Category Archives: Chinese Head Tax issues + Gim Wong's Ride for Redress

Edmonton Journal June 24: Head-tax is incomplete / Descendents should get payments too

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Head-tax redress is incomplete

 

The Edmonton Journal

Published: Saturday, June 24, 2006

Re: “Full apology for head tax: Chinese-Canadians win redress
for racist policies,” The Journal, June 23.

This headline is wrong. The government has not made a full
apology for the head tax.

By making payment only to the surviving payers or their
surviving spouses, the government is only recognizing its wrong to a small
percentage of those discriminated against by the head tax. The article says
82,000 people paid the exorbitant fee; only 20 surviving payers and some 200
spouses will be compensated. That is less than 0.3 per cent.

The government, in effect, is saying we do not recognize the
wrong done to the immigrants who are now dead. Every head-tax certificate that
is outstanding should be redressed by the government. That is, it should buy
back each head-tax certificate as if it were a forced-investment certificate,
with a reasonable return.

As it stands, I feel that both my father and uncle, who paid the
head tax, have been forgotten and that the discrimination continues. Why?
Because I have their certificates to remind me of the hardship imposed and the
wrongful action taken by the Canadian government.

By compensating only the survivors and spouses, the government
is saying it did no wrong to those who have since died.

The headline should read, “Fractional apology for head tax.”

Ken P. Mah, Edmonton

© The Edmonton Journal 2006
———————————————————————

Descendants should get
payments too, local group says



 

Dorothy Tai holds her father George Mun Yee's head-tax certificate in Edmonton on Thursday while watching the government's apology on TV.
 
Dorothy Tai holds her
father George Mun Yee's head-tax certificate in Edmonton on Thursday while
watching the government's apology on TV.
Photograph by : John
Lucas, The Journal
 
Keith Gerein, The Edmonton Journal; with
files from CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, June 23, 2006

EDMONTON – Dan Park grew up without his father because of a punitive “head
tax” imposed on Chinese people who immigrated to Canada.

Park's father paid the $500 fee when he moved here in 1919, then spent years
toiling at odd jobs in his new country to pay back friends and relatives who
loaned him the money.

With little income left over, he couldn't send much to his young,
poverty-stricken family in China. The effect was tragic, as Park watched his
sister die from malnutrition and general poor health. His mother soon
followed.

Due to a 1923 Canadian policy that banned further Chinese immigration, Park
wasn't allowed to join his father in Canada until 1950.

Now 70, Park was among a dozen local Chinese-Canadians who gathered Thursday
in a Chinatown community centre to watch on TV as Prime Minister Stephen Harper
apologized for the head tax and announced compensation payments for its
victims.

As the politicians stood and cheered the announcement in the House of
Commons, the Edmonton group sat in silence. They were disappointed that the
government will provide payments only to those who paid the tax and their
spouses, but not to descendants.

Park said his story shows it wasn't just those who paid the tax who suffered.
Children were victims, too, and deserve equal compensation, he said.

“What the prime minister did was a step in the right direction, but it
doesn't go far enough,” he said. “Although the (immigrants) agreed to pay the
tax, you can't say it was a fair deal. How come the government did not ask
immigrants from other parts of the world to pay the same thing? It was
discrimination.”

Grant Toy also spent much of his life without a father due to the head tax
and the immigration ban.

“I didn't see him until was 14. It was very devastating for me to grow up
without a father,” he said. “The compensation should be for everyone. We've
already been punished once, we don't want to be punished a second time.”

Lorna Yee, 82, watched Harper's speech from her wheelchair. Unlike the others
who attended on Thursday, she can expect money from the government because her
late husband George paid the head tax when he came to Canada in 1923.

Yee's son John said his mother has no idea what she will do with the money.
The payment, he said, is far less important than getting the issue out in the
open.

“This (apology) brings us a little closure,” he said. “My sister and I didn't
know anything about the head tax growing up, and I'm not sure my mother did
either. My father never talked about it. This was a part of history that nobody
wanted brought up.”

Kenda Gee, the head of the Edmonton Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act
Redress Committee, said his group may try to further push the federal government
to extend compensation to descendants of those who paid the tax.

“The federal government still hasn't got it right,” Gee said. “They are
essentially redressing 20 surviving tax payers and maybe 200 spouses. That
leaves almost 4,000 families who were directly affected as victims but won't be
acknowledged by today's settlement.”

kgerein@thejournal.canwest.com

© The Edmonton Journal
2006.

Head Tax redress: What is the bigger picture?” Todd Wong commentary

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1) Todd Wong 2) with friends at Global News telecast from Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens (ethnic issues during the election) 3) with head tax redress supporters after the Redress Express Train departure ceremony in Vancouver 4) BC Coalition after the Head tax ceremony in Vancouver.

Head Tax redress: 
What is the bigger picture?” 
Todd Wong commentary

So what is the big picture?

I say that the BIGGER picture is this:  hundreds of thousands of Chinese Canadian head tax descendants will wake up out of their sleep, and say… “waitaminute… this isn't fair…”  If granny and grandpa or mommy and daddy died the day before the apology… then they get nothing!  They are dead, and redress is only for the living.

But the memory still lives.  As long as the descendents keep the memories of our mothers and our fathers, our grandmothers and our grandfathers… then they still live.  And if they still live, then redress compensation is for “those living head tax payers and spouses.”

The JC redress committee and the Mulroney Conservatives could not predict the impact, outcome, acceptance or continuing process on the Japanese Canadian community when Redress was made in 1988.

18 years later… the Japanese Canadian community is still broken.  Redress did not undo the despersal of the JC community across Canada, nor did it mend broken families, bring dead loved ones back to life, nor did it give back confiscated property.

There are Japanese Canadians who will never open up a copy of Obasan or Naomi's Road, because the memories of internment and property confiscation is too painful.  Even if Joy Kogawa and David Suzuki are two of Canada's most celebrated writers, examples of triumph despite adversity, members of the Order of Canada, the Order of BC, etc etc etc…    The personal experience is too buried, too integrated, too damaged to ever be completely healed.

Asians who have come to Canada after the 1950's and never understood or experienced the racism that those who lived here from 1880 to 1960 did, may never ever realize the extent of the negative self-identity and learned helplessness that crippled the Asian communities.  Yes… individuals succeeded despite the challenges… That is the triumph of the human spirit.  That is the will of the individual to succeed against adversity.

Talk to the UBC graduates who could not be hired as engineers, who took up jobs as clerks, in the same companies while whites who performed poorer in the same university classes got hired.

Talk to the people who applied for apartments or houses to rent, but were told “it's taken” – but when they phoned back with a “white name” that the place was available.

Talk to the people who were told that they would never be good enough as a white person, so don't even try.

When I hear our celebrated writers such as Joy Kogawa and Paul Yee, and many other friends say that while growing up – they wished they weren't Chinese, or Japanese, or Asian… if they could change their skin, their skin colour – because they were ashamed of being who they were… This is a tragedy.

