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Canada's New Government Provides ex gratia
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Toronto-area Chinese head tax payers receive ex-gratia payments today
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Category Archives: Chinese Canadian History
Generations Rev. Chan Yu Tan: Editing being done for the CBC documentary on Rev. Chan and descendants
Generations Rev. Chan Yu Tan:
Editing being done for the CBC documentary on Rev. Chan and descendants
The Rev. Chan Yu Tan family is being featured in the CBC documentary series Generations.
Editing has now been ongoing since November. The producer is
Halya Kuchmij, a multiple award winning veteran producer, who has worked
on past CBC
projects such as Man Alive and The Journal. She is now with the
Documentary Film
Unit – where she produced Life and Times of Northern Dancer, Who's Lorne
Greene, Tom Jackson: The Big Guy, Chernobyl the Legacy, Mandela I &
II, and many many more.
It is part of a CBC series that focuses on the histories of families
through the generations. Past episodes of Generations include: 100 Years in
Alberta; 100 Years in Sasketchewan; A Century on the Siksika Reserve.
Halya is convinced this “our project” is going to rock! She is
amazed at the almost 120 year long family history that started when Mr.
Chan Sing Kai first came to Canada at the invitation of the Methodist
Church of Canada in November 1888. There are now 7 generations of
Chan descendants throughout North America, descended from eldest
brother Rev. Chan Sing Kai, who later moved to California, Rev. Chan Yu
Tan (my great-great-grandfather who retired in New Westminster), and
Aunt Naomi who had moved to Chicago. Aunt Phoebe is the 4th
sibling who stayed with the Chinese United Church in Vancouver, and
became affectionately known as “The Bible Lady” – she never married.
Brothers Chan Sing Kai and Chan Yu Tan, were born in Guangzhou China,
and raised to be scholars by their fathers. They helped to
organize the first Wesleyan Mission School among the Chinese in Hong
Kong. Their father was also a Christian missionary, having spent
many years as a Chinese Scholar with Rev. Piercy, the pioneer Wesleyan
missionary who contributed greatly to the Chinese translation of
“Pilgrim's Progress.”
Chan Sing Kai became the first Chinese to be ordained in Canada, and
was instrumental in the formation of the Chinese Mission which was
located on Carrall St. in Vanocuver – just blocks down the street from
Vancouver's historical centre of Gastown.
In 1896, Chan Yu Tan arrived in Canada at 33 years of age, as a lay
preacher. He took on the role of pastor of the Chinese Methodist
Church and brought with him his wife Chan Sze Wong and six children: Solomon, Kate, Jack, Rose, Luke
and Millicent. Kate is my great-grandmother.
The 50th Anniversary of the Chinese United Church in Victoria. My
great-great-grandfather, Rev. Chan Yu Tan is 4th from left.
Beside him stands his elder brother Rev. Chan Sing Kai (5th from left).
photo courtesy of United Church Archives.
The Generations Rev. Chan Yu Tan project is not yet “officially titled”
– but the theme will be community service which was lived graciously by
Rev. Chan Yu Tan, and now shared by some of his descendants.
Interviews were done on Vancouver Island
by Halya with two of Rev. Chan Yu Tan's grandchildren: Victor Wong, son
of Rose (Chan) Wong; and Helen Lee daughter of Kate (Chan) Lee, my
grandmother's sister, who lived with Rev. and Mrs. Chan Yu Tan while
they lived in Nanaimo, serving the Chinese United Church there.
Uncle Victor Wong is a WW2 veteran and is currently president of the
Chinese Canadian veterans unit in Victoria.
Great-grandchildren interviewed by Halya were Janice Wong (grand-daughter of Rose Wong), Gary Lee and Rhonda Larrabee
(grandchildren of Kate Lee). Last year, Janice wrote a book
titled CHOW: From China to Canada: memories of food + family, which
shared not only recipes of her father Dennis Wong, but also stories of
Rev. Chan Yu Tan and his son Luke Chan, who became an actor in
Hollywood. Rhonda is the chief of the Qayqayt (New Westminster)
First Nations Band, which she resurrected from obscurity. Gary is
a a longtime community builder who has been involved with many
community organizations, as well as having been a child actor.
Also interviewed were Rev. Chan Yu Tan's great-great-grandchildren Tracey Hinder
and myself. Tracey was the BC regional winner of the inaugural
Canspell spelling bee contest, and is a great example of our family's
future generations.
50th Anniversary Chinese United Church of Victoria w/ Rev. Chan Yu Tan & Rev. Chan Sing Kai – photo courtesy of United Church Archives
Georgia Straight: Head-tax redress incomplete
Georgia Straight: Head-tax redress incomplete
The federal Conservative government is only recognizing 0.6 percent of the 81,000 head tax certificates that were paid from 1895 to 1923. They are ignoring any head tax certificates, where the head tax payers or the spouses have died prior to the Conservative government came to power in February 2006. They will not recognize the head tax certificate that my great-grandfather Ernest Lee paid because he and his wife Kate Chan, have long since passed on. They won't recognize the head tax certificate that my grandfather Sonny Mar's uncle paid for, because he died without leaving any survivors.
$25 million more than paid for the $23 million cost of the Canadian Pacific Railway, for which Chinese labour built the most challenging and deadly stretches through the Fraser Canyon and the Rocky Mountains. And the federal government will only give a $20,000 ex-gratia payment to living head tax payers or their spouses – provided they were still alive by February 2006. If they died prior to that… too bad – so sad. That is just plain wrong. A head tax certificate is a valid certificate. The government has long since recognized it was a wrongful, immoral and shameful tax, only imposed on ethnic Chinese, in a racist attempt to keep them from coming to Canada. It was also used as a cash-cow to supplement government coffers, until the “Chinese Exclusion Act” was imposed from 1923 to 1947.
