Canadian immigrants take a trip to northern B.C., in preparation for Monday's federal election

With the federal election set for Monday a pair of Chinese-Canadians from the Lower Mainland say they are feeling more informed and prepared to vote after returning home from a self-guided tour around northern B.C.

Amy Xu said when the temporary restrictions for non-essential travel ended her friend, Roger Xiao, invited her on a group trip to learn about the history of Canada and the importance of reconciliation.

"As immigrants, we have to try to understand the politics and culture ... so we are lucky we had this trip to learn," Xu said, "I believe history is like a mirror or a textbook and one can learn from it so we don't fall into the same situation our ancestors experienced."

Xu and Xiao, along with about a dozen others, have all been living in Vancouver for more than a decade, but because they immigrated to Canada as adults, most of them have never received any education on the history of Canada and the residential school system.

"The purpose of this trip was to learn about the early Chinese labourers in the 19th century and understand the current living conditions of Indigenous people in B.C.," said Michael Cao.

The group, who are all in their 50s, left Vancouver at the end of August and made their first stop in Williams Lake, where Cao said he and his wife got a glimpse of how local people lived.

He said they enjoyed a dinner full of locally harvested food like moose meat, huckleberry and wild mushrooms with the local mayor, Walt Cobb, and another couple from the community.