400 AD. What is surprising about Professor Chiasson's findings is their location, on our Atlantic coast rather than our Pacific coast.

2. With respect to Professor Chiasson's findings, connecting the dots I now understand why Lachine is named as it is. When Champlain arrived at the rapids the Chinese were already there, unapologetically imposing a head tax. They had come from the West by rail which they had just built with great loss of life. As any Prairie dweller can affirm they were already proud owners of restaurants and laundromats all across the grasslands. Just think of the Sea Miles points Admiral Zheng He must have racked up getting here. Enough to earn a free Caribbean cruise I bet.

3. and this is what aired
"China had the means to explore beyond its territory long before 1492 and Columbus. It did not await to be "discovered" by the likes of Marco Polo. What is surprising about Professor Chiasson's findings is their location, on our Atlantic coast rather than our Pacific coast."
Colin Old, Ottawa