Canada's Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper on
January 26 expressed his best wishes to Canadian Chinese for the coming Spring
Festival while reiterating his conservative government's pledge to issue an
apology for the discriminatory head tax.
Harper made the remarks during his first press conference after the
Conservative Party won Monday's general election.
He spoke highly of the important historical contributions made by generations
of Canadian Chinese to the country, adding he wishes them a very happy new year.
Harper, who would be Canada's first Conservative prime minister in 12 years,
went on to say that he would honor his campaign promise to readdress the
historical issue of head tax involving early Chinese immigrants, saying the
Chinese community deserve an apology from the government for the discriminatory
policy.
As one of the earliest immigrants to North America, first group of Chinese
came to Canada in 1858.
About 6,500 Chinese labors worked for the construction of the Pacific
Railway, an important force in the hard-achieved project. Yet after the
completion of the railway, in order to prevent the Chinese from taking jobs from
other races, Ottawa began to impose head tax on new
Chinese immigrants. The tax, at first 50 Canadian dollars per person, was
later raised to 500 dollars, equivalent to two years' wages at that time.
The Head Tax remained in place until the 1920s when it was replaced by the
Chinese Exclusion Act, which was only repealed in 1947.
The policies exerted devastating impact upon the Chinese immigrants both
economically and psychologically. The community almost became "bachelor society"
because family members cannot come and unite.
The Liberal government led by Paul Martin reached an agreement before the
election with some Chinese community organizations but fell short of an apology.
Editor: Joey
