Boats to Nanaimo for the National Association of Japanese Canadians conference
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
This past weekend we were blessed with gorgeous clear blue skies as we took the ferry from Tsawwassen across the Georgia Strait to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island.
Swartz Bay? But, it says “Nanaimo” in the title? you observe. And yes, you are correct. Although there is a ferry from Tsawwassen direct to Nanaimo, we decided to land at the southern end of the island and spend the Friday afternoon driving up the east coast of the island, visiting all those tiny little towns that I have heard about but have never actually visited before.
Once on the island we took the Mill Bay ferry to avoid Victoria (a city that I will visit again soon… lots of friends to see there!). We lunched in Cowichan Bay, ate ice cream in Duncan, and quickly checked out the famous murals of Chemainus. But the clock was ticking so we had to skip Ladysmith in order to get to Nanaimo in time for a special pre-conference dinner.
Arriving on Friday and leaving on Sunday at noon meant it was a whirlwind trip, and we barely got out of the hotel. The conference was about building capacity for Japanese Canadian community organizations with delegates from Nanaimo, Victoria, Greater Vancouver, the Okanagan, and the Yukon. With the BC government putting up $100 million dollars in redress funds for interning much of its Japanese heritage population during and after the Second World War, there is renewed interest in building a more united Japanese-Canadian community, those from earlier generations and newcomers.
After many hours of deliberation we caught the noon ferry home. It was a really nice trip. The conditions were excellent, and we met all sorts of interesting new people. Now we must think about what we can do to effectively build a sustainable community across western Canada.
Here is a gallery of photos that you can see in full-screen on Flickr →
