Chinese Group Rejects BC Liberal's Apology For Chinese Head Tax - Wants Money Instead

[DonLever]

VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – An apology that is more than 140 years overdue has been made in the BC Legislature.

Premier Christy Clark has apologized to Chinese-Canadians for policies that include the Chinese head tax. She says BC expresses its sorrow and regret for historical government practices once considered appropriate, but now viewed as unacceptable, intolerable racist discrimination.

She says she believes the all-party apology can bring closure to a dark period in BC’s history and on behalf of all British Columbians and all members in the legislature, “we sincerely apologize for the provincial government’s historical wrongs.”

The apology was supposed to be made last year, but OMNI TV Political Analyst Kim Emerson says there were a couple of reasons for the delay.

“One was that the Liberals were still, to a certain extent, mired in the ethnic vote scandal situation. That was a pretty ugly thing for them to have to deal with, the way that they were trying to approach people in the ethnic community to vote and get onside with the Liberal party.”

“The other thing is they needed all sides of the Legislature to come together on this,” adds Emerson. “They wanted it to be a unanimous situation, not simply a partisan one where the government was issuing the apology and the rest didn’t get onboard.”

He adds no financial compensation is accompanying the apology. “This isn’t Jerry Maguire. There is no money. Don’t show any money; there’s none to be had. This is a formal apology issued in the Legislature [and] there will be a reception afterwards.”

“As far as the provincial government is concerned, the federal government’s role and responsibility was compensation. The federal government did a little bit of that a couple of years ago. The provincial government is not doing that,” explains Emerson.

In 2006, the federal government offered an apology for the head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants and included $20,000 in compensation for families or surviving people who paid the tax.

“The NDP says there’s 89 pieces of legislation or rules or regulations that were put in by various legislators. The government says there’s 146, if you include… various other things. But either way, they were discriminatory policies. Not just the head tax. Things like not allowing them to vote, not allowing Chinese people to own property… there’s a whole bunch of things in there. That is all apologized for.”

But Emerson says the apology won’t satisfy everyone. “It’s always going to be a source of hurt… it will always be a source of contention.”

“There is a group that has always pushed for… more compensation for relatives or Chinese people that came here and had to pay the head tax… it’s simply not going to happen,” says Emerson.

The Chinese Canadian National Council is declining the apology. The group is calling for an inclusive redress with the BC government and wants a symbolic return of the funds paid by head tax families. It wants to see the return of a total of $8.5 million in head tax levies, which is says would have a value of about $1 billion today.

“A government should never be seen to be profiting from racism but this is what has happened here today,” claims Victor Wong, executive director of the CCNC. “Only the affected head tax families can accept this Apology and allow the reconciliation process to begin.”

“Will everybody be happy? No,” says Emerson. “No one will ever be completely happy with this because there were decades upon decades of discriminatory policies and legislation that went into this, along with the head tax.”

“Will some people be happy that maybe we can start to put this behind us? That’s probably the best hope we can get out of this.”

One group says the apology is not enough

The Chinese Canadian National Council‘s Executive Director Victor Wong says the apology from the government lacks sincerity.

“What I mean by that, is it doesn’t bring closure to this issue,” Wong tells News1130. He maintains there should be a re-payment of 8.5 million dollars to families whose relatives have been subjected to the head tax.

“In our view there has to be a symbolic return on the head tax levies. This is a basic principle for us.”

[Ghostsof1915]

[hockeyfan87]

Provincial governments should not apologize or pay reparations for a policy that was introduced by the federal government in 1885.

[Caboose]

Apology = an admission of guilt.

Brought it upon themselves.

[Absent Canuck]

I still cant get over this 'guilt pay ' we seem to insist on having. Making financial restitution to peoples decscendents for acts committed by people with the same skin colour as our a hundred years ago or even longer.

But if I was a First Nation or Asian Canadian and these idiots wanted to give me money to appease retroactive guilt then I would take it too.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

Provincial governments should not apologize or pay reparations for a policy that was introduced by the federal government in 1885.

B.C. had just about everything to gain from the head tax. I don't know that much, but I reckon this was an idea being pushed by the provincial government.

I still cant get over this 'guilt pay ' we seem to insist on having. Making financial restitution to peoples decscendents for acts committed by people with the same skin colour as our a hundred years ago or even longer.

But if I was a First Nation or Asian Canadian and these idiots wanted to give me money to appease retroactive guilt then I would take it too.