It is a Canadian tragedy because it was the Canadian govt that is responsible for the Internment, and dispersal of the Japanese Canadians.  It is the Canadian govt that is responsible for the Chinese head tax and Exclusion Act.  It is the Canadian govt that is responsible for the Indian act  It is the BC government that is responsible for the Potlatch Law.

Who is responsible for the Canadian government?
It is the Canadian people.
It is the responsibility of the Canadian people to make redress happen.

Redress worked for the JC community… maybe not completely, but it was a start.  It was an acceptance.  It was an apology.  It was an acknowledgement.  It was a way to address the wrongs, and offer something symbolic to help make things right.

Redress did make people feel part of Canada.  It did offer healing, and the process for continued healing.  My friend Ellen Crowe-Swords told the audience at a Joy Kogawa reading at Vancouver Public Library, that nothing would ever take away all the hurt and anguish caused by internement. But by recieving the $21,000 – “I sure felt better.”

CC redress will not bring back loved ones, it cannot make up for the extra years of hard work paid in blood, sweat and tears.  It cannot erase the memories of Gim Wong being beaten and urinated on as a child.  It cannot take away the shame that Chinese Canadian soldiers felt unwanted.

But it sends a message to Canadians that this is the RIGHT THING to do.  Justice in OUR time.  The people who lived through the Head tax period and Exclusion Act are still alive.  It is THEIR time. It is still OUR time.  It is OUR time, as long as we choose to do something about it.

If we choose to walk away from it, then we are doing what non-Chinese Canadians did back then – by letting the Head Tax happen, by letting the Exclusion Act happen.  

If we choose to walk away from it, then we are doing what non-Japanese Canadians did back then – by letting the internment happen, by letting the confiscation of property happen.

If we choose to walk away from it, then we are doing what the non-Jews in Germany did back then – by letting the hooligans riot in the street on “Crystal Night”, by letting Jews be put on trains to be sent to concentration camps.

If we are to be the best Canadians we can… then we will be inclusive of ALL Canadians.  White, black, yellow, red, brown and pink, as well as every shade inbetween and every shade beyond.  Because this is what it means to be Canadian.  To be inclusive… to embrace cultural diversity as our strength… to find the THIRD WAY….   We do not fight for Win – Lose.  We fight for Win-Win-Win.  You, me and the community at large.  If somebody loses, then we all lose.

If we are to be the best Canadians we can… then we accept that the 1st generation Chinese Canadians were also “directly affected.”  They suffered as their parents suffered.  We know that in the JC community, whole generations tried to ignore and deny the internment process.  We know that whole generations succumbed to “Stockholm Syndrome” – to survive, they had to believe that they had done something wrong, and that the oppressors were their friends, and doing the right thing.

One certificate – one payment.  It is only fair.  If the government says… “sorry, the tax we charged you 120 to 80 years ago was wrong” but does not pay a dollar – is that right?

If the govt uses ill-gotten money because of racism for it's own purposes…  is it right for the govt to profit from racism?

What is the amount of $500 with accrued interest from 1903 to 2006?

If the Government were to charge the equivalent of the head tax amounts today… people would be outraged.  The Martin govt removed the $1000 immigrant landing fee, because it was seen as prohibitive for new immigrants.  What would the equivalant racist head tax be if it were charged today?

$100,000?   
$200,000?
$350,000?  That's what Charlie Quan said.

The equivalent of a house, or 2 years salary – maybe more.

Would a landing fee of $100,000 keep undesirable aliens from wanting to come to Canada?

But what if they keep coming… even if we raise it to $200,000 – then $300,000.

The federal govt is getting rich from these new immigrants – but the public opinion doesn't want them in the country – because they are dirty, smelly, have strange customs, will never adapt to Canadian ways.

What will we do?
Create an exclusion act.  Ban them completely.

But what about the ones who are already here, and want to bring over their wives and children.  The immigrants from America and Europe are bringing in their wives and children.

No… we don't want them breeding in Canada.  Keep the wives and children out.  They're not really human anyways.

No redress payments for 1st generation descendents.
This is what the Conservative government is saying.

Do you agree?

Gabriel Yiu writes:

If we take a closer look at the Japanese Canadian settlement, for a father whose house and factory were confiscated and himself put into concentration camp during WWII, when he passed away before the government redress was announced, if his offspring wasn't born prior to 1947, they would received [sic] no compensation.


My father was born before 1947.  Gim Wong was born before 1947.  Alex Louie, WW2 Veteran and subject of the NFB film “Unwanted Soldiers” was born before 1947.  Roy Mah OBC, founder of Chinatown News, was born before 1947.  But they will not recieve redress payment because they parents who paid the head tax are predeceased.  Were they still “directly affected” by the impact and legacy of the head tax and exclusion act?  Many will argue yes.

Under the JC redress paremeters, they would recieve redress payment, even though their parents are predeceased.

Too many head tax payers and spouses have died between 1984 and 2006, when the issue of redress was first announced.  The government needs to acknowledge and honour those that have died before redress was made.  Otherwise, the ghosts are not properly buried and will come back to haunt the government.

It is only fair, just and honourable.

It is merely the end of one head tax era, and the start of another era of exclusion.

Todd Wong
5th generation Canadian
head tax descendant for 4 generations.

“Head Tax Apology is Only First Step” – Prof. Henry Yu

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“Head Tax Apology is Only First
Step”
Prof. Henry Yu,
Department of History, University of British Columbia
 
The announcement this week by Prime Minister
Stephen Harper of a formal apology to Chinese Canadians for the injust Head Tax
imposed between 1885 and 1923 was an important symbolic act. As a historian who
teaches and researches the history of Chinese migrants to Canada at UBC, and as
a descendent myself of Head Tax payers, I welcome this important gesture as a
step towards the healing and reconciliation with a racist past that Canada still
sorely needs. However, in extending compensation only to the handful of
those still alive who paid the onerous Head Tax, Parliament missed an
opportunity to reconcile the long troubled past of Canada’s treatment of Chinese
Canadians.
 
I was born and raised in Canada,
and was fortunate to know as a child my grandfather, Yeung Sing Yew, who paid
$500 (over a year’s salary at the time) in Head Tax as a 13-year old migrant in
1923, months before Canada passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which forbade any
further Chinese immigration. His father before him had come to Canada to help
build the railroads, and his older brothers were pioneers in B.C. who worked in
mines, grew produce, owned grocery stores, and built lumber mills. He followed
them in their pioneering activities, and then for over thirty years, my
grandfather worked as a butcher on CPR ships that cruised between Vancouver and
Alaska. My grandfather lived almost his entire life in Canada, only returning to
China to marry, and was forced to leave his pregnant wife behind in China
because of Canadian Exclusion laws. These generations of split families were the
direct legacy of Canadian legal racism. His own father had left him and his
brothers in China as children because he could not afford to bring them over
until they were old enough to work and help pay off their own Head Tax payments.
When my grandmother and mother were finally able to join my grandfather in
Canada, just before I was born, it was an emotional reunion. She had never known
a father growing up, and he had been deprived of knowing his own child–my
mother was 26 years old the first time she met her father. Perhaps he took a
special interest in his grandchildren because of what he had missed: I remember
walking as a 4 year old with him to Chinatown and his pride in showing off a
grandchild to his friends. Most of them had lived a similar life, and the look
of joy in their faces as they gathered in the café to play with me spoke volumes
about their own missing children and grandchildren. Some of them were able to
bring their wives and children to Canada after the Immigration Act of 1967 made
it easier to reunite families (the large wave of Chinese who came to Canada in
the 1970s contained large numbers of these family unifications), but many of
them lived out their days in Chinatown flophouses as lonely old men, bereft of
wives because immigration policy had kept Chinese women out and blocked them
from having relationships with white women because of racism.
 
