The TRUTH about Head Tax liability questioned on Parliament on May 5th
As
we know from the last federal election campaign. The Liberal
Party's Secretary of Multiculturalism, Raymond Chan, kept telling the
public and the Chinese media that IF the government made an APOLOGY for
the Chinese head tax, it would then be liable for UNLIMITED finananical
payments.
This was also echoed by Liberal leader wanna-be Hedy Fry, who had referred to the Chinese Canadian head Tax campaigners as “those people with their little issues” – recorded on CBC
TV news in the first friday in January. Even when I questioned her position at an all-candidate's meeting. She said “An apology
had been made.” I asked her about individual compensation.
She said no
compensation. “It would be a mistake to give compensation because every
group would be asking for compensation. Where would you stop?”
Raymond Chan was nowhere to be seen at the Vancouver area Head Tax community consultations
with Parliamentary Secretary Jason Kenney, even though the Gateway
Theatre is in Chan's home riding. But I did bump into Darrell
Reid the Conservative candidate who ran against Chan, and seemed very
sincere in helping to develop redress for Chinese Canadian Head Tax
payers, spouses and descendants.
Speaker, last year the member for Richmond told the Chinese community
repeatedly that the government could not and would not apologize for
the head tax. It claimed that it had received legal advice that to do
so would create open ended liabilities.
Speaker, last year the member for Richmond, when he was
multiculturalism secretary, said, “My reason for not apologizing for
the head tax is because of the legal position that was given to me by
my department”. That was the excuse, but we have since discovered,
according to access to information, that he received exactly the
opposite advice. The legal advice was that it would appear from a legal
point of view that none of the outstanding claims would meet such a
burden.
government is doing what is right for Chinese Canadians under the
leadership of the Prime Minister and the heritage minister. It will
offer a formal apology and I think the member for Richmond should
apologize to Chinese Canadians for not telling the truth.