Charlie Smith writes a good article in this week's Georgia Straight:
By Charlie Smith
Publish Date: December 7, 2006
Ninety-nine-year-old
Charlie Quan recently received the Harper government’s head-tax
reparations, but Grace Schenkeveld’s family waits empty-handed.
Charlie Quan recently received the Harper government’s head-tax
reparations, but Grace Schenkeveld’s family waits empty-handed.
When
Charlie Quan, 99, recently received a $20,000 head-tax payment from the
federal government, he decided to throw a feast. Quan is one of a
handful of people still alive who paid the $500 Chinese head tax to
come to Canada. From 1923 to 1947, the federal government banned
virtually all immigration from China, separating families for decades.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that
almost 300 head-tax-paying survivors and their spouses would each
receive symbolic payments of $20,000. Harper also issued a federal
apology but stopped short of providing direct compensation to families
of deceased head-tax payers. Ottawa will also spend $24 million for a
recognition program.
On December 3, Quan celebrated at the Quan Lung Sai Tong Association
headquarters at 164 East Hastings Street, surrounded by more than two
dozen family members and friends. Quan and others burned incense to
give thanks to the Chinese deity Kwan Kung and enjoyed a sumptuous
Chinese lunch, including a whole pig, which is a symbol of good fortune.
Quan told the Georgia Straight that Kwan Kung—the protector
of warriors, writers, and artists—gave him hope to continue pressuring
the government. “I am very satisfied, very satisfied, very satisfied,”
Quan said. “Kwan Kung helped me a lot.”
Sid Chow Tan, cochair of the Head Tax Families Society of Canada, told the Straight that the lo wah kiu (old
overseas Chinese) look upon Kwan Kung as their premier spiritual
helper, admired for his righteousness and compassion. “He is known as
the deity who will throw you a lifeline when you have nowhere else to
turn,” Tan said.
Tan noted that Quan also called upon Kwan Kung to bring justice and
honour to all head-tax families because Harper’s redress package is
incomplete. According to the ?Chinese Canadian National Council,
approximately 81,000 Chinese immigrants paid $23 million in head taxes,
which works out to about ?$1.2 billion in today’s dollars.
“The government needs to have good-faith negotiations with head-tax
families,” Tan said. “Every certificate should be treated equally.”
Grace Schenkeveld, also cochair of the Head Tax Families Society of Canada, told the Straight
that her grandfather Wong Hoy paid the $500 head tax when he came to
Canada in 1919. Schenkeveld said that her grandparents had three
children, born at six-year intervals because it took six years for her
grandfather to save enough money to return to China to visit his wife,
who was forbidden from immigrating because of the exclusion act.
“He told us when he came to Canada he worked as a houseboy,” she
said. “He was this guy who lived in the cellar of this mansion, being
paid $3 a month.”
Schenkeveld said her grandmother suffered a worse fate, dying in
China during the Second World War. At this time, her grandfather
couldn’t send money to the family, which was starving. Schenkeveld said
her father still talks about how he was once like those African
children with swollen bellies.
“My aunt talks about how she was starving so badly her hair fell out,” Schenkeveld said. “These were also victims.”
She added that she and her family weren’t able to move to Canada
until 1971. “My grandfather would say things like, ‘The last time I saw
your dad, he was a six-year-old boy,’” she said. “He said, ‘Are you
sure you’re the same man?’”
Her family won’t receive a head-tax payment because her grandfather
died more than 20 years ago. “We believe the Harper government should
treat all head-tax families fairly, with dignity and honour,”
Schenkeveld said. “And do something that’s right, and be brave enough
to do something that’s right. Because a lot of Canadians will feel the
same way. This is racism. We have to acknowledge racism, and it’s
wrong.”
Todd Wong performing a tip roll freestyle ski trick on Grouse Mountain – photo Richard Montagna
Lotusland Saskatchewan: a documentary on Janice Wong, her book Chow, and the Wong family restaurant
Lotusland Saskatchewan: a documentary on Janice Wong,
her book Chow, and the Wong family restaurant
My cousin Janice Wong is a visual artist who accidently wrote an
incredibly wonderful family memori/cookbook titled Chow: From China to
Canada: Memories of Food + Family.
Last year, Janice did a lot of local and national print, radio and
television interviews across Canada… well mostly in Vancouver,
Victoria, Toronto, Saskatchewan… and even in Winnipeg. Last
week, the CBC television documentary about her, her family, and her
book aired in Saskatchewan. Hopefully the national air date will
be soon.
Check out these links about Janice:
Costa Maragos' CBC documentary on Chow and the Wong family
in Saskatchewan airs on CBC Saskatchewan, November 29, 2006.
The full length version of the documentary will air Canada-wide
on CBC's The National—air date TBA.
C H O W
c-h-o-w.blogspot.com
janice wong studio: artist
www.janicewongstudio.com/Main_artist.htm
What Is She Up To?
Janice Wong's blog – features a picture of Todd and Janice during the Eastside Culture Crawl.
what-is-she-up-to.blogspot.com/ –
Artist Arleigh Wood looking fabulous beside her series featuring crows
during the Eastside Culture Crawl opening night – photo Todd Wong
Deb Martin and Todd Wong enjoying wine at Janice Wong Studio during the Eastside Culture Crawl – photo George/Todd Wong
Artist Janice Wong, and her cousin Todd Wong at Eastside Culture Crawl – photo George/Todd Wong
Gailan Ngan opens up a bottle of wine during the Eastside Culture Crawl – photo Todd Wong