I think it is
entirely right that Canada as a nation formally apologizes for its treatment of
men like my grandfather and his friends. It is long overdue, since the
movement for such an apology is almost half a century old, and if it had been
made in a timely fashion, many more of those who paid would be alive to hear
it. I wish my grandfather had lived to hear Canada say “We are sorry.”
As a child, I remember him showing my mother his Head Tax certificate and
explaining the years of hard work it took him to pay it off. He knew it had been
injust, recognized that nobody except the Chinese had been required to pay, and
an apology while he was alive would have had immeasurable meaning. He knew the
racism that had singled out the Chinese–he lived it every day of his life as a
second class citizen in Canada–but materially he knew it as he struggled to
repay his debt. The governments of Canada and of British Columbia split the $23
million proceeds from the Head Tax (well over $1 billion in today’s money), and
it represented a significant proportion of BC’s provincial revenue in its early
history. Canadians enjoyed the benefits of Chinese labor not only because of
their work on the railroads and in lumber mills, farms, mines, grocery stores,
restaurants, and other industries–everyone else benefitted directly from the
infrastructure that was built using Head Tax revenue: the roads and sewers, but
also the schools and hospitals, most of which Chinese Canadians were not even
allowed to use because of “whites only” policies.
 
As we move forward from
this historic step in addressing anti-Chinese racism, I would urge my fellow
Canadians to reconsider and reconcile with our past. Our national
history still excludes the Chinese just as our national policies did,
recognizing them only for being here during the Gold Rush and helping build the
trans-Canada railroad. What were they doing the rest of the time? My
grandfather, like his father and brothers, lived and worked in Canada during the
rest of that time, helping build it under incredible duress. Most European
settlers came to the west coast of North America to find the Chinese already
there. Before the railroad, it was easier for the Chinese to cross the Pacific
in a ship than for Europeans to cross North America. The irony of the Chinese
helping build the transcontinental railroad is that it made it easier for
trans-Atlantic migrants to come to the Pacific coast. Our history is wrong. The
story we usually hear is that anti-Chinese agitation centered around the claim
that the Chinese came late and “took” the jobs of whites. In fact, the complete
opposite was true. Anti-Chinese movements began as European settlers arrived to
find Chinese, First Nations and others (such as Japanese and South Asians) well
settled in a Pacific British Columbia. The rhetoric was that the Chinese “took”
jobs away from “whites”; the reality was that “whites” wanted to take jobs away
from the Chinese who were already there, just as they wanted to take the land
from the First Nations people who were already there.
 
Redress for the Head Tax
that is limited to those handful of survivors and their wives who actually paid
the Head Tax is like settling Native land claims by giving back stolen land only
to those First Nations people who are still alive from when the land was first
taken. We all live with the historical legacies of white supremacy in
the form of legal policies such as land appropriation, immigration exclusion,
and the revenue generated from the Head Tax. We have all either benefitted or
suffered from this history in the forms of privilege that it granted or denied
our ancestors, and the legacies of the inequity did not go away with the death
of my grandfather, his brothers, nor his friends.
 
My mother loves Canada—for the
last four decades it has given her a home, given her the education of her
children, and given her hope that there is a place that strives for a better
world. She does not want the money paid so onerously and unjustly by my
great-grandfather, my grandfather, and his brothers. But symbolically, should
she not decide how to redress the wrong that was committed? Rather than
a government committee, or even a panel of historians and “experts” such as
myself, should not she and others who felt directly the legacies of that wrong,
decide how to materially address the financial redistribution of that tainted
money (even if Canada were to only put aside the actual amount of $23 million
collected, it’s present value would be a pittance in comparison to it’s original
worth)? There are many proposals for how to redress the wrong—a fund
for Heritage Canada to distribute for education and community development,
scholarships for students and scholars to study Chinese Canadian history, money
to collect for our national archives materials on the Chinese and other groups
that have been neglected and excluded from a collective sense of our past. We
should have a collective fund, but would there not be greater meaning and moral
purpose to have an array of people like my mother deciding how best to make
amends? There can not be a single definition about how to right a wrong. The
conflicts within Chinese Canadian communities over the past year reflect
disagreements about what is best. Should we not then agree to disagree, and to
see how individual families and individuals make meaning out of reconciliation?
I want to hear the stories of how one family gave money to charity, or how
another decided to create a scholarship, or how someone else decided that their
father or grandfather would be at rest if he knew that the money had gone to an
education fund for a grandchild robbed of an inheritance for which he could not
save. When Canada gave financial redress to Japanese Canadians interned during
the war, one of the wonderful results was that the families each had a chance to
make peace with the past in their own way, and the overall effect of each of
these individual decisions was so much greater than a small set of decisions
that could be made by a government committee or Heritage
Commission.
 
We need, then, to acknowledge our
troubled past by giving individual families the choice on how they want to
reconcile with the wrongs committed, and also to create a collective fund to
remake our national history. As a scholar, I believe we need a redefinition of
Canadian history to finally address the central role played by those who were
heretofore erased from our official history. One of the reasons I became a
scholar was because the history I learned in school was so at odds with the
reality I knew from family stories passed down from my grandfather and
great-grandfather. Their Canada was not just a story about railroad workers and
victims of racism. They told stories of Chinese men who had children with First
Nations women, who lived and traded among aboriginal and European migrant
communities in rural areas throughout B.C., who operated cafés  and grocery stores in small towns
throughout the Prairies, who lived and worked together with their neighbors to
create Canada. For four decades on a CPR cruise ship, my grandfather served
those who recently arrived from Britain and Europe who had the privilege to
instantly call themselves Canadian and to imply that he and not they had just
arrived.  But he knew that the life
he had made here, as hard as it was, was a life made in Canada.

 
Henry Yu is an Associate
Professor of History and Director of the Initiative for Student Teaching and
Research on Chinese Canadians (INSTRCC) at the University of British Columbia.

Head Tax apology – Liberal and NDP statements….

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Head Tax apology – Liberal and NDP statements….


The Liberals and the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois made statements
following Harper's Apology for Chinese Head Tax.  Layton was the
most eloquent and most passionate.  Loud cheers constantly
interrupted his talk both in Ottawa and Vancouver.  Duceppe spoke
entirely in French, noone knew what he said. 

