Let's think again about redress for head tax scandal

The Vancouver Province
December 28, 2005

It is becoming increasingly clear that a federal government plan designed to atone for almost a century of injustice inflicted on the Chinese-Canadian community is not merely insufficient, but risks adding insult to injury.

When community groups from across the country were flown to Vancouver Nov. 24 to hear details of the plan from multiculturalism minister Raymond Chan, their expectations were high.

For more than 20 years, prominent community leaders have campaigned for an apology and compensation for victims of the notorious head tax, imposed on all Chinese immigrants to Canada from 1885 to 1923.

But the agreement in principle with four community groups that Chan announced offered only funds for educational projects and memorial plaques.

Leading intellectuals among the Chinese community in Vancouver say the negotiations that produced the deal were held with groups "hand-picked" by Ottawa and were not representative of the community at large.

They say the realization that an apology would not be part of the deal came as a major shock.

At a meeting this week, they estimated that as many as 90 per cent of Chinese-Canadians now want the government to rescind the agreement.

Most adamant in its opposition is the Chinese Canadian National Council, whose founding president, Joseph Wong of Toronto, has warned that the issue could tilt the balance against the Liberals in ridings where there is a substantial Chinese-Canadian vote.

Since the early 1980s, the CCNC has been compiling a register of those who paid the head tax, which rose over the years from $50 to a staggering $500. The list, which includes descendants of victims, contains some 4,000 names.

Community leaders say the demand for compensation is more symbolic than it is about the money.

"We want honorable redress for our Chinese pioneers," says Thekla Lit, a Vancouver social worker and prominent activist.

The Liberal government's hasty attempt to put right a historic wrong on the eve of an election smacks of opportunism.

The head-tax scandal already grubbies the pages of Canada's history books and any redress should not be tarnished by an association with cheap political advantage.

Prime Minister Paul Martin should admit his mistake, cancel the agreement and promise to think again. After Jan. 23.

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© The Vancouver Province 2005