CHAPTER 1: IMMIGRATION TO CANADA
The first major wave of Chinese Immigration into Canada was during 1877 and 1928, consisting of mostly young, literate men who worked in timber or fishing. However, in the early 1880s, some 15,000 labourers were brought from China to do construction work on the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were leaving crushing poverty in China, for heavy work that included dangerous tasks like carrying explosives, for a wage established by the Chinese labour brokers hiring them, that was a third or a half less than their coworkers.
This immigration was large enough — some 3,000 Chinese, when the 1871 census counted only 33,586 in the province — to arouse concern. The province of British Columbia passed a strict law to virtually prevent Chinese immigration in 1878. However, this was immediately struck down by the courts as ultra vires [beyond the powers of] the provincial legislature, because they impinged upon federal jurisdiction over immigration.
As a dominion of the British Empire, Canada tried to discourage, but could not, by its international obligations, completely eliminate, Chinese immigration at its borders. Canada's federal Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 stipulated that all Chinese entering Canada pay a $50 fee, later referred to as a head tax. This was amended in 1887, 1892, and 1900.
Not all Chinese arrivals had to pay the head tax. Some were presumed to return to China after "sojourning" to Canada because of their transitory occupation, or background (students, teachers, missionaries, merchants, members of the diplomatic corps) and were, therefore, exempt from paying this fee.
Raising the Tax
The Government of Canada, under subsequent administrations, increased the tax to $100 and, then, $500, under the Chinese Immigration Act, 1900 and the Chinese Immigration Act, 1903, respectively. In the early 1900s, the value of $500 was two years' salary, or enough to purchase two homes in Montreal, or a 1/4 section of land in many provinces.
These taxes went into a Consolidated Revenue Fund and were spent by a government in which the payers had no representation (Chinese were not permitted to vote at the time). These statutes were regarded as examples of anti-Chinese legislation in Canada that were part of general institutional racism against the Chinese in Canada. The Chinese were the only ethnic group that had to pay a Head Tax to enter Canada, although efforts to impose one on Americans during the colonial period were overruled by the Colonial Office in London. Other Asians, such as the East Indians and the Japanese, were not subject to a Head Tax. There were, however, formal and informal limits to how many Japanese people could immigrate to Canada.
Before the Statute of Westminister, 1931, the Government of the United Kingdom controlled Canada's international affairs. Canada could not deter citizens from India, which was still a British crown colony, or Japan, which agreed to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902. Yet, the Government of Canada made efforts to require citizens of Japan and other British Far Eastern colonies to have to travel by direct voyage only.
Impact of the head tax
The Government of Canada collected about $23 million in face value from about 810,000 head tax payers, some of the money being used to support Canada's war effort in World War II. The total head tax collected by 1923 has been estimated as equivalent to over $1.5 billion in 1988 dollars.]
The head tax system had the effect of constraining Chinese immigration: making labour available for the railroads, and putting limits on the lives of the immigrants. This was in contrast to the goal of exclusion of Chinese immigration altogether, as articulated by contemporary politicians and labour leaders. The system was effective in discouraging Chinese women and children from joining their men, so the Chinese community in Canada became a "bachelor society".
End of the head tax
The head tax was ended by the Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, which stopped Chinese immigration entirely, though certain exemptions such as those for business owners and others permitted some continued immigration. It is sometimes referred to by opponents as the Chinese Exclusion Act, a term also used for its American counterpart.
Movement for redress
In the 1980s, many Chinese and groups lobbied for a refund of the head tax, and an apology, or formal acknowledgment, from the Government of Canada. The modern era redress movement may be traced back to 1984, when Vancouver Member of Parliament Margaret Mitchell raised in the House of Commons the issue of repaying the racist Chinese Head Tax for two of her constituents. After that, thousands of Head Tax payers and their family members approached the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) and its member organizations across Canada to register their Head Tax certificates and ask CCNC to represent them to lobby the government for redress.
Since 1984, the CCNC has been seeking redress on behalf of the surviving Head Tax payers and their families who have suffered from decades of discrimination as a result of these racist laws passed by the Canadian Government. Over 4,000 Head Tax payers, spouses and descendants entrusted CCNC with representing them in seeking an apology and financial redress. The redress campaign included holding numerous community meetings, gathering support from other groups and prominent people, increasing the media profile, conducting research and published materials, making presentations at schools, etc. CCNC continued to meet with various Multiculturalism Ministers.