The Liberals Bill Graham “lied/bended the truth/spun” about Martin
aplogizing back when he was on a Chinese radio station.  If it was
a “real” apology, he should have said it to English language media and
repeated it many times.  What was he afraid of, saying he was
sorry?

Liberal PM, MacKenzie King repealed CEA but he also imposed it
 

1. Liberals statement:

 
Statement from Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Bill Graham on the Chinese Head Tax Redress
June 22, 2006

Last
winter, the member for Lasalle-Émard, as the Prime Minister of our
country, apologized to the Chinese community for the head tax and the
Chinese exclusion act, which was repealed in 1947 by the Liberal
government of Mackenzie King.
That apology
expressed, on behalf of Canadians, our regret for the hardship and
difficulties inflicted on those victims and their families directly
affected by the Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act.
We
understand that apologizing is just part of the healing process for
communities that have been the victims of measures taken in the past
and which today we can recognize as injustices. Liberals want to ensure
that there is an appropriate plan to educate Canadians on this chapter
of our history, so we can learn from our past.
That’s
why we signed an agreement-in-principle with several communities to
provide funding for education and commemoration initiatives. We hope
that the government will honour these agreements, and deliver in full
the funds that were committed and permit those communities to tell
their stories in a way that will shed a new perspective on their past
while educating all Canadians so that we may be better citizens and
work to ensure that similar injustices are not committed in future
times because of other reasons.
Our Chinese
community has already achieved that in such moving and modern
expressions as the opera Iron Road, allowing us all to share the
anguish and pain, the courage and determination that was shown while
building the railway that was so essential to build this country and to
which the Prime Minister paid tribute to in his remarks.
It
is critical, that when addressing historical injustices, we ensure that
we are equal in our treatment of all communities who faced immigration
restrictions, or war time measures. While in government, we initiated
an ambitious program to commemorate those historical inequities.
The
Liberal Party is committed to supporting the Charter of Rights and
promoting equality for all Canadians. We believe that only through
promoting healthy multiculturalism and education programs can Canadians
ensure that the mistakes of our past are never repeated.
Today
we rejoice with other Canadians in the extraordinary success that
Canadians of Chinese origin have achieved. We recognize that their
talents, their energy, has contributed to our success as a country
whether in business, the professions, or in politics. We share with
them the pride in these individual and community successes; none better
than that incarnated in our former Governor General who, as a woman and
immigrant of Chinese origin came to provide a face for Canada, both to
ourselves and to the entire world.
 
 
2. NDP response
 

Jack Layton’s response to the government’s Head Tax apology

Thu 22 Jun 2006 | Printer friendly

Mr.
Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the New Democratic Party and our
caucus to join with members of this house in apology to all those who
were forced to pay the Chinese head tax, and to all of those families
who suffered under the Chinese Exclusion Act.
This is a
momentous first step towards achieving full justice, reconciliation and
closure – to right the historic wrong of the head tax that has been a
stain on our national conscience for a century.
We have
waited many years for this day – but not as long as the few remaining
head tax payers who honour this House with their presence today.
And not as long as those who died waiting in vain for justice to be done.
Not as long as the many families that were ripped apart and kept apart.
Not as long
as those who were forced to stay behind in China.
Not as long as wives who died waiting to be reunited with their husbands.
Not as long as children who never knew their fathers and grandfathers.
In
his apology, the Prime Minister spoke of the injustice that was done to
Chinese immigrants. He spoke well of the contribution of Chinese
Canadians to building our railway – indeed, to building our country. He
used the words stigma, exclusion and suffering.
We agree
with his words. They needed to be said, and now they have been said –
on the record, in this House, for future generations of Canadians to
see and understand our history.
We agree with the words – the apology is an all- important first step.
The
next step should be the action that would give full meaning to the
words – full justice, full reconciliation and full closure – to all
those who suffered from this racist and unjust policy. That step would
entail redress that is more than symbolic – redress to the families of
the head tax payers who died waiting for this day.
In
calling for full redress, I remind everyone present that the quest for
justice in this House of Commons began over 20 years ago.
In
1984, a New Democrat MP, Margaret Mitchell of Vancouver, stood in this
place and spoke of the hurtful legacy of racial discrimination that
divides Canada…. On that day, over 20 years ago, she asked the
government to issue an apology and offer redress to those who suffered.
She told the stories of loneliness, heartbreak and
isolation faced by so many Chinese immigrants. She spoke of one
constituent who came to Canada to work at the age of 15 and was forced
to pay the five-hundred dollar head tax…he did so to help his family
survive in China.
But, as with so many families torn
apart by these policies, his wife was later refused entry into Canada
because of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Margaret Mitchell dared to ask that the Prime
Minister on behalf of Canada, formally acknowledge these injustices to
Canadians of Chinese origin. She did so in her own words “In order to
make amends for this shameful period in our history, and to recognise
our new Charter of Rights which should prevent such future
discrimination against ethnic minorities.”
Margaret
Mitchell was the first to bring the need for an apology and redress
before this House. She was joined by Dan Heap, the NDP MP in
Trinity-Spadina at the time – and together they led the NDP campaign
for justice. Both worked with leaders of the very large Chinese
Canadian populations in their ridings – which included Vancouver’s
Chinatown and Toronto’s Chinatown.
Dan Heap was assisted
by his constituency assistant at the time – a Chinese Canadian
immigrant who now sits with pride with us as the Honourable Member for
Trinity-Spadina. She helped collect the Head tax certificates from the
surviving families.
Margaret Mitchell’s
former seat is now held by the Honourable member for Vancouver East,
who has been resolute in pursuit of justice, on behalf of her
constituents.
It is those constituents we must honour today – the few living and the many dead.
We
must also consider this as an apology to the many thousands who never
made it to Canada – who died before the Exclusion Act was lifted, or
who were unable to raise the exorbitant amount required for the head
tax.
Families were ripped apart and kept apart for
decades. Some wives left in China were in despair and resorted to
suicide. A generation of children never knew their fathers or
grandfathers. This apology must be for them as well – I hope this
allows all Canadians to reflect on suffering, injustice, and the
absolute importance of this apology.
And so today I commend this Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage for
finally taking the FIRST Step to right this historic wrong –
But we also ask for full justice – the next step.
The
next step – to finally achieve reconciliation and closure – is surely
to recognize those thousands of head tax payers who died waiting for
this day and to provide redress to their descendents.
Mr. Speaker, today, it is time to begin to heal the wounds of exclusion and discrimination…
Chinese
Canadians have at long last heard the overdue apology of a nation
finally prepared to recognise the failures of our past, and prepared to
move forward together as one.
We join in the apology, we
applaud this first step — and we will continue to press for the second
step – redress for descendants – to ensure that full justice and
reconciliation is achieved.
It’s important not just for Chinese Canadians, but for all Canadians.
The Prime Minister said “this apology is not about liability.”
We
say that redress is not about liability. It is about justice – let us
show the world that Canada is indeed a fair, generous and just nation.
Thank you.
 

Head Tax apology: Here is the transcript of speeches made in Parliament yesterday.

