Canada Reflects on Komagata Maru Tragedy: A Century-Old Wound and a Modern-Day Call to Action

By Pam Gervacio

Last week, our dear Prime Minister, Mark Carney, issued a heartfelt statement commemorating one of the most painful and unjust chapters in Canadian history-the Komagata Maru incident of 1914. His words served as both a solemn remembrance and a powerful call to action for all Canadians. 

If the Komagata Maru Incident Happened in 2020. Imagine it’s the spring of 2020.

You’re on a boat. But not just any boat-the boat: the Komagata Maru, 376 of you aboard, mostly men, mostly brown, mostly dreaming big. You’ve survived weeks across the Pacific Ocean, your stomach rejecting ship food, your neck sunburnt, and your armpits negotiating peace with your neighbors. You’re just about to dock in Vancouver. You see Canada’s shoreline-so close you can smell the maple syrup—and you’re thinking, life. “Finally! A better Fresh air. Free healthcare. Maybe Drake will wave at us.” But instead, you’re met by Canadian immigration officials who look at you like you’re trying to sneak into a private poutine party without a password.

They don’t let you in.

Now, if it were 2020, they’d probably say, “Sorry, it’s COVID. Two-week quaran-tine, no exceptions. Even your boat isn’t socially distanced.” But this is 1914 (or our 2019 remix of it), and the real reason? You’re too brown. You’re not European. You’re not ‘the right kind of immigrant! So, they say: “You didn’t make a continuous journey from India. You stopped in Japan. Sorry, rules are rules.”

And you’re like, “EXCUSE ME? We crossed the entire Pacific Ocean. That’s a continuous journey in every sense except your paperwork! We are hungry!” You try everything. Letters. Lawyers. Local supporters. A strongly worded group chant. Even a few seagulls seem to feel bad for you. But nothing. Two months later, after being denied food, water, and basic humanity, you’re sent back. Some of your companions are imprisoned. Others killed. Now imagine if you were the leader of Canada at that time. What would you do?

Would you:

• Blame it on logistics?
• Say, “Not my problem”?
• Pull out a ukulele and start singing “O Canada” to distract everyone?
• Actually stand up, see the humanity on that ship, and say: “Let them in.”

(We hope you’d pick D. Please pick D.)

Fast forward to today. It’s not a sketch show anymore. It’s real history. The Komagata Maru happened. Canada did turn them away. And for too long, we pretended like it didn’t matter. But thank God… we’ve come a long way. Last week, our dear Prime Minister, the Honourable Mark Carney, gave a heartfelt statement acknowledging this tragedy not with excuses, not with slogans—but with truth, courage, and the decency we should have shown in 1914.

“We cannot rewrite the past,” he said, “but we must confront it… to ensure that such injustices are never repeated… and build a future where inclusion is not a slogan, but a reality-lived, prac-tised, and defended.” ~PM Carney

And that gives us hope.

Hope that Canada is growing. That we’re learning. That our diversity isn’t just tolerated it’s celebrated. That we no longer judge people based on the route they took, but the courage it took to come here.

The Komagata Maru passengers were more than just immigrants. They were pioneers of inclusion, symbols of struggle, and now-thanks to leaders like Prime Minister Carney recognized as part of Canada’s story.

So, here’s to them.

To their journey. To their resilience. To laughter through tears, and strength through storms. And to a Canada that finally says: Welcome aboard!