Globe & Mail / Vancouver Sun – head tax stories on division in Chinese community???

Here are the latest media stories from the Globe & Mail, and Vancouver Sun.  Both stories emphasize a percieved division in the Chinese community regarding compensation.

But a recent announcement by Susan Eng of the Ontario Coaltion of Head Tax payers and families, clearly demonstrates that the previous division is now non-existent.  The National Congress of Chinese Canadians which signed the Nov. 25th Agreement -in -Principle for the ACE program of Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education, now says they have ALWAYS asked for an apology, and are NOT opposed to individual  compensation for head tax payers and survivors.

So what's the fuss? 

Globe and Mail – June 9^th, 2006

B.C. NOTEBOOK

Chinese
head-tax compensation proves to be a thorny issue

ROD MICKLEBURGH

It's not easy being sorry.

The governing federal Tories are finding that out as
they work to fulfill their campaign promise to apologize and compensate Chinese
Canadians for the head tax and Exclusion Act applied to Chinese immigrants long
ago.

Few would deny an apology is appropriate for these
racist policies. But what about the thorny issue of compensation?

Yes, in 1988, the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney paid out $21,000 each to an
estimated 14,000 Japanese Canadians for their wartime internment and the even
more shameful stripping of their homes and businesses.

Yet there is a major difference between what happened to the Japanese
and the 80,000 or so Chinese immigrants who paid the head tax. However wrong it
was to impose the hated $500 head tax on those wanting to come to Canada, no one forced the immigrants to make the journey. Those
who stayed in China
did not have to pay a cent.

The Japanese in Canada
had no such choice, nor, it should be pointed out, did Chinese families
separated by the heartless 1923 Exclusion Act that banned all immigration from China
until it was repealed in 1947.

Given all this, the issue of compensation is far from
cut and dried. If it is to be paid, should it go only to the handful of
head-tax payees still alive? Or to the many families of all
those who paid the tax? And what about descendants of just those
families separated by the Exclusion Act?

Not helping the Harper government struggle through
these ticklish matters is division within the Chinese Canadian community
itself. Some groups remain opposed to individual compensation, while others,
particularly the activist Chinese Canadian National Council, wants
one payment for every head tax paid.

The government has promised a package before the end
of the month. Good luck.

End

Vancouver Sun – June 8^th, 2006

PM vows apology
and quick redress for Chinese-Canadians: But MP warns that divisions might make
agreement difficult to reach

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper will
move this month to help Canadians reconcile with ethnic Chinese citizens who
have felt excluded from the country for more than a century due to old racist
immigration laws, Conservative MP Jason Kenney said Wednesday.

But Kenney said
the government, which will formally apologize in the House of Commons and
provide an unspecified redress package, has so far failed to bridge the huge
division among Chinese-Canadians over whether taxpayer-funded payments are
warranted.

“It'll happen
before the house rises” for the summer break, which is scheduled to begin
no later than June 23, said Kenney, Harper's parliamentary secretary and one of
the MPs involved in negotiations on the package.

“I think this
will be an historic opportunity for reconciliation with elements of the Chinese
community that have really felt excluded now for over 100 years.”

Kenney
acknowledged that two national groups, one in favour
of financial redress and one opposed, are still far apart on the issue of
financial redress.

“What we're
trying to do is come up with a consensus and, quite frankly, the Chinese
community has been quite polarized for a long time on how to redress the head
tax. It's a very difficult issue. There are groups that are miles apart on
this, so it's going to be difficult to come up with a consensus. But we're
doing our best.”

He noted that
Harper, during a recent visit to Vancouver,
said the redress would go to “direct” victims of the head tax and an
immigration ban aimed at limiting, then ending Chinese immigration between 1885
and 1947.

“It'll be a
package that I think gives honour to the memory of those
who were really victims of racist policies in the past,” Kenney told
reporters.

Harper's
declaration that he will limit redress payments has already sparked criticism,
but Kenney said cabinet is considering various options.

“The
principle he said is 'those who are directly affected' and there's different
ways of interpreting that.”

