The community activist Doris Chow joins Joseph Planta and Jackie Pierre to discuss her advocacy in saving Vancouver’s Chinatown from rapid development, as well as dispels the myth of gentrification, and highlights the work of the intergenerational organisation she helped co-found Youth Collaborative for Chinatown.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

Doris Chow is a community organiser doing notable and admirable work in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The city is changing, and perhaps nowhere more quickly and arguably unnecessarily than in Chinatown. For years it’s suffered the stigma of being considered part of the Downtown Eastside, but it has a unique history that is seeing itself largely been abandoned, ignored, and rezoned out of existence. My colleague Jackie Pierre joins me now, as we talk to Doris about her work—important work that highlights the rapidity to which this town is willing to do away with history and people in one of the Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhoods. We’ll reflect on what’s happening in Chinatown, why we need to look at what’s happening there, and what the future holds for this neighbourhood. Doris is part of an intergenerational group that is doing tremendous work in advocating for the neighbourhood. She is the cofounder of the Youth Collaborative for Chinatown, which I’ll get her to tell us about. As well, she is project manager of the DTES Kitchen Tables Project. Doris Chow’s Twitter handle is @yenyenskitchen. And the website for more is at www.savechinatownheritage.org. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in person today, Doris Chow; Ms. Chow, good morning.

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