In 1993, months before a federal election, then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney made an offer of individual medallions, a museum wing and other collective measures involving several other redress-seeking communities. This was rejected outright by the Chinese, Italian and Ukrainian Canadian national groups.
After Prime Minister Jean Chretien was elected in 1993, his Government openly refused to provide an apology or redress. The following few years saw little major activity although no one gave up on redress, and CCNC and its supporters continued to raise the issue whenever they could, including a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Another phase of the redress campaign started in 1999 with the planning and implementation of the court action against the Government. The CCNC argued that the federal government should not be profiting from racism, and that it had a responsibility under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and under international human rights law. In addition, the 1988 official apology and compensation (supported by CCNC) for the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II set a precedent for redressing racially motivated policies.
The Ontario court declared in 2001 that the Government of Canada had no obligation to redress the head tax levied on Chinese immigrants because the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had no retroactive application, and that the case of internment of Japanese Canadians was not a legal precedent for compensating past racist policies. Two appeals in 2002 and 2003 were unsuccessful, but the judge’s supportive words in the original 2001 decision helped to raise awareness and keep up the pressure.
As Prime Minister Paul Martin entered the scene in 2003, there was renewed hope amongst both long-time redress activists and new supporters. The urgency of the situation became the overriding factor as it became clear that there were perhaps only a few dozen surviving Head Tax payers left and maybe a few hundred spouses or widows. In the years from 2003 to 2006, there were several national events that helped to revitalize the redress campaign. The highlights were the 2003 Last Spike Redress Campaign with the symbolic “last spike” of the Canadian Pacific Railway donated by Pierre Berton to CCNC.
In 2004, in response to a submission by the Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance in Montreal, a timely Report by Doudou Diène, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, concluded that Canada should redress the head tax to Chinese Canadians In the summer of 2005, Gim Wong – an 80-year-old son of a Head Tax payer and a World War II veteran – started his cross-country Ride for Redress on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.
The year 2005 also saw the creation of the Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families, which worked closely with CCNC and the B.C. Coalition that was so successful in the early 1990s.
Liberal Government's proposed foundation
To the surprise of many, on November 17, 2005, a group calling itself the National Congress of Chinese Canadians announced an "agreement" with the out-going Liberal administration to pay $12.5 million for the creation of a new non-profit foundation to educate Canadians about anti-Chinese discrimination. The payments (of the, now, failed, agreement) would have gone to a foundation, not to individuals who had paid the tax, with a specific, pre-condition of "no apology" by the government. This proposal was instantly met by controversy. Among other things, the deal had been negotiated without the participation of a number of the most active groups across Canada, including the CCNC.
Accordingly, when the Department of Heritage announced its preliminary agreement on November 24, 2005, funding was suddenly reduced to $2.5 million--most likely the result of fierce and obvious opposition in the broader community. It was also later, revealed that Raymond Chan, the government official claiming to have negotiated with community groups who held no family ties to the issue, purposely misled the government and public that the Chinese community was willing to accept "no apology, [and] no [individual or collective] compensation." The authors of the unpopular proposal also claimed support of 11 Chinese-Canadian groups.
Yet, upon further examination, some of the named groups stated publicly that their names had been used without permission; several other groups listed, did not even exist. The out-going Liberal Government tabled bill C-333 (as a private member's bill) to implement the deal in November 2004, but this bill died when the Government fell on November 28, 2005.
Opposition grew louder in the Chinese Canadian community and, in response, major redress-seeking alliances and coalitions were formed. This marked a major turning point for the Head Tax Campaign across Canada. The public lobby took prominence during and after, the 2006 federal election. In addition, significant, individual efforts in private, would lead to future negotiations with the Conservative Party.
In prior election campaigns in 2004 and 2006, opposition parties, including the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois had already stated their support for an apology and redress for the head tax. On December 8, 2005, Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper released a press statement expressing his support for an apology for the head tax. As a part of his 2006 election platform, Mr. Harper promised to work with the Chinese community on redress should the Conservatives form the next government.