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Here is the transcript of speeches made in
Parliament yesterday.

 
http://www.parl.gc.ca/39/1/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/046_2006-06-22/HAN046-E.htm#SOB-1619176

 

ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS

[Routine Proceedings]

*   *   *

[English]

-Chinese
Immigrants

+-

    Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Mr.
Speaker, I rise today to formally turn the page on an unfortunate period in Canada's past,
a period during which a group of people, people who only sought to build a
better life, were repeatedly and deliberately singled out for unjust treatment.
I speak of course of the head tax that was imposed on Chinese immigrants to
this country, as well as the other restrictive measures that followed.

[Translation]

    The
Canada
we know today would not exist were it not for the efforts of the Chinese labourers who began to arrive in the mid-19th century.

[English]

    Almost
exclusively young men, these Chinese immigrants made the difficult decision to
leave their families behind in order to pursue opportunities in a country
halfway around the world they called Gold
Mountain. Beginning in
1881, over 15,000 of these Chinese pioneers became involved in the most
important nation building enterprise in Canadian history, the construction of
the Canadian Pacific Railway.

    From
the shores of the St. Lawrence across the seemingly endless expanses of shield
and prairie, climbing the majestic Rockies and cutting through the rugged
terrain of British Columbia,
this transcontinental link was the ribbon of steel that bound our fledgling
country together. It was an engineering feat that was instrumental to the
settlement of the west and the subsequent development of the Canadian economy,
and one for which the back-breaking toil of Chinese labourers
was largely responsible.

    The
conditions under which these men worked were, at best, harsh and at times
impossible. Tragically, some 1,000 Chinese labourers
died during the building of the CPR, but in spite of it all, these Chinese
immigrants persevered, and in doing so, helped to ensure the future of this
country. But from the moment the railway was completed, Canada turned
its back on these men.

    Beginning
with the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, a head tax of $50 was imposed on
Chinese newcomers in an attempt to deter immigration. Not content with the
tax's effect, the government subsequently raised the amount to $100 in 1900 and
then to $500 in 1903, the equivalent of two years' wages. This tax remained in
place until 1923 when the government amended the Chinese Immigration Act and
effectively banned most Chinese immigrants until 1947.

    Similar
legislation existed in the dominion of Newfoundland,
which also imposed a head tax between 1906 and 1949, when Newfoundland joined Confederation.

    The
Government of Canada recognizes the stigma and exclusion experienced by the
Chinese as a result. We acknowledge the high cost of the head tax meant that
many family members were left behind in China, never to be reunited, or
that families lived apart and in some cases in extreme poverty for years. We
also recognize that our failure to truly acknowledge these historical
injustices has prevented many in the community from seeing themselves as fully
Canadian.

¹  +-(1515)  

[Translation]

    Therefore,
on behalf of all Canadians and the Government of Canada, we offer a full
apology to Chinese Canadians for the head tax and express our deepest sorrow
for the subsequent exclusion of Chinese immigrants.

[English]

    Therefore,
once again, on behalf of the people and Government of Canada, we offer a full
apology to Chinese Canadians for the head tax and express our deepest sorrow
for the subsequent exclusion of Chinese immigrants.

    [Member spoke in Chinese]

    [English]

    This
apology is not about liability today. It is about reconciliation with those who
endured such hardship and the broader Chinese Canadian community, one that
continues to make such an invaluable contribution to this great country.

    While
Canadian courts have ruled that the head tax and immigration prohibition were
legally authorized at the time, we fully accept the moral responsibility to
acknowledge these shameful policies of our past. For over six decades, these
race based financial measures aimed solely at the Chinese were implemented with
deliberation by the Canadian state. This was a grave injustice and one we are
morally obligated to acknowledge.

    To
give substantive meaning to today's apology, the Government of Canada will
offer symbolic payments to living head tax payers and living spouses of
deceased payers. In addition, we will establish funds to help finance community
projects aimed at acknowledging the impact of past wartime measures and
immigration restrictions on the Chinese Canadian community and other ethnocultural communities.

[Translation]

    No
country is perfect. Like all countries, Canada has made mistakes in its
past, and we realize that. Canadians, however, are a good and just people,
acting when we have committed wrong.

[English]

    Even
though the head tax, a product of a profoundly different time lies far in our
past, we feel compelled to right this historic wrong for the simple reason that
it is the decent thing to do, a characteristic to be found at the core of the
Canadian soul.

    In
closing, let me assure the House that the government will continually strive to
ensure that similar unjust practices are never allowed to happen again. We have
the collective responsibility to build a country based firmly on the notion of
equality of opportunity, regardless of one's race or ethnic origin.

    Our
deep sorrow over the racist actions of our past will nurture an unwavering
commitment to build a better life for all Canadians.

¹  +-(1520)  

+-

    Hon. Bill Graham (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, I would like to join all members in recognizing the presence in the
galleries of our fellow Chinese-Canadians who have come here to join us today
on this solemn occasion. We welcome them.

    Last
fall the member for LaSalle—Émard, as
the prime minister of our country at that time, apologized to the Chinese
community for the head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was repealed
late, but repealed nonetheless, by the then Liberal government of Prime
Minister Mackenzie King in 1947.

[Translation]

    That
apology expressed, on behalf of Canadians, our regret for the hardship and difficulties
inflicted on those victims and their families directly affected by the Chinese
Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act. Liberals want to ensure that there is
an appropriate plan to educate Canadians on this chapter of our history, so we
can learn from our past.

    We
understand that apologizing is just part of the healing process for communities
that have been the victims of measures taken in the past and which today we can
recognize as injustices.

    Liberals
want to ensure that there is an appropriate plan to educate Canadians on this
chapter of our history, so we can learn from our past and ensure that similar
injustices are not repeated.

    That
is why we signed an agreement in principle with several communities to provide
funding for education and commemoration initiatives. We hope that the
government will honour these agreements, and deliver
in full the funds that were committed and permit those communities to tell
their stories in a way that will shed a new perspective on their past while
educating all Canadians so that we may be better citizens and work to ensure
that similar injustices are not committed in future times, as the Prime
Minister said.

[English]

    Our
Chinese community has already achieved that in its literature and in such
moving and modern expressions as the opera Iron
Road, which some may have seen here in Ottawa, allowing us all to
share the anguish and pain, the courage and determination that was shown when
building the railway that was so essential to establish our country and to
which the Prime Minister has paid tribute in his remarks.

    It
is critical, when we address historical injustices, that we ensure we are equal
in our treatment of all communities that faced immigration restrictions or
wartime measures. While in government, we initiated an ambitious program to
commemorate those historical inequities. The Liberal Party is committed to
supporting the Charter of Rights and promoting equality for all Canadians. We belive that only through promoting healthy multiculturalism
and education programs can Canadians ensure the mistakes of our past are never
repeated.

    Today
we rejoice with other Canadians in the extraordinary success that Canadians of
Chinese origin have achieved. We recognize their talents and energy have
contributed to our success as a country, whether in business, the professions, the arts or, indeed, in politics, as is represented by
several members of the House on both sides of the aisle of this democratic
institution which we share so proudly.

