Seeking stories of the headtax
Chinese association, UBC partner up
By Jeremy Deutsch staff REPORTER
 
It was originally $50.-Not a huge amount by today's standards but, more than a century ago, it was expected to be unaffordable for some.

It was the Chinese Head Tax and, by the time the racist policy was eliminated the price for a Chinese immigrant to enter Canada had gone up 10-fold -to $500.

Today, members of the Kamloops Chinese Cultural Association are taking part in a larger effort to find and tell the stories of the families who were forced to pay the tax.

Lyle Anderson can expect to be busy in the coming months as he tours many of the small communities in the Interior.

The board member of the Kamloops Chinese Cultural Association (KCCA) has been given the task of finding families in this area.

So far, Anderson noted the project has located four families in Kamloops - but they were not easy to find. He said many families are hesitant to come forward, either not wanting to complain or get into trouble.

Despite the initial reluctance, the KCCA is pressing on and looking for more families. Andersons said he'll be visiting museums and reaching out to Chinese communities along the way through his search.

Earlier this year, the KCCA was given a grant to start the process. Eventually, the plan is to set up a permanent web portal through the University of British Columbia that will feature a collection of stories from around the province. The portal, called Chinese Canadian Stories : Uncommon Stories from a Common Past History, will be launch in 20l2 and provide a one-of-a-kind bilingual site with English and Chinese, resources for students, researchers and others wanting to learn more.

"It just gives the story of how the Chinese did survive the hardships and continued to become a large portion of our citizenship in Canada and B.C." Anderson said. With so many international Students coming to the province for their education, including Thompson Rivers University, Anderson believes the website will be a valuable tool for them to learn about the early pioneers of B.C.

Some 17,000 Chinese came to Canada in the 1880s to help complete the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Anderson said many of the Chinese stayed in B.C. and started small businesses, including Kamloops.

But, as the workers settled, they wanted to bring their families from overseas.  That's when the head tax was introduced, to stem the flow of immigrants. It's estimated the tax brought the federal government $23million before being eliminated n 1923. In 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered an official apology on behalf of Canada to Chinese immigrants who were forced to pay the head tax.

To contact the Kamloops Chinese Cultural Association call 250-554-1082.
(Copy of news item from KAMLOOPSTHIS WEEK newspaper) September 28, 2010

History Brief of the Headtax
In the Gold Rush Era  of 1858
The first recorded mention of Chinese in North America was dated to 1788 at Nootka Sound in British Columbia.  Chinese immigrants arrived in 1858 from California during the Gold Rush and remain in Cariboo and the Fraser Canyon.  The Chinese proved to be more successful than the other ethic groups in the gold field and others.  The adaptations of the Chinese to the environments and work created tensions amoung non-Chinese immigrants.

Chinese headtax payers are synonymous with the pioneer Chinese railway workers.  The British Columbia Legislature passed a law preventing Chinese immigration in 1878 but was struck down due to its limited power.  During the end of the construction of the railway in 1885, the government of Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act to discourage immigration.

It was the pioneer Chinese railway workers who initiated the headtax unintentionally and unknowingly because they competed too willingly, worked too consciously, and were satisfied to work for low wages.  As result, future Chinese entering Canada must first pay a $50 fee.  Later the head tax was amended in 1887, 1892, 1900, and 1903. 

Canadian Pacific Railway Construction
Construction of the CPR in Canada, thousands of immigrants from Europe were called navvies and the Chinese were called coolies, came to work on the railway - Canadian Pacific Railway.   The navvies in British Columbia received between $1 and $2.50 per day and have to pay for his own food, clothing, and medical care, and transportation to the job sites.  In two and a half months of work, they would net $16.

The Chinese coolies made less than the navvies, between $0.75 to $1.25 a day and have to pay a high price for their expends.  In the end of the same period of the vavvies, the Chinese would be lucky to have any money left.  In addition, families of the Chinese workers who died on the job received no compensation or even be notified of their death.  Most of the men who survived didn't have enough money to return to their familes in China.

After the Last Spike
During the CPR construction, Canada was still a dominion of the British Empire, a time that the general society did not like foreigners.  There was much discrimination against descendants of other cultures, especially the Chinese.  Immediately after the completion of the CPR, Canada moved to restrict Chinese immigration.  The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 stated that all Chinese people must pay a $50 fee.  It was an attempt to discourage, if not elimitate, all immigration from China.  Still the Chinese persisted to come to Canada.  Under the Liberal administrations, the Canadian government passed two more Chinese Immigration Acts, raising the heatdtax to $100 and $500 respectively.  Meanwhile, the federal government offered free land and financial incentives to white European settlers in an effort to eliminate the country of its "Yellow Peril". 

Still Bristish Columbia demanded even stiffer sanctions.  On July 1, 1923 the Federal government enacted legislation which virtually eliminated Chinese immigration.  The Chinese Canadian called that day "Humiliation Day".  This Act abolished the headtax and allowed entry from only limited classes of immigrants - merchants, Canadian born Chinese, deplomatic personnel, and university students.  The 1923 legislation was repealed in 1947 but the regulations was not removed totally until 1967.


Basis for Headtax
The objective for the headtax was to limit or eliminate Chinese immigration into Canada.  There are two theories as to why the white population wished to make it into realilty:  tough economic competition from the Chinese and racial discrimination because the Chinese were not here for immigration and their strange customs.

The white population feared job competition.  The Chinese were prepared to accept any work including very dangerous jobs, lower wages, poor working and living conditions.  They were also more adaptable due to their Chinese traditions which contributed to their survival and success in life. 

The Chinese tradition that the head of the family has an obligation to their family no matter where they are.  This obligation to make regular remittances back to their families in China proved to be a very strong determination to work hard and be reliable compared to their white counterparts, who frequently would not take risk, fail to show up for work, quit their job after receiving their pay cheques, or simply work was too hard.

The Chinese were subjected to racial discrimination in part due to racial sterotypes of the yellow race.  This led to the white population to conclude that the Chinese were the followings:
1)   The Chinese will not stay in Canada.  They don't want to socialize with the general population
      and participate with mainstream social events.
2)   The risk concerning the use of drugs such as opium, which in turn would create criminal activity.
3)   The risk of disease because they were forced to live in small designated areas which led to
      overcrowded living conditions conducive to the diseases such as cholera and leprosy.
4)   The Chinese forms of gambling that could lead to criminal activities and as a result the forms
      were not "civilized".
5)   China was a weak country in the 1800 and early 1900's.  The European nations wanted to
      occupy China.  The Sino-Japanese War was followed by a revolution in China that involved a
      power struggle amongst several political groups.  As a result, there was no Chinese government
      to represent the Chinese people.  Other countries took advantage of weak China.

Other reasons for the headtax were the followings:
1)   The Chinese immigrants did not strongly resist the imposition of the headtax. 
2)   The immigrants wanted to make money and reunite with their families.  Going home to their
      families was their first priority.
3)   Their self image was poor due to weak China.
4)   The Chinese were not well organized.  They didn't resist the headtax measures.
5)   They didn't learn the language of Canada because they didn't considered themselves immigrants.