Yvon Lehoux has been working on a unique project for several months now and it's nearly complete.

Lehoux's neighbour commissioned him to build a replica of the SS Komagata Maru. Not his usual project鈥攈e usually builds scale models of Canadian warships from scratch.

Lehoux is hoping to showcase the Komagata Maru at an upcoming Community Treasures exhibit at the Museum of 性视界传媒. He has been in communication with the museum about possibly doing a exhibit in 2025 showcasing all of the model鈥檚 he鈥檚 built, though nothing is confirmed as of yet.

鈥淚t's been quite a journey so far,鈥� Lehoux explained of his time building the Komagata Maru. 鈥淭he reason for this is because of the lack of information that was available on the actual ship.鈥�

He said it鈥檚 been hard to figure out what kind of deck equipment was on the vessel because he doesn't have the ship's exact specs.

As such, Lehoux has been looking up similar ships, steamers, that were built by the same shipyard in the same era.

鈥淚鈥檝e been able to identify some of the deck equipment that was on these ships at that time,鈥� noted Lehoux. 鈥淚 am trying to make the Komagata Maru as true as possible."

He鈥檚 also had to rely on several pictures that show the side of the ship鈥攑ictures he鈥檚 gotten online, through museums, or from others.

鈥淚 want to make it look the same as when it entered the Vancouver harbour in 1914,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he only issue I may have is with some of the equipment, as I mentioned, but I refer to steamers of the era and what they were equipped with."

After he finishes the superstructure and adds in the deck details, he鈥檒l put on the lifeboats, masts, smoke stack, and finishing touches.

He said the Komagata Maru鈥檚 masts were equipped with a derrick in order to load and offload cargo.

鈥淭he masts were used like a crane,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t gives the ship a very unique look.鈥�

Lehoux said he鈥檚 still amazed with the whole project. He said when his neighbour commissioned him to build the vessel, it was 鈥渁 wow moment.鈥� And that hasn鈥檛 changed.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not much information about it,鈥� explained Lehoux. 鈥淔or me, it was a nice challenge to be able to build it because there's no other ships, no other replicas of it, out there. So it鈥檚 definitely been a very big challenge.鈥�

Lehoux said the ship will be done by the beginning of September.

Komagata Maru

The SS Komagata Maru was involved in what is now known as the Komagata Maru incident. In April 1914, the Japanese steamship Komagata Maru sailed into Vancouver carrying 376 South Asians who hoped to immigrate to Canada. They were all British subjects of Indian descent, including 337 Sikhs, 27 Muslims and 12 Hindus. Even though they were British subjects, most were denied entry. Only 24 passengers were admitted into Canada. The ship was forced to leave and the prospective immigrants aboard had to return to India.

Those onboard were also persecuted upon their return to India when they disembarked in Kolkata. The incident was one of many during the early 1900s where specific exclusion laws in both the U.S. and Canada were used to bar people of Asian origin from immigrating to North America.