Gim Wong with Jack Layton above right.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NOVEMBER 22, 2005

NDP CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE FAIR DEAL FOR CHINESE HEAD TAX PAYERS

OTTAWA –
NDP Leader Jack Layton along with his caucus colleagues, House Leader
Libby Davies (Vancouver East), Immigration Critic Bill Siksay
(Burnaby-Douglas) and MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New-Westminster), urged
the Prime Minister to find a compromise and fair deal for all Chinese
Canadian head tax payers and their families, today.

“These families deserve an apology and real respect from this government,” said Layton. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Federal NDP questioned the government’s
reasoning in allocating $12.5 million for a redress project to a single
organization without including thousands of head tax payers, their
families and their representatives.

“It
is completely inadequate for this government to exclude at least 4000
head tax payers, their families and descendants through a lump sum
agreement with only one organization,“ said Davies.

$12.5 million has
been allocated to Chinese Canadians through the Acknowledgement,
Commemoration and Education (ACE) Fund, established for communities
affected by wartime and similar past measures. The government is
expected to announce Wednesday that it will sign over the entire
allocation to the National Congress of Chinese Canadians, despite calls
from several other organizations, such as the Chinese Canadian National
Council, to be involved in any commemorative, educational or other key
measures that may arise from the fund.

“At
the forefront of the redress movement is the Chinese Canadian National
Council, which represents thousands of head tax payers and their
families,” said Layton, “but if this deal goes forward in its current form, CCNC will have no say in how the funds will be spent.”

“The
Prime Minister should remember his responsibility to find a course of
compromise that will address the needs of the diverse community of
Chinese Canadians that deserve to be acknowledged here,” said Julian.

“Finding
a compromise to address the injustices committed against Chinese
immigrants to Canada over a period of decades should be this government’s first priority,” added Siksay.

The Canadian government collected $23 million from Chinese Immigrants to Canada between 1885 and 1923.

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Jack Layton – Karl Belanger: (613) 995-6767

Libby Davies – Leanne Holt: (613) 992-6036

Bill Siksay – Sonja vanDieen: (613) 996-5599

Peter Julian – Henri Sader: (613) 992-4215

_____________________________________________

From:   Julian, Peter – M.P. 

Sent:   November 23, 2005 10:45 AM

Subject:        Bill C-333, Chinese Canadian Recognition and Redress Act

Importance:     High

Thank you for
contacting my office with your concerns about the government amendments
to Bill C-333, Chinese Canadian Recognition and Redress Act.

BC NDP Caucus member
Libby Davies has brought forward several amendments to this Bill to try
to ensure that Head Tax Payers and their families were properly
represented.  Unfortunately, the Liberal and Conservatives
representatives on this committee voted against all amendments that the
NDP has put forward on this Bill.

You can rest assured
that my Caucus colleagues and myself will continue to push for changes
to this Bill that will acknowledge the mistakes the past government
made by imposing this tax, and for the Bill to be more inclusive of
Head Tax Payers and their families.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Julian, MP

Burnaby-New Westminster

Tel: (613) 992-4214  Fax: (613) 947-9500

Tel: (604) 775-5707  Fax: (604) 775-5743

TTY: (613) 992-4249

CEP 232/SCEP 232

Chinese Head Tax: NCCC
Director Openly Reprimands NCCC for Mishandling Head Tax Issue


The
following article appeared on November 19, in Ming Pao, under a
photograph
of Tsai Fung Chan Lee, Har Ying Lee, and Jie Jun Zhang Yan.

NCCC
Director Openly Reprimands NCCC for Mishandling Head Tax Issue

NCCC
director Tsai Fung Chan Lee went public in her opposition to NCCC, openly
criticizing NCCC's approach, and urged its executive chairman Ping Tan and
the federal government to reconsider their approach to the Head Tax issue.

Tsai
Fung Chan Lee is also the chairwoman of the Association for
Promoting
 Chinese-Canadian Friendship (Zhong Jia
Lian Yi Hui). She stated yesterday
that for many years NCCC has done a good job promoting friendship between China
and Canada.  However, it has handled the
Head Tax issue in inappropriate
ways.