    We
share thus with our Chinese colleagues and citizens their pride in their
individual and community successes, none better perhaps than that incarnated in
our former Governor General who is a woman and an immigrant of Chinese origin
who came to represent our Canadian face, both to ourselves and to the world.

    [Member spoke in Chinese as follows:]

    Wah Yan Bu Hui Choi Bai Ke
Si

    [Translation]

¹  +-(1525)  

[Translation]

+-

    Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, I must first point out that nothing would have been possible without
the hard work done by the people who for many years doggedly pleaded this cause
on behalf of the victims.

    Many
of those people are with us today, and I salute them.

    I
would also like to applaud the tireless efforts of our immigration and
citizenship critic, the member for Vaudreuil-Soulanges,
who is also of Chinese origin, and our candidate in the most recent election in
LaSalle—Émard, May Chiu, who was
actively involved in this struggle.

    Congratulations
and thank you to everyone for their dedication.

    As
you are no doubt aware, the Bloc Québécois has long criticized
the Government of Canada's refusal to acknowledge the past injustices to the
Chinese-Canadian community. The head tax and the discriminatory immigration
policy that followed were heinous acts.

    It
is not too strong to speak of racism, as the Prime Minister did.

    This
discrimination was institutionalized in Canada.

    I
commend the Prime Minister's decision to apologize officially on behalf of the
Government of Canada and the people of Canada.

    On
behalf of the Bloc Québécois and the people of Quebec, I join him and apologize sincerely
to all the Quebeckers of Chinese origin for past errors.

    The
Prime Minister says that the purpose of his statement is to turn the page on an
unfortunate period in Canada's
past.

    And
to give greater weight to the government's apology, he announced that he will
offer symbolic payments to head tax payers and the spouses of deceased head tax
payers. I hope with all my heart that he will extend this compensation to the
direct descendants of the victims of this policy.

    It
was high time the government acted. Once again, I congratulate the Prime
Minister for keeping his word, and I ask him to act accordingly and think about
the direct descendants of these victims.

[English]

+-

    Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth,
NDP): Mr. Speaker,

    [Member spoke in Chinese]

    [English]

    On
this historic day, the New Democratic Party and its caucus join with all
members of the House in expressing Canada's apology to all of those who were
forced to pay the Chinese head tax and to all of those families who suffered
under the Chinese Exclusion Act. This is a momentous first step toward
achieving full justice, reconciliation and closure to right the historic wrong
of the head tax that has been a stain on our national conscience for a century.

    We
have waited many years for this day, but not as long as the few remaining head
tax payers who honour the House with their presence
here today, not as long as those who died waiting in vain for justice to be
done, not as long as the many families that were ripped apart and kept apart,
not as long as those who were forced to stay behind in China, not as long as
the wives who died waiting to be reunited with their husbands, and not as long
as the children who never knew their fathers and their grandfathers.

[Translation]

    In
his apology, the Prime Minister spoke of the injustice that was done to Chinese
immigrants.

    He
spoke well of the contribution of Chinese Canadians to building our railway
and, in fact, building our country.

    He
used the words exclusion and suffering.

¹  +-(1530)  

[English]

    We
agree with these words. They needed to be said and now they have been said on
the record in the House for future generations to see and to better understand
this stain on our past. We agree with these words. The apology is an all
important first step.

    The
next step should be the action that would give full meaning to these words: full
justice, full reconciliation, and full closure to all of those who suffered
from this racist and unjust policy. That step would entail redress that is more
than symbolic, redress to the descendants of the head tax payers who died
waiting for this day.

    In
calling for full redress, I remind everyone present that the quest for justice
began in the House of Commons 20 years ago, after having been brought forward
by members of the community, some of whom are also with us today.

    In
1984, a New Democratic member of Parliament, Margaret
Mitchell of Vancouver stood in this very place
and spoke of the hurtful legacy of racial discrimination that divides Canada. On that
day over 20 years ago she asked the government to issue an apology and to offer
redress to those who suffered. She told the stories of loneliness, heartbreak
and isolation faced by so many Chinese immigrants.

    She
spoke of one constituent, one of the thousands of young Chinese men who Canada encouraged to come to Canada to help
us build our country. He came at the age of 15 and was forced to pay the $500
head tax. He did so to try to help his family to survive back in China. However, as with so many families torn apart by those policies, his
wife was later refused entry to Canada
because of the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.

    Margaret
Mitchell dared to ask that the Prime Minister, on behalf of Canada,
formally acknowledge these injustices to Canadians of Chinese origin. She did
so in her own words, and I quote:

 

    In order to make amends for this shameful period in
our history, and to recognize our new Charter of Rights which should prevent
such future discrimination against ethnic minorities–

    Margaret
Mitchell was the first to bring this need for an apology and redress to the
House. She was joined by Dan Heap, an NDP member of Parliament for
Trinity—Spadina at the time, and together they
led the NDP effort in this regard. I am so pleased that all parties have come
together.

    Both
at the time worked with the leaders of the very large Chinese Canadian
populations, particularly in Vancouver's
Chinatown and Toronto's Chinatown.
Dan Heap at the time was assisted by a young Chinese woman immigrant who now
sits with pride with us as the hon. member for Trinity—Spadina. She helped collect the head tax certificates from
the family members and listened to their sad stories.

    Margaret
Mitchell's seat is now held by the hon. member for Vancouver East, who has been
resolute in pursuit of justice on behalf of her constituents.

    It
is those constituents who we must honour today, the
few living but the very many that are dead. We must also consider this as an
apology to the many thousands who never made it to Canada, who died before the Chinese
Head Tax and Exclusion Act was lifted or who were unable to raise the
exorbitant amount of funds required. Families were ripped apart and kept apart
for decades. Some wives left in China
were in despair and committed suicide. A generation of children never knew
their fathers or grandfathers.

    This
apology must be for them as well. I hope that it allows all Canadians to
reflect on the suffering, the injustice, and the absolute importance of this
apology. I thank the Prime Minister most profoundly for having risen in the
House and made the apology on behalf of all Canadians.

¹  -(1535)  

[Translation]

    Today
I commend this Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage for finally
taking the first step to right this historic wrong—but we also ask for
full justice— the next step.

    The
next step—to finally achieve reconciliation and closure—is surely
to recognize those thousands of head tax payers who died waiting for this day
and to provide redress to their descendants.

[English]

    Now
is the time to heal the wounds of exclusion and discrimination. Canadians have
at long last heard the overdue apology. In dealing with the failures of the
past, we can now move forward.

    It
is a great day for Canada.
We join in the apology and we applaud the first step. This redress is not about
liability; it is about justice. Let us show the world that Canada is indeed
a fair, generous and just nation.

    [Member spoke in Chinese as follows:]

    Kan nah dah gong doh jeh doh
jeh

    [English]

-

    The Speaker: Order, please. I believe that
concludes the business of the House for today.

    I
would like to pass on to all hon. members my very best wishes for a relaxing
summer break. There is of course the usual refreshment offer in Room 216 for
those who wish to drop by to wish others the same.