The Chinese
Canadian National Council, a group that waged an aggressive and successful
campaign against the former Liberal government's refusal to provide redress,
has expressed concern about Harper's remarks.

“Redress-seeking
groups are concerned that the government will exclude descendants and treat
widows substantially differently,” the CCNC said in a statement.

Liberal
multiculturalism critic Sukh Dhaliwal
warned Wednesday that the government risks creating further divisions in Canada's
ethnic communities by singling out Chinese-Canadians for recognition while not
taking action on other racist incidents.

From Sid Tan....




Media Advisory: For Immediate Release – June 8, 2006

Chinese Head-tax Payer, Families To Pray 
Government Has Courage:  
Call on Kuan Kung (patron saint of Chinese Sojourners)
In Quest to Seek Justice

Vancouver BC – Charlie Song Now Quan and representatives of head-tax payer  
families and ACCESS Association of Chinese Canadians of Chinese Canadians 
for  Equality and Solidarity Society will ask Kuan Kung to strengthen and give  
courage to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government. 

Currently, they are considering an apology and appropriate redress package to affected 
victims of 62-years of Chinese head tax and exclusion laws. Mr. Quan is one of 
less than two dozen surviving Chinese head tax payers. Also in attendance will be 
Gim Foon Wong, the 82-year old World War Two airforce veteran who rode his 
motorcycle across Canada in a Ride for Redress in 2005.  

Where: Quon Lung Sai Tong 
       164 East Hastings Street, Vancouver
When:  2:00pm, June 9, 2006

Quon Lung Sai Tong an association consisting of members with the Chinese 
surname spelt in English as Quon, Quan, Kwan, Kwon and Kuan and other 
variations. Lung Sai is the birthplace of Kuan Kung, the legendary warrior 
scholar respected for loyalty, trust, righteousness and cooperation. He along 
with his two sworn brothers are celebrated heroes in the tale, "Romance of the 
Three Kingdoms." 

Quoted from http://www.civilization.ca/academ/articles/hoe1_2e.html

“Kuan Kung was well known as a righteous and loyal general. In a battle with 
Ts'ao Ts'ao, the leader of an opposing kingdom, he was defeated and arrested by 
Ts'ao. Ts'ao, impressed by his righteousness and courage, treated him well and 
asked him to serve in his kingdom. But Kuan was loyal to his elder sworn 
brother, Liu. He declined the offer and returned to Liu. 

Many years later, Kuan was requested by his army adviser Chu Ko Liang to fight 
against Ts'ao. Knowing that Ts'ao was once kind to Kuan, Chu asked that Ts'ao's 
life should not be spared if Kuan won the battle; otherwise Kuan would be 
beheaded instead. 

Kuan went to war and defeated Ts'ao. In remembrance of the kindness and comfort 
given to him by Ts'ao before, he let Ts'ao go and prepared to be beheaded upon 
return. Impressed by his kindness and generosity, Chu spared "his head." It was said 
that Chu, being a farsighted adviser, knew by fortune-telling that Ts'ao would not die 
in that battle; he sent Kuan there so as to test his righteousness and loyalty 
(K. Cheong, interview, 1977).” 

ACCESS is a not-for-profit anti-racism, human rights and social justice society 
as well as a community television corporation. It is an affiliate of the 
Chinese Canadian National Council and a member of the National Anti-Racism 
Council of Canada and STATUS Coalition. ACCESS works with other equality 
seeking organizations to fight racism and discrimination, to advance the rights 
of citizens and migrants living in Canada and to press the federal government 
to redress the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Acts. 

CCNC is a national human rights organization with 27 chapters across Canada. 
Established in 1979, it has campaigned since 1984 with other redress-seeking 
groups including the BC Coalition of Head Tax Payers, Spouses and 
Descendants (BC Coalition), Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and 
Solidarity (ACCESS), Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families 
(Ontario Coalition), and Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance (CCRA) for Chinese 
head-tax and exclusion redress.

- 30 -

Contact: 

Vancouver: Sid Chow Tan - sidchowtan@gmail.com
         
Toronto: Victor Wong - national@ccnc.ca