Before ultimately losing the federal election, the out-going Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Paul Martin issued a half-hearted personal apology on a Chinese language radio program. However, he was quickly criticized by the Chinese Canadian community for not issuing the apology in Parliament and, then, trying to dismiss it completely in the English-speaking media on the very same day. Several Liberal candidates with significant Chinese-Canadian populations in their ridings, including Vancouver-Kingsway MP David Emerson, and the Minister of State (Multiculturalism) and Richmond, BC MP Raymond Chan, also made futile attempts to change their positions in the midst of the 2006 election campaign.
Conservative Government Apology
The Conservative Party won the election with a minority government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper reiterating his position on the Head Tax issue in a news conference on January 26, 2006: "Chinese Canadians are making an extraordinary impact on the building of our country. They've also made a significant historical contribution despite many obstacles. That's why, as I said during the election campaign, the Chinese Canadian community deserves an apology for the head tax and appropriate acknowledgement and redress."
Formal discussions on the form of apology and redress began on March 24, 2006 with a preliminary meeting with Chinese Canadians representing various groups (including some head tax payers), Heritage Minister Bev Oda, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Jason Kenney, resulting in the "distinct possibility" of a formal government apology before July 1, 2006 to commemorate the anniversary of the enacting of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923.
The meeting was followed by the Conservative government's acknowledgement on April 4, 2006 in its Speech from the Throne that an apology would be given along with proper redress. From April 21 to 30, 2006, the Conservative government hosted public, national consultations across Canada in cities most actively involved in the campaign, since it first began: Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, and Winnipeg. They included the personal testimony of elders and representatives from a number of groups, among them, the Halifax Redress Committee; the BC Coalition of Head Tax Payers, Spouses & Descendants; ACCESS; the Ontario Coalition of Head Tax Payers & Families; the CCNC; the Edmonton Redress Committee of the Chinese Canadian Historical Association of Alberta; and, the National Redress Alliance headquartered in Montreal.
On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an apology and compensation only for the head tax once paid by Chinese immigrants. Survivors or their spouses will be paid approximately $20,000 CAD in compensation. There are only an estimated 20 Chinese Canadians who paid the tax still alive in 2006.
Today
Currently, the major issues revolve around the content of any future settlement, with the leading groups demanding meaningful redress, not only for the handful of surviving "head tax" payers and widows/spouses, but first-generation sons/daughters who were direct victims. Some have proposed that the redress be based on the number of "Head Tax" Certificates (or estates) brought forward by surviving sons and daughters who are still able to register their claims, with proposals for individual redress, ranging from $10,000 to 30,000 for an estimated 4,000 registrants. As no mention of redress for those children was made, the Chinese Canadian community continues to fight for a redress from the Canadian government. A national day of protest was held on July 1, 2006 in major cities across Canada, with several hundred Chinese Canadians joining in local marches.
The first major wave of Chinese Immigration into Canada was during 1877 and 1928, consisting of mostly young, literate men who worked in timber or fishing. However, in the early 1880s, some 15,000 labourers were brought from China to do construction work on the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were leaving crushing poverty in China, for heavy work that included dangerous tasks like carrying explosives, for a wage established by the Chinese labour brokers hiring them, that was a third or a half less than their coworkers.
This immigration was large enough — some 3,000 Chinese, when the 1871 census counted only 33,586 in the province — to arouse concern. The province of British Columbia passed a strict law to virtually prevent Chinese immigration in 1878. However, this was immediately struck down by the courts as ultra vires [beyond the powers of] the provincial legislature, because they impinged upon federal jurisdiction over immigration.
As a dominion of the British Empire, Canada tried to discourage, but could not, by its international obligations, completely eliminate, Chinese immigration at its borders. Canada's federal Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 stipulated that all Chinese entering Canada pay a $50 fee, later referred to as a head tax. This was amended in 1887, 1892, and 1900.
Not all Chinese arrivals had to pay the head tax. Some were presumed to return to China after "sojourning" to Canada because of their transitory occupation, or background (students, teachers, missionaries, merchants, members of the diplomatic corps) and were, therefore, exempt from paying this fee.
Raising the Tax
The Government of Canada, under subsequent administrations, increased the tax to $100 and, then, $500, under the Chinese Immigration Act, 1900 and the Chinese Immigration Act, 1903, respectively. In the early 1900s, the value of $500 was two years' salary, or enough to purchase two homes in Montreal, or a 1/4 section of land in many provinces.
