Sid Tan and Gim Wong make news
for Head Tax apology reaction

My friends Sid Tan and Gim Wong keep turning up in newspapers today.
There's the front page of Metro News, and a picture in the Vancouver Sun (see below)

Last night I saw them on Global News, holding court in the Guys and Dolls
Billiards where Sid decided to hold a press conference as he and Gim
watched the Throne Speech on television.

I went down after work, and had a bite to eat with Sid, as he told me what
happened. He was very pleased that about 7 televison cameras had
shown up. Gim was not dressed in his Air Force uniform. He is the WW2
veteran that rode his motorcycle across Canada to Ottawa this past summer,
to protest the government's refusal to redress Chinese head tax.

Gim Wong in Ottawa – his motorcycle with the sign “Ride for Redress”,
speaking with NDP leader Jack Layton outside the Museum of Civilization.

Sid describes the event:

Below is the Vancouver Sun Article

Chinese-Canadians hail move on head tax

Activist says the Tories are offering an apology and
redress in order to win political support in key urban areas

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

The
reference to an apology for the Chinese head tax was brief, but its inclusion
in the Conservative government's throne speech Tuesday was hailed as a major
victory by Chinese-Canadian activists who have pushed the issue for many
years.

“We
wish it was a louder and stronger signal, but it was a signal
nonetheless,” said Sid Tan, the grandson of a head-tax payer and a
director of the Chinese Canadian National Council.

Tan
said he's “cautiously optimistic” that an apology will be followed
by compensation in the coming budget for the approximately 200 surviving
head-tax payers and their survivors.

He
hopes the money will be announced on July 1 — the anniversary of the repeal
of the head tax.

Tan,
who helped spearhead the drive for an apology, watched the throne speech at a
pool hall on Main Street.
There he heard Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean read:
“The government will act in Parliament to offer an apology for the
Chinese Head Tax.”

Tan
told reporters he wasn't upset about waiting until the end of the speech to
hear one sentence about the head tax.

“I've
waited 20 years for the government to announce something. I think it's a
positive step. It's more than has ever happened before.”

The
head tax, which soared to $500, roughly two years' salary, was in place from
1885 to 1923. About 81,000 Chinese immigrants paid $23 million to enter Canada under
the head-tax program.

Many
of the Chinese-Canadians who paid the tax built Canada's first trans-continental
railway.

Ottawa's aim was to
keep Chinese immigrants out of Canada.

The
head tax was enforced until July 1, 1923, when it was replaced by the Chinese
Immigration Act, which excluded Chinese immigrants
altogether until it was repealed in 1947.

Tan
watched the throne speech with Gim Foon Wong, who grew up in Vancouver's
Chinatown and whose parents paid the head
tax.

Wong
called the throne speech mention of a head-tax apology a “huge
breakthrough.” He added: “Instead of talking about it, let's settle
it, for God's sake.”

Last
summer Wong, 83, rode his motorcycle to Ottawa
to seek redress for the head tax.

Tan
said the Conservatives are offering an apology and redress in order to win
political support among Chinese-Canadians in key urban seats.

“Why
else would they be doing it? They saw the wind blowing during the
election,” he said.

“But
I would like to think that they are doing it because it's an issue of
justice.”

The
Tories had earlier supported the Liberal position that an apology could open
the door to costly legal claims by Chinese-Canadians and other groups who
believe they've been subjected to discrimination.

But
at least three of Harper's B.C. candidates, Darrel Reid, John Cummins, and Kanman Wong, broke from that position and called for a
new deal that includes at least an apology and possibly compensation. Then
Conservative leader Stephen Harper reversed his position early in the
election campaign, calling for an apology.

Reuters Press and Canadian Press cover head tax apology story


Both Reuters Press and Canadian Press have been able to write stories
about the Chinese Canadian community response to the mention of apology
for head tax in the throne speech by the Conservative government.

And both stories have interviewed my friend Sid Tan, who was
responsible for organizing the Novembers 26th protest against the
Liberal government Agreement-in-Principle, which stated “No Apology”
and “No Compensation.”  I know that Sid is probably in a partial
state of disbelief, or as he says “cautious optimism.”  He is
prepared for a long haul, in order to get the best reasonsable and fair
settlement.  After all, it has been 22 years, since Head Tax
redress became an issue for the community.

