More groups, including the NDP and Tories, are calling for a review of the Chinese Head Tax settlement given the dubious credentials of the NCCC, its main beneficiary. -table(桌子来了) @枫下论坛 The Rolia Forum

枫下茶话 / 政治经济 / 新书《人头税始末》出版 -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-14 {484} (#2663127@0)
近来人头税成为华人社区的热门话题，但华人尤其是新移民对人头税的来龙去脉所知甚少。旅加华裔李宁玉博士推出中文版《人头税始末》一书，相信有助于华裔对人头税问题有更多了解。

李宁玉博士虽然在一个月时间内写出新书，但她研究加拿大华侨历史及人头税问题已有10年时间。此前还与中央电视台合作，制片人并导演反映加拿大华工修建太平洋铁路的纪录片“枫骨中华魂”。其后又出版《枫骨中华魂》大型图片集。《人头税始末》一书共分3部分：华人加拿大的历史贡献；加拿大排华反华的历史根源；加拿大华人改写历史新篇章。
http://www.51.ca/news/shownews.php?s=03bdfa66f5ca68b8b8b15f00f6af33bd&sitenewsid=20376

人头税：保守党宣布将做出正式的官方道歉(ZT) -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-14 (#2663258@0)

The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have already called for a formal apology #2664529 -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 (#2664554@0)

[转帖]对陈丙丁听其言观其行 -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-14 (#2663260@0)

"在SARS肆虐多伦多并夺去几十位加拿大人生命的时候，陈先生召开记者会爲中共掩盖疫情而辩护，以华人代表的名义要求《多伦多太阳报》爲刊登一幅批评中共的漫画而道歉。" 当时我看到那幅漫画也很气愤, -wzap(识食物者为俊杰); 2005-12-14 {127} (#2663294@0)
明明是侮辱所有华人,到这个作者嘴下就成了侮辱中共...凭这句话就能说明这个作者根本就没有客观立场..作者和他的文章在我心目中信用破产.

你没看见抬头是大纪元？！ -killer(十步杀一人千里不留行); 2005-12-14 (#2663380@0)
五十载风雨沧桑　半世纪爱国情怀（ＦＹＩ） -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-14 (#2663889@0)

求同存异整合力量谋求华社共同发展（ＦＹＩ） -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-14 (#2663906@0)

（星星生活专栏作者余若扬）人头税案的羔羊逻辑可以休矣 -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-14 (#2663966@0)
加政府与四华人组织所签人头税协议曝光(zt) -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 (#2664502@0)
1885 tax becomes an issue in 2006 (from National Post) -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 {6908} (#2664526@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛1885 tax becomes an issue in 2006

Brian Hutchinson

National Post

1098 words

15 December 2005

National Post

Toronto / Late

A1 / Front

English

(c) 2005 National Post . All Rights Reserved.

RICHMOND, B.C. - Raymond Chan is an emotional fellow. Canada's minister of state for multiculturalism has been known to cry in front of constituents in his suburban Vancouver riding. Sometimes he cries out of gratitude, and sometimes in anger. His eyes teared up when our discussion this week touched on human rights.

He likens himself to a crusader, a defender of democracy; he is quick to mention he was once jailed in China, for leading a protest against that country's authoritarian regime.

It might seem odd, then, that Mr. Chan is so firmly opposed to a measure of reconciliation here at home, especially one that appeals to many residents of his Richmond riding. Half of the riding's eligible voters are, like him, of Chinese origin.

The issue is the long-discarded head tax, a racist duty imposed on Chinese immigrants to Canada between 1885 and 1923. It's estimated Ottawa collected $23-million from Chinese newcomers in those years; those who are still alive, and many of their descendants, want the money back.

They would also like a formal apology.

Mr. Chan once heartily supported their requests for compensation and redress.

But no longer. And he's not alone; indeed, half a dozen large Chinese-Canadian organizations that represent hundreds more Chinese groups have sided with Mr. Chan and his new, cautious approach to the head tax question.

The issue has suddenly become an election hot button for Chinese-Canadians across the country.

It could cost Mr. Chan his job, and the Liberals some important seats in Parliament.