These taxes went into a Consolidated Revenue Fund and were spent by a government in which the payers had no representation (Chinese were not permitted to vote at the time). These statutes were regarded as examples of anti-Chinese legislation in Canada that were part of general institutional racism against the Chinese in Canada. The Chinese were the only ethnic group that had to pay a Head Tax to enter Canada, although efforts to impose one on Americans during the colonial period were overruled by the Colonial Office in London. Other Asians, such as the East Indians and the Japanese, were not subject to a Head Tax. There were, however, formal and informal limits to how many Japanese people could immigrate to Canada.
Before the Statute of Westminister, 1931, the Government of the United Kingdom controlled Canada's international affairs. Canada could not deter citizens from India, which was still a British crown colony, or Japan, which agreed to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902. Yet, the Government of Canada made efforts to require citizens of Japan and other British Far Eastern colonies to have to travel by direct voyage only.
Impact of the head tax
The Government of Canada collected about $23 million in face value from about 810,000 head tax payers, some of the money being used to support Canada's war effort in World War II. The total head tax collected by 1923 has been estimated as equivalent to over $1.5 billion in 1988 dollars.]
The head tax system had the effect of constraining Chinese immigration: making labour available for the railroads, and putting limits on the lives of the immigrants. This was in contrast to the goal of exclusion of Chinese immigration altogether, as articulated by contemporary politicians and labour leaders. The system was effective in discouraging Chinese women and children from joining their men, so the Chinese community in Canada became a "bachelor society".
End of the head tax
The head tax was ended by the Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, which stopped Chinese immigration entirely, though certain exemptions such as those for business owners and others permitted some continued immigration. It is sometimes referred to by opponents as the Chinese Exclusion Act, a term also used for its American counterpart.
Movement for redress
In the 1980s, many Chinese and groups lobbied for a refund of the head tax, and an apology, or formal acknowledgment, from the Government of Canada. The modern era redress movement may be traced back to 1984, when Vancouver Member of Parliament Margaret Mitchell raised in the House of Commons the issue of repaying the racist Chinese Head Tax for two of her constituents. After that, thousands of Head Tax payers and their family members approached the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) and its member organizations across Canada to register their Head Tax certificates and ask CCNC to represent them to lobby the government for redress.
Since 1984, the CCNC has been seeking redress on behalf of the surviving Head Tax payers and their families who have suffered from decades of discrimination as a result of these racist laws passed by the Canadian Government. Over 4,000 Head Tax payers, spouses and descendants entrusted CCNC with representing them in seeking an apology and financial redress. The redress campaign included holding numerous community meetings, gathering support from other groups and prominent people, increasing the media profile, conducting research and published materials, making presentations at schools, etc. CCNC continued to meet with various Multiculturalism Ministers.
In 1993, months before a federal election, then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney made an offer of individual medallions, a museum wing and other collective measures involving several other redress-seeking communities. This was rejected outright by the Chinese, Italian and Ukrainian Canadian national groups.
After Prime Minister Jean Chretien was elected in 1993, his Government openly refused to provide an apology or redress. The following few years saw little major activity although no one gave up on redress, and CCNC and its supporters continued to raise the issue whenever they could, including a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Another phase of the redress campaign started in 1999 with the planning and implementation of the court action against the Government. The CCNC argued that the federal government should not be profiting from racism, and that it had a responsibility under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and under international human rights law. In addition, the 1988 official apology and compensation (supported by CCNC) for the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II set a precedent for redressing racially motivated policies.
The Ontario court declared in 2001 that the Government of Canada had no obligation to redress the head tax levied on Chinese immigrants because the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had no retroactive application, and that the case of internment of Japanese Canadians was not a legal precedent for compensating past racist policies. Two appeals in 2002 and 2003 were unsuccessful, but the judge’s supportive words in the original 2001 decision helped to raise awareness and keep up the pressure.
As Prime Minister Paul Martin entered the scene in 2003, there was renewed hope amongst both long-time redress activists and new supporters. The urgency of the situation became the overriding factor as it became clear that there were perhaps only a few dozen surviving Head Tax payers left and maybe a few hundred spouses or widows. In the years from 2003 to 2006, there were several national events that helped to revitalize the redress campaign. The highlights were the 2003 Last Spike Redress Campaign with the symbolic “last spike” of the Canadian Pacific Railway donated by Pierre Berton to CCNC.