I will now have to call my 95 year old grandmother on the phone and
tell her the good news.  Both her father and husband paid the head
tax.

Throne speech signals apology for head tax
imposed on Chinese-Canadians

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

(CP)
– There was only one sentence near the end of a 2,500-word throne speech
Tuesday, but for the few hundred survivors forced to pay an ugly, racist head
tax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was undoubtedly the
speech's highlight.

“The
government will act in Parliament to offer an apology for the Chinese Head
Tax,” the governor general read. There was the word apology but nothing
about redress or compensation. Vancouver
resident Sid Tan was still pleased.

“It
may have been weak and it may not have been as lengthy as we wanted it to be,
but it was a definite signal,” said Tan, president of the Association of
Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity.

He
expressed “cautious optimism” that the impending Conservative
budget would offer some compensation.

“I
think those details will be better seen in the budget,” said Tan, who is
also a national director of the Chinese Canadian National Council.

Canada to apologize for head tax on
Chinese

 Reuters

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will
apologize for a discriminatory tax imposed decades ago on Chinese immigrants,
but details on issues such as compensation are still being worked out, the
government said on Tuesday.

The
promise came in the new Conservative government's first Speech from the Throne
policy address. During the campaign leading up to the January 23 election,
Chinese-Canadians had accused the former Liberal government of ignoring the
issue.

The
speech did not say when the apology would be made, and Heritage Minister
Beverly Oda later said officials were meeting with
groups to work out details and whether there would be financial compensation.

“We're
looking at what's most appropriate,” Oda told
CBC Newsworld television.

The tax
was imposed from the 1880s to the 1920s on Chinese immigrants and made it
financially difficult for them to move to Canada or be joined by their
families.

The fee
was originally set at C$50 a person, but raised in the early 1900s to C$500.
The C$500 was equivalent to about two years' wages for a Chinese Canadian
worker at the time, according to a lawsuit filed in 2000 seeking compensation.

There was
almost a complete ban on Chinese moving to Canada from 1923 to 1947.

Sid Chow
Tan, a Vancouver-area resident who has campaigned for two decades for an
apology and compensation for the taxpayers and their descendants, called the
new government's actions “a good first step.”

“We're
further now than we have ever been before,” Tan said. “I'm cautiously
optimistic that we will get a full settlement within a year.”

Tan said
that there are only a few hundred people still alive who paid the tax or were
married to someone who paid it.

see the story: click here

Throne Speech: “The Government will act in Parliament to offer an apology for the Chinese Head Tax”


It's there.  An apology for the Chinese Head Tax, placed only
against ethnic Chinese, from anywhere in the world.  An apology
for the head tax that began in 1887 and sparked 62 years of legislated
racism, placed only against ethnic Chinese.  No word on a tax
refund though, or a symbolic compensation.

But it's there…  Buried in the conclusion between the Bank Act
and significant treaties…  Not in the section titled “A Canada That Works for All of Us”   or “Canada
– Strong, United, Independent and Free”


See 

Speech
from the Throne

Conclusion

The
Government's clear and focused agenda reflects its commitment to Canadians. It
will not try to do all things at once. Instead, the Government will work
diligently to make tangible improvements that contribute to stronger families
and safer communities, and a stronger country.

During
this Thirty-Ninth Parliament, the Government will be bringing forward fiscally
responsible budgets and a legislative program that will achieve the results
that Canadians expect from their elected representatives. In this work, it will
rely on the support and counsel of a dedicated and professional Public Service.
In turn, it will give the Public Service the leadership and tools it needs to
excel in the service of Canadians. Recognizing the important role of
parliamentarians, members of Parliament will be asked to conduct comprehensive reviews of key federal
legislation, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the
Anti-Terrorism Act and the Bank Act. The Government will act in Parliament to
offer an apology for the Chinese Head Tax. Significant international treaties
will be submitted for votes in Parliament.

Chinese Canadians invited to attend Throne Speech: Will Redress for Head Tax finally happen with Conservative Government?

Chinese Canadian Canadian Head Tax activists are anxiously awaiting the new Throne Speech by the Stephen Harper Conservative government.  It is widely speculated that redress for the Chinese-Canadian Head Tax and Exclusion Act will be included in the Conservative agenda for 2006.