She
states that it was the Head Tax payers who actually paid, if the
government
is to redress the Head Tax issue in anyway, the money should go to the payers
and their families. It should be up to the payers and their families to decide
whether to donate the money to the community or to keep the money. It should
be their choice.

Mrs.
Lee said, her own father-in-law and elder brother-in-law had been
Head
Tax payers. When her father-in-law could not afford to pay any more Head Tax,
his wife was forced to stay in China to look after two sons, and for forty years
led a widow's existence with a living husband. It was clearly a tragic story
of tears and hurt.

Mrs.
Lee clearly states that she is going public and speaking up in the hope
that Ping Tan, NCCC, and the federal government would do some clear thinking,
and reconsider the way the Head Tax issue is being handled.

Also,
Jie Jun Zhang Yan, founder of the Association of Guangzhou High School
Alumni In Canada, states that she is puzzled by the federal government's
attitude towards Canadians of Chinese descent. She cannot understand why
compensation cannot go to the victims - the Head Tax payers. She appeals
for the government to appoint a government spokesperson to explain the government
stand.

Letter to the Vancouver Sun : Chinese head tax redress Bill C-333 is an affront to justice

RE: The liberals bungle a great opportunity to do the right thing.
By Brad Lee
Saturday Nov 19th, page C7

Bill C-333 is an affront to justice


I am a 5th Generation Chinese Canadian.
Bill C-333 is an affront to justice and Canadian values.

Every year my WW2 vet grand uncle writes to the government asking for an apology.  Ain’t going to happen.

Raymond Chan is making secret deals with the National Congress of
Chinese Canadians –this group does not accurately represent actual head
tax payers nor their descendants – the Chinese Canadian National
Council does.  Chan and the NCCC are basically all immigrants that came
to Canada after 1967.  The head tax was last paid in 1923, before the
Chinese exclusion act closed the doors until 1947.  These guys just
want the $12.5 million.

1 – Chinese had to pay the head tax – no other ethnic or racial group was taxed.
2 – We endured over a century's worth of
racial discrimination and prejudice.
3) The government is ignoring us, and speaking to immigrants who did not pay the head tax.

The majority of head tax descendants are multi-generational Canadians
who all speak English, eh? – Why is Chan only talking to Chinese media?

It’s time for all Chinese-Canadians to wake up and protest. 
Register on-line as a headtax descendant.  The liberals are giving away OUR money that our ancestors sweated for.

Todd Wong aka “Toddish McWong”

www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com

Send a letter to the federal Liberal government to protest the unfair redress to head tax payers and descendants

http://www.headtaxredress.org/

Here is my letter.

I am a 5th Generation Chinese Canadian.
And I will NOT vote Liberal if Bill C-333 goes ahead.
I will tell all my friends and family to do the same.

Chinese Canadian pioneers are being discriminated against 3 times over.

1 – Chinese had to pay the head tax – no other ethnic or racial group was taxed.
2 – We endured over a century's worth of racial discrimination and prejudice.
3) The government is ignoring us, and speaking to new immigrants who did not pay the head tax.

The Government must recognize that it was a Liberal government that
brought in the Head Tax, and it was a Liberal government that is
ignoring the Canadian born descendants of the head tax payers.

The Government’s actions to date have been to silence and ignore head
tax families and groups representing them who refuse to accept the
Government’s preset conditions of  “no apology, no
compensation”  for 62 years of legislated racism;

Tthe Government is poised to allocate $12.5 million from the ACE
Program to the Congress, so that funds will be distributed through only
the Congress, to resolve the Head Tax and Exclusion Act issue, despite
loud opposition from head tax payers and families across Canada who
declare that the Congress is not representative of Chinese Canadians,
WE, the Undersigned, state that Government’s process of appointing the
Congress is anti-democratic and that any payment to the National
Congress of Chinese Canadians is illegitimate without proper
consultation with head tax payers and families.

THEREFORE, the Government MUST:
STOP any and all payments from the ACE Program to the Congress; and
immediately commence negotiations with head tax payers and families and
their legitimately appointed representatives.
     
Send your own letter to www.headtaxredress.org