In 2004, in response to a submission by the Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance in Montreal, a timely Report by Doudou Diène, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, concluded that Canada should redress the head tax to Chinese Canadians In the summer of 2005, Gim Wong – an 80-year-old son of a Head Tax payer and a World War II veteran – started his cross-country Ride for Redress on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.
The year 2005 also saw the creation of the Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families, which worked closely with CCNC and the B.C. Coalition that was so successful in the early 1990s.
Liberal Government's proposed foundation
To the surprise of many, on November 17, 2005, a group calling itself the National Congress of Chinese Canadians announced an "agreement" with the out-going Liberal administration to pay $12.5 million for the creation of a new non-profit foundation to educate Canadians about anti-Chinese discrimination. The payments (of the, now, failed, agreement) would have gone to a foundation, not to individuals who had paid the tax, with a specific, pre-condition of "no apology" by the government. This proposal was instantly met by controversy. Among other things, the deal had been negotiated without the participation of a number of the most active groups across Canada, including the CCNC.
Accordingly, when the Department of Heritage announced its preliminary agreement on November 24, 2005, funding was suddenly reduced to $2.5 million--most likely the result of fierce and obvious opposition in the broader community. It was also later, revealed that Raymond Chan, the government official claiming to have negotiated with community groups who held no family ties to the issue, purposely misled the government and public that the Chinese community was willing to accept "no apology, [and] no [individual or collective] compensation." The authors of the unpopular proposal also claimed support of 11 Chinese-Canadian groups.
Yet, upon further examination, some of the named groups stated publicly that their names had been used without permission; several other groups listed, did not even exist. The out-going Liberal Government tabled bill C-333 (as a private member's bill) to implement the deal in November 2004, but this bill died when the Government fell on November 28, 2005.
Opposition grew louder in the Chinese Canadian community and, in response, major redress-seeking alliances and coalitions were formed. This marked a major turning point for the Head Tax Campaign across Canada. The public lobby took prominence during and after, the 2006 federal election. In addition, significant, individual efforts in private, would lead to future negotiations with the Conservative Party.
In prior election campaigns in 2004 and 2006, opposition parties, including the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Quebecois had already stated their support for an apology and redress for the head tax. On December 8, 2005, Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper released a press statement expressing his support for an apology for the head tax. As a part of his 2006 election platform, Mr. Harper promised to work with the Chinese community on redress should the Conservatives form the next government.
Before ultimately losing the federal election, the out-going Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Paul Martin issued a half-hearted personal apology on a Chinese language radio program. However, he was quickly criticized by the Chinese Canadian community for not issuing the apology in Parliament and, then, trying to dismiss it completely in the English-speaking media on the very same day. Several Liberal candidates with significant Chinese-Canadian populations in their ridings, including Vancouver-Kingsway MP David Emerson, and the Minister of State (Multiculturalism) and Richmond, BC MP Raymond Chan, also made futile attempts to change their positions in the midst of the 2006 election campaign.
Conservative Government Apology
The Conservative Party won the election with a minority government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper reiterating his position on the Head Tax issue in a news conference on January 26, 2006: "Chinese Canadians are making an extraordinary impact on the building of our country. They've also made a significant historical contribution despite many obstacles. That's why, as I said during the election campaign, the Chinese Canadian community deserves an apology for the head tax and appropriate acknowledgement and redress."
Formal discussions on the form of apology and redress began on March 24, 2006 with a preliminary meeting with Chinese Canadians representing various groups (including some head tax payers), Heritage Minister Bev Oda, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Jason Kenney, resulting in the "distinct possibility" of a formal government apology before July 1, 2006 to commemorate the anniversary of the enacting of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923.
The meeting was followed by the Conservative government's acknowledgement on April 4, 2006 in its Speech from the Throne that an apology would be given along with proper redress. From April 21 to 30, 2006, the Conservative government hosted public, national consultations across Canada in cities most actively involved in the campaign, since it first began: Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, and Winnipeg. They included the personal testimony of elders and representatives from a number of groups, among them, the Halifax Redress Committee; the BC Coalition of Head Tax Payers, Spouses & Descendants; ACCESS; the Ontario Coalition of Head Tax Payers & Families; the CCNC; the Edmonton Redress Committee of the Chinese Canadian Historical Association of Alberta; and, the National Redress Alliance headquartered in Montreal.