It is such a certainty, that Dr. Joseph Wong, CCNC Founding President, Mr. James Pon, a head tax payer and Mr. George Lau, Co-Chair of the Ontario Coalition will be attending the Throne Speech in Ottawa on April 4, 2006.

MEDIA ADVISORY

CHINESE CANADIAN COMMUNITY GATHERS TO HEAR THRONE SPEECH

TORONTO/VANCOUVER/OTTAWA (April 3, 2006) – In response to the demands made during the federal election by the Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families (Ontario Coalition), along with the B.C. Coalition of Head Tax Payers, Spouses and Descendants, Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance and the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC), Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised Canadians that a Conservative Government would apologize and provide appropriate redress for the 62 years of racism brought on by the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act.

Since the election, Chinese Canadian communities across the country have been anticipating a parliamentary apology for these historic injustices. On Tuesday April 4, 2006, Chinese Canadians will gather in Toronto and Vancouver to watch the throne Speech and provide comments and reaction to the media.

Date:                          Tuesday April 4, 2006

Where/When:             Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant
                                  346 – 348 Spadina Avenue, Toronto at 3:00pm EST

                                 Guys and Dolls Billiards
                                 2434 Main Street, Vancouver at 12:00noon PST

Susan Eng, Co-Chair of the Ontario Coalition for Head Tax Payers and their Families, explains, “The Ontario Coalition and other head tax redress advocates have submitted a Framework for Reconciliation asking that a commitment to redress be made a priority in the Throne Speech, including sponsoring a Parliamentary Resolution to apologize for the harm suffered under the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act, to provide direct financial redress to the Head Tax payers and surviving spouses, optimally by July 1st, highly symbolic as the date on which the Exclusion Act came into force and to commit to broad consultations and negotiations to effect redress and reconciliation with the descendants of Head Tax payers and those directly affected by the Chinese Exclusion Act.”

Colleen Hua, National President of CCNC says, “The throne speech is significant to the redress movement because it outlines the government’s strategic priorities for the year, especially since the Prime Minister has repeatedly promised an official apology and appropriate redress.”

George Lau, Co-Chair of the Ontario Coalition, agrees and adds, “I believe that the head tax redress movement has spurred many Chinese seniors to become involved in the political system for the first time.  As such we are becoming more civically engaged in the affairs of the nation.  For example, I believe, Chinese seniors will be tuned into the throne speech seeking out announcements that will be directly affecting them whether it is about head tax redress or strengthening the Senior Income Security Act.  Any way you look at it, the redress movement has changed the Chinese Canadian community forever.”

Canada's “National Dream” was realized when the Last Spike was driven to complete the transcontinental railway in 1885. Instead of gratitude for the Chinese railway workers – thousands of whom gave their lives to the building of this country – the government imposed a head tax on all new Chinese immigrants, collecting more than $23 million by 1923. That year, the government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act to stop all Chinese immigration to Canada. The racist legislation was not repealed until 1947.

– 30-

Notice to Media: Dr. Joseph Wong, CCNC Founding President, Mr. James Pon, a head tax payer and Mr. George Lau, Co-Chair of the Ontario Coalition will be attending the Throne Speech in Ottawa on April 4, 2006. This delegation will be available to meet with the Ottawa media in the foyer of Parliament immediately after the Throne Speech. Please contact Dr. Joseph Wong, CCNC Founding President, (416) 806-0082.

For more information, please contact:

Ontario Coalition of Head Tax Payers and Families
Susan Eng, Co-chair, (416) 960-0312 (Toronto)

Chinese Canadian National Council
Colleen Hua, National President, (647) 299-1775 (Toronto)
Victor Wong, Executive Director, (416) 977-9871 (Toronto)
Sid Tan, National Director, (604) 783-1853 (Vancouver)
Avvy Go, Director, Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic; and
Counsel, Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families (416) 971-9674 (Toronto)

BC Coalition of Head Tax Payers, Spouses and Descendants
Bill Chu, spokesperson (604) 261-6526 (Vancouver)

Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance
William Dere (514) 488-0804 (Montreal)
Walter Tom (514) 341-3929 (Montreal)