[Translation]

    It
being 3:37 p.m., pursuant to order made Wednesday, June 21, 2006, the
House stands adjourned until 11 a.m., September 18, 2006, pursuant to
Standing Orders 28(2) and 24(1).

    (The
House adjourned at 3:37 p.m.)

 

Canadian Heritage department: Questions and Answers about Chinese Head Tax

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Here are the official Q&A from the department of Canadian Heritage

Questions and
Answers

Q1: Why did the Government of Canada
apologize to the Chinese-Canadian community for the Chinese Head Tax in the
House of Commons on June 22, 2006?

The Government of Canada apologized for the
Head Tax in the House of Commons on June 22, 2006, to formally turn the page
on an unfortunate period in Canada’s
past.

The Government of Canada recognizes the stigma
and hardship experienced by the Chinese as a result of past legislation
related to the imposition of the Chinese Head Tax.  Although legally
authorized at the time, the Head Tax is inconsistent with the values
Canadians hold today.

This apology is not about liability today: it
is offered as a foundation for healing in the Chinese Canadian community,
which has endured such hardship and yet continues to make an invaluable
contribution to our great country. 

Q2: How did the Government of Canada
commemorate this historical event?

Following the apology statement by the Prime
Minister in the House of Commons, an acknowledgment event was held on
Parliament Hill. Simultaneous events were held in Vancouver
and Toronto with a direct video feed from Ottawa so that members
of the Chinese Canadian community who were unable to travel could participate
in the event remotely.

The Apology statement is available on the
website of the Department of Canadian Heritage at www.pch.gc.ca. Copies can also be requested
by calling 1-888-776-8584.

Q3: When will the government be
able to implement the distribution of symbolic individual ex-gratia payments,
and community and national recognition programs?

The specifics of each initiative are being
finalized.  I mplementation is anticipated to
begin in the fall of 2006. 

Symbolic Individual Ex-gratia
payments

Q4: Which Canadians are eligible
to receive the symbolic individual ex-gratia payments from the Government of Canada?

Living Chinese Head Tax payers and living spouses
of deceased payers are eligible to receive the symbolic individual ex-gratia
payments of $20,000.

Q5: Why is the Government of Canada
providing ex-gratia payments to the Chinese community if the Head Tax and
immigration restriction measures were legal at the time of application?

Despite Canada’s reputation as one
of the world’s most inclusive and diverse societies, our history
includes government actions, which, although legally authorised
at the time, were discriminatory and inconsistent with the values that
Canadians hold today.

Q6: How did the Government of Canada arrive
at the amount of $20,000 for individual symbolic ex-gratia payments to
Chinese Head Tax payers and spouses?

During discussions with the Chinese-Canadian
community, this approximate amount was a common suggestion for symbolic
ex-gratia payments to living Head Tax payers or their surviving
spouses.  The payment will be symbolic; it is not compensation.

Q7: Who is eligible for a symbolic
ex-gratia payment? How will eligibility be verified? When will applicants be
able to apply for their ex-gratia payment? How do I apply for a symbolic
ex-gratia payment?

Information on eligibility, verification, and
the application process will be made available once finalized by the
Government of Canada on www.pch.gc.ca or
by calling 1-888-776-8584.

Q8: What is the total cost to the
Government of Canada
of providing symbolic ex-gratia payments to living Head Tax payers or their
surviving spouses?

Actual costs will depend on the number of
applicants deemed eligible for symbolic ex-gratia payments. 

Q9: Will the ex-gratia payments be
taxable ?

No, the Canada Revenue Agency has confirmed
that ex-gratia payments will not be taxable.

Community Historical
Recognition Program

Q10: What is the purpose of the
Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP) announced by the Government
of Canada
on June 22, 2006?

Through the Community Historical Recognition Program , the Government will fund eligible
community-based commemorative and educational projects that promote awareness
of the Head Tax, the immigration prohibition, and other discriminatory
wartime measures and/or immigration restrictions. Eligible projects could
include initiatives such as monuments, historically significant plaques and
local exhibits. 

Q11: What is the status of the
Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education (ACE) Program?

The Community Historical Recognition Program
(CHRP) replaces the ACE program and will provide funding for community-based
projects linked to wartime measures and/or immigration restrictions.

Q12: Will the Government implement
the Agreements-in-Principle (AIPs) signed with the
Chinese, Italian and Ukrainian Canadian communities?

Through the Community Historical Recognition
Program (CHRP), the government will be able to honour
the specific funding identified in the Agreements signed with the Chinese,
Italian and Ukrainian Canadian communities.

Q13: How much money has been
allocated to the Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP)?

The Government of Canada has allocated $24
million for the Community Historical Recognition Program.

Q14: Who is eligible to access
funding for the Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP)?

Any ethno-cultural community that experienced
immigration restrictions or was impacted by wartime measures will be eligible
to access project funding under the Community Historical Recognition Program . More details on eligibility will be available at
a future date.

Q15: When will organizations be
able to apply for the Community Historical Recognition Program? 

The Government of Canada is finalizing all
program details.  More information will be available at a future date.

National Historical
Recognition Program

Q16: What is the purpose of the
National Historical Recognition Program (NHRP) announced by the Government of
Canada
on June 22, 2006?

The National Historical Recognition Program
will help educate all Canadians, in particular youth, about the discrimination
and hardship faced by the Chinese and other communities impacted by wartime
measures and/or immigration restrictions and the significance of these
experiences for the communities in question.  This program will be
implemented by the federal government and include initiatives such as the
development of Public Service announcements, educational tools and access to
web-based archival information.  Many initiatives will be developed in
partnership with educators, historians and private and/or not-for-profit
institutions.  

Q17: How much money has been
allocated to the National Historical Recognition Program (NHRP)?

The Government of Canada has allocated $10
million in new funding for the NHRP.

Q18: Who is eligible to access
funding under the National Recognition Program (NHRP)?

This is not a grants and contribution
program.  This is funding for the development of federal initiatives
many of which will be done in partnership with educators, historians and
private and/or not-for-profit institutions. More details will be available at
a future date.

Q19: Is it possible to get a video
recording of the apology in the House and of the speeches at the Ottawa event?

Individuals or groups can request a videotaped
copy of the Prime Minister's statement in the House of Commons by filling out
a request form. Contact the House of Commons Broadcasting Services by
telephone at (613) 996-1631 or by email at hawwad@parl.gc.ca
OR ls-sj@parl.gc.ca. Tapes are
available in VHS and Beta formats only (no DVD). They are provided free of
charge.

The Apology statement is available on the
website of the Department of Canadian Heritage at www.pch.gc.ca  Copies can also be
requested by calling 1-888-776-8584.

Q20: How can I get more
information about these announcements?

Information on the Chinese Head Tax apology
and related announcements will be provided at www.pch.gc.ca
or by calling 1-888-776-8584.