On June 22, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an apology and compensation only for the head tax once paid by Chinese immigrants. Survivors or their spouses will be paid approximately $20,000 CAD in compensation. There are only an estimated 20 Chinese Canadians who paid the tax still alive in 2006.
Today
Currently, the major issues revolve around the content of any future settlement, with the leading groups demanding meaningful redress, not only for the handful of surviving "head tax" payers and widows/spouses, but first-generation sons/daughters who were direct victims. Some have proposed that the redress be based on the number of "Head Tax" Certificates (or estates) brought forward by surviving sons and daughters who are still able to register their claims, with proposals for individual redress, ranging from $10,000 to 30,000 for an estimated 4,000 registrants. As no mention of redress for those children was made, the Chinese Canadian community continues to fight for a redress from the Canadian government. A national day of protest was held on July 1, 2006 in major cities across Canada, with several hundred Chinese Canadians joining in local marches.
Chronological Timeline of Events Regarding Chinese Immigration To Canada In the Shade of Gold Mountain
Timeline
1849 Gold is discovered in California, attracting Chinese miners to the West Coast of North America.
1858 First Chinese miners move from California to British Columbia after gold is discovered in the Fraser Valley.
1872 British Columbia disqualifies Chinese from voting.
1881-84 More than 15,000 Chinese move to Canada, including about 6,500 who help build the Canadian Pacific Railway from Montreal to Vancouver. Hundreds are killed in accidents, often in explosions blasting tunnels through mountains.
1885 The federal government imposes a head tax of $50 on every Chinese immigrant to Canada.
1903 Head tax is raised to $500. By 1923 the government will have collected $23 million from 81,000 immigrants--more than $2 billion in today’s money.
1923 On July 1, Canada’s birthday, the federal government passes the Chinese Immigration Act, banning all Chinese immigrants from the country.
1935 Japan invades China in an attempt to conquer the country.
1939-1945 Hundreds of Chinese Canadian men and women volunteer to serve in Canada’s armed forces during the Second World War.
1947 The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 is repealed.
1957 Vancouver’s Douglas Jung becomes the first Chinese Canadian Member of Parliament
1982 Canada passes The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, making it to illegal to discriminate based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
1984 The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) asks the federal government for an apology and financial recompense on behalf of surviving head tax payers and their families. More than 4,000 payers, widows and descendants sign up with the CCNC.
1988 An agreement is reached between the federal government and the National
Association of Japanese Canadians to compensate Japanese Canadians for their treatment in Canada during the Second World War, when many lost their homes and businesses.
1994 The federal government refuses to grant compensation for head tax.
1997 After more than 150 years of British rule, Hong Kong is handed back to Chinese control.
1998 Vivienne Poy is appointed the first Chinese Canadian Senator.
1999 Adrienne Clarkson is appointed Governor-General of Canada. Clarkson was born in Hong Kong and came with her family to Canada as refugees during the Second World War.
2004 New Zealand becomes the first Commonwealth country to apologize and offer compensation for a head tax on Chinese immigrants.
Objectives
The Shadow of Gold Mountain tells the story of the exclusionary treatment of Chinese immigrants to Canada. This study guide is designed to help educators raise awareness about the obstacles faced by Chinese Canadians and other immigrant groups, notably racism, stereotyping, prejudice and systemic discrimination.
Before Screening the Video
1. Have you ever experienced a situation where someone is excluded from a group because he or she is different? How did you react?
2. Why has gold been considered so valuable for such a long time?
3. Telephones, airplanes and the Internet allow people to stay in touch with each other even if they’re thousands of kilometres away. Imagine what it would be like to leave your family for many years and only be able to contact them by writing a letter. For many Chinese immigrants who were illiterate, it was not even that simple. They had to dictate their messages to a scribe.
4. Did you immigrate to Canada? Talk about your experiences with the class. If you were born here, do you have a parent or grandparent who immigrated to this country? Talk to him or her and find out what it was like to move here.
5. There were very few Chinese Canadian university graduates before the 1950s. What could have been possible reasons for that?
6. Think of the last movie or TV show you saw that portrayed Chinese people. What types of jobs did they do? Did you find the portrayal realistic or more stereotypical?
