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Final month, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland toured FreshPal Ltd., a brand new and thriving greenhouse farm in Olds operated by Chinese language immigrants. The go to was a part of her multi-day return to her residence province of Alberta, and he or she was accompanied by Liberal MP George Chahal (Calgary Skyview) and his brother Raj Chahal.
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Jianyi Dong and his household are the geniuses and hard-working principals on this profitable agribusiness. In 2014, Dong immigrated to Alberta after graduating from Peking College, China’s high establishment of upper studying. His unique intention was to safe employment in oil and fuel, however 2014 was a foul yr for that. He by no means did discover a job within the oilpatch.
However he additionally didn’t despair. He turned adversity into alternative and determined to strike out in daring new instructions. With no background or expertise in agriculture in anyway, he threw all warning to the wind and determined to go in for greenhouse farming.
It was a protracted, bitter battle and steep studying curve for him as a result of he needed to grasp the whole lot from scratch. He learn, watched YouTube movies, requested questions, and he travelled a number of instances to China to study extra in regards to the cutting-edge passive greenhouse know-how that China is now utilizing to develop large portions of greenhouse greens.
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He was a decided man and a fast examine, and by 2019 his farm was a going concern. His neighbours and fellow farmers have been cordial and useful to him, and he and his household are adapting effectively to rural life in Alberta. He’s now internet well-known in China due to the Chinese language-language vlog he expertly maintains. Within the eyes of tens of millions of Chinese language, he’s a hero, and I hope he’ll turn out to be such in Alberta as effectively, as soon as his enterprises turn out to be extra extensively identified.
At the moment, he has extra demand than he can fulfill, and with the assistance and collaboration of David Wu, an knowledgeable handyman and an lively entrepreneur himself, he’s increasing his operations. His dream is to unfold and commercialize the sustainable and environmentally pleasant greenhouse know-how he’s utilizing. He tells me that rising peaches and oranges in Alberta is solely attainable and on the horizon.
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Freeland was fascinated by all this and requested Dong many questions on his enterprises, and he answered all of them effectively. (I used to be tagging alongside as an interpreter, but it surely turned out that my providers weren’t wanted; Dong speaks very respectable English.) Her enthusiasm for his farm was apparent and infectious, and he or she discovered many facets of it fascinating and galvanizing.
I train East Asian historical past on the College of Calgary, however over the previous few years, as I’ve come to know this household, I’ve felt like I’ve been watching dwelling historical past unfold proper earlier than my eyes. I think about it a definite privilege and honour to be a detailed observer of the tenor and grittiness of their quotidian struggles as they make a go of their farm. These folks have mild and well mannered demeanours and exteriors, however inwardly they’re as robust as metal nails. They’re resilient, decided and centered. To say that they’re resourceful can be greater than an understatement — it will be the multiplicative inverse of hyperbole.
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By way of the prism of their expertise, I really feel like I’ve had a glimpse all the way in which again to the start of Previous World immigration to this land. By way of it, I can see, for example, the wave of Ukrainian and different immigrants (stalwart peasants in sheepskin coats with sturdy wives who’ve six youngsters every, in Inside Minister Clifford Sifton’s memorable characterization) to Canada throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (Freeland’s ancestors have been amongst them; I do know as a result of I requested her.) Canada is and at all times has been a nation of immigrants, and that legacy continues all the way in which all the way down to the wealthy, peaceful, and now completely multicultural mosaic that’s our Canada right this moment.
Freeland’s go to to Alberta was barely marred when somebody menaced and verbally abused her — the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada! However she was gracious and unflustered within the aftermath, noting that Albertans are type and respectable folks.
And certainly they’re, together with, after all, the hardworking members of the Dong household. They and a whole bunch of hundreds of different immigrants like them are contributing extra by a rattling sight to the financial well-being of Alberta than any boorish heckler ever has or ever will.
David Curtis Wright is an affiliate professor within the division of historical past on the College of Calgary.