This doesn't even go that much back. Chinese workers had to suffer through a lot of crap while they lived here. The article points out a whole bunch of social and political limitations during that time. It's hard to put a dollar figure on all the injustices, but the head tax is a clear form of discrimination that you can put a figure on. There are probably some older folk whose grandfather or great grandfather came from Asia. Those families deserve justice. Also, it's what the government did, and the government should pay for their actions, no matter how much time has passed. Ultimately this does mean we pay, but Canadian society benefited from the hard labour of migrant workers, and we charged them money for it.

One of my friends has his forefather's entry into Canada on his wall. That family is doing quite well, and I doubt they need the money. Some families are still passionate about this and some aren't. That's not the point. The point here is that the government did something that was very wrong (I think both federal and provincial govs should take responsibility) and at the very least... they need to pay back the head tax to those families.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

I am glad they didn't accept the apology. What they did too only the Chinese people was disgraceful

[Absent Canuck]

B.C. had just about everything to gain from the head tax. I don't know that much, but I reckon this was an idea being pushed by the provincial government.

This doesn't even go that much back. Chinese workers had to suffer through a lot of crap while they lived here. The article points out a whole bunch of social and political limitations during that time. It's hard to put a dollar figure on all the injustices, but the head tax is a clear form of discrimination that you can put a figure on. There are probably some older folk whose grandfather or great grandfather came from Asia. Those families deserve justice. Also, it's what the government did, and the government should pay for their actions, no matter how much time has passed. Ultimately this does mean we pay, but Canadian society benefited from the hard labour of migrant workers, and we charged them money for it.

One of my friends has his forefather's entry into Canada on his wall. That family is doing quite well, and I doubt they need the money. Some families are still passionate about this and some aren't. That's not the point. The point here is that the government did something that was very wrong (I think both federal and provincial govs should take responsibility) and at the very least... they need to pay back the head tax to those families.

We dont deserve the 'justice' to pay it, and their descendants dont deserve to reap some reward for something they didnt suffer.

I think we start to stretch into the same non-disprovable argument of what 'suffering' means that is passed on from one generation to the next. The can of worms it opens applies to every single person in history whom the government screwed around in now due money from people born long after it ever happened.

I am certain all Canadian women could make a multi trillion dollar claim for hardships they faced for centuries. So could children. All of us. So who deserves the money? Which descendants of whom? Does one group get a settlement and then immediately pay it back to satisfy another group whom were also screwed over way back when?

I think acknowledging the wrongdoing this far after the fact and taking steps to make sure it never happens again is the right thing to do. The hand out is not.

[Honeydew]

Speaking from experience, my great grandfather was taxed as well when he first came over to Vancouver from China, the amount of headtax that was taken from him was $500 pretty much my families entire savings to come to Canada for a better life. Instead he faced many social, financial, and health problems during his time in Vancouver. My family lived in poverty for so many years to allow my great grandfather to find a better life living in Canada only to send back the limited income from his days at the fishery. Yes, today we now live better with a stable income but the fact that the federal government chose to do something discriminating and placing this "headtax" drove many Chinese families into poverty. Not every Chinese family gained any benefits from moving from China trying to escape poverty there only to end up even more poorer then their home country...

And for those that stated that the provincial government didn't benefit from this, our people built your railway systems, did the dangerous jobs that other Canadians refused to do, we were left with the lower end of the work force. Living conditions at these camps were very terrible with contagious diseases. The provincial government profited from our descendants and till this day we are still using the same railway system that we built.

At the end of the day, both the Federal government and Provincial benefited from this greatly not only from the increase cash surplus from the headtax but the railway alone sparked Canada's economy to be an economic force.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

We dont deserve the 'justice' to pay it, and their descendants dont deserve to reap some reward for something they didnt suffer.

I think we start to stretch into the same non-disprovable argument of what 'suffering' means that is passed on from one generation to the next. The can of worms it opens applies to every single person in history whom the government screwed around in now due money from people born long after it ever happened.

I am certain all Canadian women could make a multi trillion dollar claim for hardships they faced for centuries. So could children. All of us. So who deserves the money? Which descendants of whom? Does one group get a settlement and then immediately pay it back to satisfy another group whom were also screwed over way back when?

I think acknowledging the wrongdoing this far after the fact and taking steps to make sure it never happens again is the right thing to do. The hand out is not.

I think you might be missing the point here. While I have my own opinions regarding government redress for discriminatory polices (and I disagree with your arguments)... we are not really talking about "suffering" in this scenario. We are talking about payback. You can't always produce hard evidence of discrimination, but a head tax receipt is just that. A hard dollar figure being charged on any Asian worker entering Canada. We're not talking about labour rights. We're not talking about suffrage. The government literally took away money from them because they were Asian.

Again, the Chinese group is asking for the money from the head tax, and not necessarily the other stuff. Those families DO deserve that money back. How the money gets distributed is another matter, but the government (prov or fed) really has to put some cash aside and figure out how to do this.