7. What do you think are some of the reasons there are more immigrants from a wider range of countries coming to Canada now than, say, 100 years ago?
After Screening the Video
1. Why did the owners of the Canadian Pacific Railway hire so many Chinese men to help build the railway?
2. What do you think it was like for Chinese women who could not join their husbands in Canada when the Chinese Immigration Act was passed in 1923?
3. How did the Chinese Immigration Act affect young Chinese Canadian men, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s?
4. What would you have done if you were told that you couldn’t enter university, use a public pool or join certain clubs because of your background?
5. Why did Chinese Canadians tend to live near each other in different cities in Canada—areas known as Chinatown?
6. The film includes negative comments from several politicians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries about Chinese workers. Would you expect politicians today to make comments like this?
7. Do you think it was a good idea for some Chinese Canadians to volunteer to fight for their country in the Second World War, even though many were sons of men who had paid a head tax to enter Canada?
8. One of the techniques that the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) has used to gain momentum for people seeking redress for the head tax is rallies at Parliament Hill in Ottawa where people gather with placards to protest. Can you think of other ideas that would draw the attention of Canadians to their campaign?
9. Can you think of other groups of Canadian immigrants who suffer as a result of stereotyping today? What lessons can we learn from the treatment Chinese immigrants received?
Follow-Up Projects
1. If you live in a city that has a Chinatown, visit it and take photographs.
2. Even though the head tax was abolished many years ago, immigrants still need to pay an application fee that can cost hundreds of dollars to enter Canada. People who pay more money can have their claim processed faster. Do you think this is fair?
3. Write a letter to the Prime Minister explaining about the Chinese head tax and why you think people who paid it and their surviving family members should be repaid and receive an apology.
4. Write a journal entry in which you pretend that you are a Chinese Canadian living in Canada in 1923 and you have just heard that the Chinese Immigration Act was passed.
5. Use a library or the Internet to find out about the Acadians. These French Canadians were forced to leave their homes and their country in 1755. Why? What happened to them? Did Canada offer any compensation or apologies for what happened?
Other Resources
Books:
Chan, Anthony B. Gold Mountain: The Chinese in the New World. Vancouver: New Star Books, 1983.
Con, Harry et. al. From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982.
Lai, David Chuen-yan. Chinatowns: Towns Within Cities in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988.
Li, Julia Ningyu ed. Canadian Steel, Chinese Grit: a Tribute to the Chinese who Worked on Canada’s Railroads More Than a Century Ago. Toronto: Paxlink Communications Inc., 2000.
Huang, Evelyn and Lawrence Jeffery. Chinese Canadians: Voices From a Community. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1992.
Jin Guo: Voices of Chinese Canadian Women. Toronto: The Women’s Book Committee, Chinese Canadian National Council, 1992.
Related NFB Films
Bamboo, Lions and Dragons, 1981, 27 min. Directed by Richard Patton.
Freedom Had a Price, 1994, 55 min. Directed by Yurij Luhovy.
Minoru: Memory of Exile, 1992, 19 min. Directed by Michael Fukushima.
My Name Is Kahentiiosta, 1995, 30 min. Directed by Alanis Obomsawin.
Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story, 2003, 51 min. Directed by Jari Osborne.
Speak it! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia, 1992, 28 min. Directed by Sylvia Hamilton.
Speakers for the Dead, 2000, 50 min. Directed by Jennifer Holness and David Sutherland.
A Tribe of One, 2003, 39 min. Directed by Eunhee Cha.
Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada, 1997, 52 min. Directed by Dora Nipp.
Unwanted Soldiers, 1999, 49 min. Directed by Jari Osborne.
Who Gets In?, 1989, 52 min. Directed by Barry Greenwald.
The Shadow of Gold Mountain tells the story of the exclusionary treatment of Chinese immigrants to Canada. This study guide is designed to help educators raise awareness about the obstacles faced by Chinese Canadians and other immigrant groups, notably racism, stereotyping, prejudice and systemic discrimination.
Before Screening the Video
1. Have you ever experienced a situation where someone is excluded from a group because he or she is different? How did you react?
2. Why has gold been considered so valuable for such a long time?
3. Telephones, airplanes and the Internet allow people to stay in touch with each other even if they’re thousands of kilometres away. Imagine what it would be like to leave your family for many years and only be able to contact them by writing a letter. For many Chinese immigrants who were illiterate, it was not even that simple. They had to dictate their messages to a scribe.
