Toronto Ontario - A proposal before Toronto and East York community council aims to name a downtown park in honour of Chinese labourers who worked and died while building Canada's transcontinental railway.
 
The proposal, tabled by parks department General Manager Janie Romoff, suggests renaming Northern Linear Park along Blue Jays Way to "Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Park."
 
Northern Linear Park is home to the Chinese Railway Workers Memorial, a sculpture unveiled in 1989 honouring the thousands of workers brought over from China to construct the western leg of the transcontinental railway.
 
The final spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was laid at Craigellachie, B.C., in 1885, linking eastern and western Canada.
 
Largely forgotten in the monumental achievement was the nearly 20,000 Chinese labourers brought in to build the B.C. portion of the railway, digging and blasting through the route's most challenging and dangerous terrain.
 
Paid $1 per day, less food and supplies, Chinese workers were given the most dangerous jobs during construction, with nearly 1,000 losing their lives due to accidents, illness, or malnutrition.
 
If approved, city council will have final say later this month.
 
Bryan Passifiume.