The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, known today as the Chinese Exclusion Act (the duration of which has been dubbed the Exclusion Era), was an act passed by the government of

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Prime Minister

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

, banning most forms of

Chinese immigration to Canada There has been a significant history of Chinese immigration to Canada, with the first settlement of Chinese people in Canada being in the 1780s.Chan, Anthony B. 013 July 302019 May 22.Chinese Canadians." ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. Ottawa: His ...

. Immigration from most countries was controlled or restricted in some way, but only the Chinese were completely prohibited from immigrating to Canada.

History

Before 1923, Chinese immigration was heavily controlled by the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, which imposed an onerous

head tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments f ...

on all immigrants from China. After various members of the federal and some provincial governments (especially

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

) put pressure on the federal government to discourage Chinese immigration, the Chinese Immigration Act was passed. It went into effect on 1 July 1923. The Act banned Chinese immigrants from entering Canada except those under the following titles: * Diplomat * Foreign student * "Special circumstance" granted by the Minister of Immigration under Article 9 of the Act (This is the class that former Governor General

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation. Clarkson arrived in Canada with her family in 19 ...

's family fell under.) * Merchant The Act did not only apply to Chinese from China but ethnic Chinese with British nationality as well. Since Dominion Day coincided with the enforcement of the Chinese Immigration Act, Chinese-Canadians at the time referred to the anniversary of Confederation as "Humiliation Day" and refused to take any part in the celebration. Because Canada became a signatory following World War II of the United Nations' Charter of Human Rights, with which the Chinese Immigration Act was inconsistent, the Canadian Parliament repealed the act on 14 May 1947 (following the proclamation of the

Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 The ''Canadian Citizenship Act'' (french: Loi sur la citoyenneté canadienne) was a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1946 which created the legal status of Canadian citizenship. The Act defined who were Canadian citizens, separa ...

on 1 January 1947). However, independent Chinese immigration to Canada came only after the liberalization of Canadian immigration policy under the governments of

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electi ...

and Lester Pearson, first by the elimination of restrictions based on national origins in 1962, followed by the establishment of the world's first

points-based immigration system A points-based immigration system is an immigration system where a noncitizen's eligibility to immigrate is (partly or wholly) determined by whether that noncitizen is able to score above a threshold number of points in a scoring system that might ...

in 1967.

Redress and legacy

On 22 June 2006, then-

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Stephen Harper apologized in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. The first phrase of the apology was spoken in

Cantonese Chinese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

, the most frequently spoken Chinese language among Chinese immigrants. He announced that the survivors or their spouses will be paid approximately () in compensation for the head tax. On 15 May 2014, then- Premier of British Columbia Christy Clark apologized in the Legislative Assembly. The apology motion was unanimously passed and aims to make amends for historic wrongs. Unlike the federal apology, no individual compensation was provided. However, was promised to be put into a legacy fund which would help legacy initiatives. The formal apology went through a three-month consultation period with various parties to help ensure that the apology was done properly. On 22 April 2018, then-Mayor of

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

Gregor Robertson issued a formal public apology. The Act and its legacy have been the subject of at least three documentary films: * '' Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice'' (2011) by Kenda Gee and

Tom Radford Tom Radford (born March 12, 1946) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Edmonton, Alberta.Tom Murray"Tom Radford" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', March 22, 2010. A cofounder with Anne Wheeler and P. J. Reese of the Filmwest Associates studio, Ra ...

* ''In the Shadow of Gold Mountain'' (2004) by

Karen Cho Karen Cho is a Chinese-Canadian documentary filmmaker in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her credits include the 2004 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary ''In The Shadow Of Gold Mountain'', documenting the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Ac ...

; Cho, Karen, writer/director. 2004.
In the Shadow of Gold Mountain
' (documentary film). CA:

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. It has also been the subject of works of historical fiction: * ''The Red Tiger'' (2019) by Chuck Lim

References

External links

{{Chinese Canadian 1923 in Canadian law 1923 in international relations Anti-Chinese activities in Canada Anti-Chinese legislation Canadian federal legislation Canadian immigration law History of Chinese Canadians History of immigration to Canada History of Vancouver Immigration legislation Legal history of Canada Repealed Canadian legislation Chinese-Canadian culture in Vancouver

History

Redress and legacy

See also

References

External links