4. Did you immigrate to Canada? Talk about your experiences with the class. If you were born here, do you have a parent or grandparent who immigrated to this country? Talk to him or her and find out what it was like to move here.
5. There were very few Chinese Canadian university graduates before the 1950s. What could have been possible reasons for that?
6. Think of the last movie or TV show you saw that portrayed Chinese people. What types of jobs did they do? Did you find the portrayal realistic or more stereotypical?
7. What do you think are some of the reasons there are more immigrants from a wider range of countries coming to Canada now than, say, 100 years ago?
After Screening the Video
1. Why did the owners of the Canadian Pacific Railway hire so many Chinese men to help build the railway?
2. What do you think it was like for Chinese women who could not join their husbands in Canada when the Chinese Immigration Act was passed in 1923?
3. How did the Chinese Immigration Act affect young Chinese Canadian men, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s?
4. What would you have done if you were told that you couldn’t enter university, use a public pool or join certain clubs because of your background?
5. Why did Chinese Canadians tend to live near each other in different cities in Canada—areas known as Chinatown?
6. The film includes negative comments from several politicians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries about Chinese workers. Would you expect politicians today to make comments like this?
7. Do you think it was a good idea for some Chinese Canadians to volunteer to fight for their country in the Second World War, even though many were sons of men who had paid a head tax to enter Canada?
8. One of the techniques that the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) has used to gain momentum for people seeking redress for the head tax is rallies at Parliament Hill in Ottawa where people gather with placards to protest. Can you think of other ideas that would draw the attention of Canadians to their campaign?
9. Can you think of other groups of Canadian immigrants who suffer as a result of stereotyping today? What lessons can we learn from the treatment Chinese immigrants received?
Follow-Up Projects
1. If you live in a city that has a Chinatown, visit it and take photographs.
2. Even though the head tax was abolished many years ago, immigrants still need to pay an application fee that can cost hundreds of dollars to enter Canada. People who pay more money can have their claim processed faster. Do you think this is fair?
3. Write a letter to the Prime Minister explaining about the Chinese head tax and why you think people who paid it and their surviving family members should be repaid and receive an apology.
4. Write a journal entry in which you pretend that you are a Chinese Canadian living in Canada in 1923 and you have just heard that the Chinese Immigration Act was passed.
5. Use a library or the Internet to find out about the Acadians. These French Canadians were forced to leave their homes and their country in 1755. Why? What happened to them? Did Canada offer any compensation or apologies for what happened?
Other Resources
Books:
Chan, Anthony B. Gold Mountain: The Chinese in the New World. Vancouver: New Star Books, 1983.
Con, Harry et. al. From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982.
Lai, David Chuen-yan. Chinatowns: Towns Within Cities in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1988.
Li, Julia Ningyu ed. Canadian Steel, Chinese Grit: a Tribute to the Chinese who Worked on Canada’s Railroads More Than a Century Ago. Toronto: Paxlink Communications Inc., 2000.
Huang, Evelyn and Lawrence Jeffery. Chinese Canadians: Voices From a Community. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1992.
Jin Guo: Voices of Chinese Canadian Women. Toronto: The Women’s Book Committee, Chinese Canadian National Council, 1992.
Related NFB Films
Bamboo, Lions and Dragons, 1981, 27 min. Directed by Richard Patton.
Freedom Had a Price, 1994, 55 min. Directed by Yurij Luhovy.
Minoru: Memory of Exile, 1992, 19 min. Directed by Michael Fukushima.
My Name Is Kahentiiosta, 1995, 30 min. Directed by Alanis Obomsawin.
Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story, 2003, 51 min. Directed by Jari Osborne.
Speak it! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia, 1992, 28 min. Directed by Sylvia Hamilton.
Speakers for the Dead, 2000, 50 min. Directed by Jennifer Holness and David Sutherland.
A Tribe of One, 2003, 39 min. Directed by Eunhee Cha.
Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada, 1997, 52 min. Directed by Dora Nipp.
Unwanted Soldiers, 1999, 49 min. Directed by Jari Osborne.
Who Gets In?, 1989, 52 min. Directed by Barry Greenwald.