City council to consider method to recognize Komagata Maru in Abbotsford

ABBOTSFORD — The City of Abbotsford Executive Committee will recommend a strategy to recommend recognize Komagata Maru to city council.

The plan which will be presented at the Executive Committee meeting today (Jan. 30), recommends a commemorative renaming of South Fraser Way to “Komagata Maru Way” from Fairlane Street to Ware Street and the installation of an interpretive plaque and the creation of the educational kits.

The plaque would focus on the “Abbotsford story” of the Komagata Maru incident. The renaming of the street would be commemorative only and would not change the official registered South Fraser Way street name or have an impact on mail delivery, mapping, or other purposes.

There have been a number of requests for the city to take steps to recognize the Komagata Maru event, including a 2019 request by Raj Singh Toor, the Vice President of the Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society. In 2021 Lakhwinder Jhaj and Abbotsford West MLA Mike De Jong made a presentation to the Executive Committee. Shortly after that meeting, city staff were tasked with developing a strategy to recognize and raise awareness of the Komagata Maru story in Abbotsford.