[Magikal]

What a bunch of garbage. Canadian governments should not have to fork over money for something that happened over a hundred years ago to people who are no longer alive (by people who are no longer alive) to those who never faced those hardships. I come from an Irish family, do I get anything for how the Irish were treated when we came to this continent?

Tell those asking for money for what their ancestors went through to go kick rocks. They are not deserving of that money one bit.

[Chicken.]

I think you might be missing the point here. While I have my own opinions regarding government redress for discriminatory polices (and I disagree with your arguments)... we are not really talking about "suffering" in this scenario. We are talking about payback. You can't always produce hard evidence of discrimination, but a head tax receipt is just that. A hard dollar figure being charged on any Asian worker entering Canada. We're not talking about labour rights. We're not talking about suffrage. The government literally took away money from them because they were Asian.

Again, the Chinese group is asking for the money from the head tax, and not necessarily the other stuff. Those families DO deserve that money back. How the money gets distributed is another matter, but the government (prov or fed) really has to put some cash aside and figure out how to do this.

No they don't

Let by-gones be bygones, if the conditions were so bad.. how come so many continued to follow? Because compared to their home country Canada provided a better, safer future for their family. Which it has. Every country has had archaic laws that discriminate, a monetary head tax is minuscule.

[nucklehead]

 

No they don't

Let by-gones be bygones, if the conditions were so bad.. how come so many continued to follow? Because compared to their home country Canada provided a better, safer future for their family. Which it has. Every country has had archaic laws that discriminate, a monetary head tax is minuscule.

If only you'd hired on as a Government mouthpiece we all could have avoided this mess.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

No they don't

Let by-gones be bygones, if the conditions were so bad.. how come so many continued to follow? Because compared to their home country Canada provided a better, safer future for their family. Which it has. Every country has had archaic laws that discriminate, a monetary head tax is minuscule.

Wow. I doubt you have any knowledge of 19th century China or even 19th century Canada. But sure, conditions were probably better, just because you said so.

People had to pay 500 bucks to enter Canada JUST because they were Chinese. That's probably a couple years' worth of salary. And with that comment you are actually trying to justify the head tax? That's disgraceful.

[nuck nit]

I am all for providing these families with a return of the monies their parents or grandparents paid to the Dominion of Canada to be slaves under appalling conditions.

That money is nothing in today's dollars.I am for a lump sum payout of 50k to each person's immediate surviving family.

This was nothing short of slavery and amends with adequate reparations should have been made long ago.

[key2thecup]

So the taxpayers are going to pay?

[nuck nit]

So the taxpayers are going to pay?

Sure,unless you can get the Crown or the corporations that have profited from those rail lines for the last 100 years to pony up.

[Chicken.]

Wow. I doubt you have any knowledge of 19th century China or even 19th century Canada. But sure, conditions were probably better, just because you said so.

People had to pay 500 bucks to enter Canada JUST because they were Chinese. That's probably a couple years' worth of salary. And with that comment you are actually trying to justify the head tax? That's disgraceful.

I'm not justifying the head tax, I'm justifying FURTHER reparations being unnecessary.

Disgraceful is trying to demand money from the country you should be proud to live in after they gave, in my opinion, a sincere and appropriate apology even if it was timed for political correctness.

Can't blame em' for trying though.

[-SN-]

Apology = an admission of guilt.

Brought it upon themselves.

Nope. An apology is not an admission of guilt.

http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/06019_01

(1) An apology made by or on behalf of a person in connection with any matter

(a) does not constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability by the person in connection with that matter,

( does not constitute an acknowledgment of liability in relation to that matter for the purposes of section 24 of the Limitation Act,

© does not, despite any wording to the contrary in any contract of insurance and despite any other enactment, void, impair or otherwise affect any insurance coverage that is available, or that would, but for the apology, be available, to the person in connection with that matter, and

(d) must not be taken into account in any determination of fault or liability in connection with that matter.

(2) Despite any other enactment, evidence of an apology made by or on behalf of a person in connection with any matter is not admissible in any court as evidence of the fault or liability of the person in connection with that matter.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

I'm not justifying the head tax, I'm justifying FURTHER reparations being unnecessary.

Disgraceful is trying to demand money from the country you should be proud to live in after they gave, in my opinion, a sincere and appropriate apology even if it was timed for political correctness.

Can't blame em' for trying though.

They didn't get any reparations. An apology is meaningless for something like this.

Your position is unclear. Just because the Chinese wanted to come to Canada doesn't mean the government had the freedom to do anything they wanted. The government should always be accountable for their actions.