Dutch
by Albert Van Der Heide
Canadians of Dutch descent have made their homes in Vancouver and the surrounding area for more than a century, leaving their marks on both the landscape and society. Others of Dutch origin just passed through or lived and worked in this area for a short time only. Among those was explorer Captain George Vancouver whose roots can be traced to the Van Coevordens, a Dutch family which took its name from a small town on the Dutch-German border. Canadian Pacific Railway’s W.C. Van Horne, who accomplished the near impossible with the introduction of modern transportation across Canada, is another. Contractor Andrew Onderdonk of Dutch colonial stock used Chinese labor to build the Yale section of the railroad. Volkert Vedder and his sons arrived here from New York and gave their name to several places in the Chilliwack area.
Shortly after the turn of the century the first Dutch pioneers settled in the area, among them animal protection activist Baroness Van Steenwyk who later formed the Vancouver SPCA. Others who found homes here were Vancouver Symphony director Allard De Ridder, Vancouver Aquarium director Carl Lietze, CCF politician Dorothy Biersteker Steeves, photographer John Vanderpant, orchid grower Jim le Nobel, the Baders of Bader’s Dutch Cookies and lawyer Matthew A. Van Roggen who also served as honorary consul of the Netherlands. By the 1920s the Dutch immigrant community had become large enough to organize major social events. In 1926 Holland Society members were instrumental in the institution of the first of British Columbia’s 36 Christian Reformed Churches.
Meanwhile local farmers--on Lulu Island, Annacis Island and in Burnaby and Surrey--got acquainted with their Dutch immigrant neighbors. Although the depression of the 1930s and then World War II put a halt to the community’s growth, the infrastructure for the massive Dutch immigration of the 1950s was in place. Early pioneers played an important role in helping newcomers settle in an area that contrasted so much with “the Lowlands.”
Among these newcomers was Jan Blom, a Dutch lawyer and investment banker. Earlier he had helped put together a consortium of private Dutch investors with the plan to reclaim a flooded area--2,833 hectares--near Maple Ridge, now known as Pitt Polder. To overcome stringent, post- war Dutch currency controls the group packaged its engineering skills through newly established CBA Engineering and sold know-how in B.C. Ironically the Pitt Polder Company survived for years on CBA’s profits from projects such as the Port Mann Bridge, the Keenleyside Dam, and bridges at Golden, Kamloops and Mission. CBA was also involved with the Knight Street and Alex Fraser bridges and other water and hydro contracts. The Dutch investors attracted local participants by the mid-1960s and sold out in 1989.
Numerous Dutch immigrants came to farm but just as many possessed trade-school diplomas. The ten Van Vliet brothers, initially all employed at Van Vliet Construction, built landmarks-- Bloedel Conservatory for one--in and around Vancouver and beyond. The Van Vliets were joined by other high-profile Dutch-born engineers, builders and structural-steel fabricators.
The Dutch involvement in forestry was personified by entrepreneur Nick Van Drimmelen who built one of the Cariboo’s first integrated lumber operations.
Burnaby is home to the United Flower Growers Co-op which operates Canada’s oldest Dutch flower auction. Via this auction nearly 100 nurseries--largely owned by Dutch immigrants-- supply potted plants and cut flowers to B.C., the prairies and the U.S. The Dutch presence is also visible through garden centres, landscapers and the supply trade. The largest greenhouse vegetable operation in the area is operated by Dutch immigrants as well.
Part of the fabric of society in the Netherlands has been copied in Canada with Dutch-Canadians not only building Calvinist churches but also starting Christian school systems, operating homes for the aged and the handicapped, providing support services for the mentally ill and even forming a Christian labor union. These institutions now reach beyond the Dutch community. Dutch Roman Catholics blended in with already existing churches, schools and organizations and were emerging in leadership roles by the 1970s. Both groups were instrumental in setting up the Federation of Independent Schools which obtained recognition and some public funding for qualifying schools. In addition quite a few Dutch-Canadians have entered local and provincial politics.
The B.C. Dutch community of 63,000 is served by Canada’s only daily Dutch radio program, aired on CJVB, a station started by Jan Van Bruchem, a Dutch-Canadian. There are also two newspapers: a bi-weekly with three regional editions and a monthly. The Dutch government maintains a consulate general in Vancouver.
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