 

image

Date modified: 2006/06/22

Important
Notices

http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/multi/redress-redressement/faq_e.cfm?nav=2

BC Coalition comments on the Apology and Redress package

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BC Coalition comments on the Apology and Redress package

 BC Coalition of Head Tax payers give a Thumbs up for Apology and
immediate redress payments for surviving head tax payers and spouses.  This was the first stage of the two-step proposal submitted to the government back in March.


BC Coalition of Head Tax payers give a Thumbs Down for no redress payments for 1st generation and other descendents.  Did the government lose stage 2 of the proposal?  If a head tax payer or surviving spouse died last month – does this mean no payment to the family? 

Head Tax Apology Ceremony: My personal thoughts…

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Head Tax Apology Ceremony:  My personal thoughts…


1) head tax descendant lines up
2) people pick up the translation listening devices
3) one of the oldest surviving head tax payers, with family

1) Faye Leung – the “hat lady” is a head tax descendent
2) head tax payer Charlie Quan with his favorite grandson Terry Quan
3) my mother Betty Wong, friend “Auntie” Marie Mah, my father Bill Wong

It was like being invited to a promised banquet and served some sumptious
delicious appetizers and dishes, but only half the promised courses, definitely not enough food for
everybody.  People left the ceremony feeling still hungry…
literally and spiritually.  There had been finger food provided,
served after the ceremonies… but it wasn't enough.  All the
surviving head tax payers were too busy being interviewed, to get into
the food lineups.  I never tasted a bite of food, as I was also
doing interviews and helping the reporters interview significant head
tax descendants.

 
1) Prime Minister Harper makes his announcement
2) NDP leader Jack Layton makes his reply

Harper made the expected apology.  Good!
Harper said there would be compensation for “living” head tax payers and spouses.  Good!
This is what the CCNC, BC Coaltion and Ontario Coalition all proposed as part one of a two stage process.

But Harper stopped short of announcing redress package for descendants
of head tax payers and spouses.  This means that if your head tax
paying grandparent or parent died yesterday… then there would be no
forthcoming payment because they were no longer “living.” Too bad – too
sad!

The BC Coalition graciously accepted and applauded the apology and
redress package for head tax payers and spouses, but states that it is
only fair that descendants be included too!  One certificate – one
payment is fair.  Do not start another exclusion process.

Here is how the day unfolded.

10:30 arrive at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver to help direct people to Floor C, BC Ballroom for the Head Tax Apology ceremony

12:05pm  I head upstairs to watch the ceremony

PM Stephen Harper makes apology statement, followed by each party
leader.  Harper is to the point, very dignified.  Bill Graham
seemed much more funeral like, and somber.  Gilles Duceppe spoke
entirely in french, whereas all other leaders spoke French, English,
and some Chinese.  Jack Layton had the best statement, full of
historical truths and passion.

intermission:  musical entertainment in Ottawa and Vancouver
In
Vancouver, Zhimin Yu performed on Chinese Roan with Oliver on classical
guitar- photo Todd Wong (Zhimin also performs with Silk Road Music and
was featured in the CBC Gung Haggis Fat Choy television performance
special)

Ottawa simulcast returns.  Singing of O Canada in English and French

Jason Kenney emcees the ceremony part in the Railway Room of the House
of Commons, where the planning of the transCanada railway took place.

Mary Mah speaks

James Pon speaks

Susan Eng speaks

PM Harper is presented with the ceremonial “last spike” given to the CCNC by Pierre Berton.

PM Harper shakes hands with the specially invited head tax payers and spouses.

Vancouver ceremony closes with presentation of food.  Media
quickly starts interviewing surviving head tax payers, spouses and
descendants.  But not enough food is available.  Food tables
run out with line ups still waiting… people being interviewed get no
food.

It is like being invited to a banquet – but not being served enough food to eat.


1) Harvey Lee sits disappointed talking with Cynthia Lam, with Ron in the background

The BC Coalition leaves the Hotel Vancouver ballroom feeling hungry and
unsatisfied – both literally and spiritually.  We go to Congee
House restaurant to plan our next stage.  We vow to continue the
campaign for a fair and honourable redress package that will include
all descendants.  BC Coalition believes that one certificate – one
payment is only fair.


BC Coalition of Head Tax payers give a Thumbs up for Apology and
immediate redress payments for surviving head tax payers and spouses.

BC Coalition of Head Tax payers give a Thumbs Down for no redress payments for 1st generation and other descendents.

Head tax: June 22 post announcement stories…. Canadian Press

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http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/20709
Canada's Harper to
apologize to Chinese immigrants for head tax
Political Gateway, FL
… 2006 (PG) – Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper was expected … state-sponsored

PM apologizes for tax
Calling it a
'grave injustice,' Stephen Harper apologizes, offers compensation for racist
head tax.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/22062006/2/national-prime-minister-offers-
compensation-apology-racist-chinese-head-tax.html

Statement by Assembly of First Nations National Chief on the Federal apology for the Chinese Head Tax

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Very cool!  The
Assembly of First Nations has made a statement supporting the apology
for Head Tax.  I did meet Grand Chief Edward John in January who
had said that Paul Martin's “personal apology” wasn't good enough – this is what I wrote.  My cousin Chief Rhonda Larrabee
of the Qayqayt First Nations, has often joked that on her father's side
they had to pay the head tax, and on her mother's side, they had their
land stolen.
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2004/11/17/185768.html

Attention News Editors:

Statement by Assembly of First Nations National Chief on the Federal apology
for the Chinese Head Tax 

    OTTAWA, June 22 /CNW Telbec/ - Assembly of First Nations National Chief
Phil Fontaine issued the following statement today on the apology by the
federal government for the Chinese head tax:

    "On behalf of the Assembly of First Nations, I congratulate
Chinese-Canadians and their descendants who were victimized by the racist
policy of the Head Tax. It is long overdue.
    The unjust policies of the past often served only to widen racial and
social divisions in this country. The government of Canada is right to
acknowledge and redress these injustices. We congratulate the recipients of
this apology and their descendents for securing this long-overdue apology from
the government.
    Survivors of residential schools are confident that they, too, will
receive an apology from the Prime Minister on behalf of the Crown once the
court approval process for the Settlement package is complete. Our case, like
that of the Chinese-Canadians, was similarly unjust and misguided, but for us,
the policy was for the purpose of eradicating our languages and cultures.
    In exercising his leadership to make this apology, Mr. Harper
demonstrates the understanding that in order for both the perpetrators and the
victims to heal, there is a need to express a true and sincere apology and to
seek forgiveness.
    Residential school survivors look forward to the day when we too will
receive our long overdue apology. We look forward to working with the Prime
Minister and his staff to set the date and the content of that apology.
    Today, we honour the Chinese community and commend their persistence in
the pursuit of justice and redress. Residential school survivors, their
descendents, First Nations citizens and all Canadians look forward to a
similar apology from the Prime Minister on behalf of the Crown."

    The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing
First Nations citizens in Canada.


For further information: Don Kelly, AFN Communications Director, (613)
241-6789 ext. 320, cell (613) 292-2787; Ian McLeod, AFN Bilingual
Communications Officer, (613) 241-6789 ext. 336, cell (613) 859-4335