The Chinese Canadian National Council says there are only four head tax survivors in Canada. But there are an estimated 80,000 descendants and thousands more Chinese-Canadians who feel compensation and an apology are due.

Mr. Chan took up their cause and ran with the issue in Richmond during the 1993 federal election campaign, his first. He was elected and made a junior minister in Jean Chretien's Cabinet. A year later, he recommended to Cabinet some form of redress and an apology to survivors of the head tax. "I was shot down," he recalled.

He says an apology and compensation are never going to happen, at least as long as the Liberals are in power.

The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have already called for a formal apology, and last week Conservative leader Stephen Harper unexpectedly jumped on the bandwagon.

The Tories, Mr. Harper noted in a statement, have "long recognized the terrible historical wrong of the Chinese head tax. It is time for Parliament and the Government of Canada to recognize this grave injustice and to apologize for it."

The statement-- and the timing of its release, in an election campaign -- smacked of political opportunism. But it pleased those Conservative candidates locked in close battles with Liberals in B.C.'s crucial Lower Mainland.

Darrel Reid is facing off against Raymond Chan in Richmond. "The head tax issue is huge," said Mr. Reid, sitting in his Conservative war room, a few blocks from Mr. Chan's own election headquarters. "It was the only tax ever collected from a specific ethnic group in Canada. It was wrong, and that has to be recognized."

Mr. Chan counters that making an official apology to head tax survivors and their families will "open the floodgates" to "countless lawsuits and financial responsibilities for other historical wrongs."

Besides, he says, the federal government has already figured a way to address the issue without assuming unrestricted financial liabilities. In February, Ottawa announced the $25-million Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education Program, aimed at recognizing "the historical experiences of [all] ethnocultural communities impacted by wartime measures and immigration experiences."

The money is to be shared among various Chinese-Canadian groups, along with organizations representing other ethnic and cultural minorities.

"The ACE program is for the Italians, the Ukrainians, the Germans, the Jews, the Sikhs," Mr. Chan explained. "Now the Croatians have asked to participate. The blacks have come to participate. Everybody wants to be part of it now."

The National Congress of Chinese Canadians is among the largest groups in support of the ACE program. "The Chinese community stands united in the cause of educating all Canadians about this tragic period in our history," noted Ping Tan, the NCCC's executive co-chair.

But the program's one-size-fits-all approach doesn't sit well with thousands of Chinese-Canadians affected by the head tax.

"Mr. Chan used to support us, and now he has turned his back on us," said Sid Tan, a Vancouver resident and spokesman for the Chinese Canadian National Council, which says it represents half of all head tax survivors and their relatives. "It really sickens me. The money is just going to go to Liberal friends. It's like a Chinese-Canadian sponsorship scandal."

He says Chinese groups that supported the ACE program have already submitted proposals for things such as commemorative rock gardens and museums. His members, meanwhile, have asked for grant information but have been ignored.

"There is a lot of anger over this," he said. "The Liberals bungled the whole issue of redress and they have basically divided the Chinese community."

It's an opening opposition parties are keen to exploit, and it has Liberals in B.C. on the defensive.

"I don't buy their little apology [demands] at all," Hedy Fry, the Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre, told a local newspaper this week.

As for Mr. Chan, he'd rather discuss other issues, such as same-sex marriage. His opponent, Darrel Reid, opposes it. A Mennonite, Mr. Chan used to oppose gay marriage, too. Not anymore.

THE HEAD TAX

REDRESS

Before election was called, government and 11 Chinese-Canadian groups agreed to $2.5-million deal to set up educational and commemorative projects related to the tax.

HISTORY

Ottawa imposed a $50 tax on all Chinese immigrants in 1885, after completion of the Canadian Pacific railway. Tax was raised to $100, then $500 in 1903 -- the equivalent of two years' pay. In 1923 a new law effectively banned Chinese immigration. It was repealed in 1947.

OBJECTIONS

Chinese community says agreement bypassed some community groups and does not include an apology or compensation.

bhutchinson@nationalpost.com; Ran with fact box "The Head Tax" which has been appended to the story.

Black & White Photo: Jason Kryk, CanWest News Service / The late Wing Shu Hong's receipt for the $500 head tax he paid when he immigrated to Canada in 1918.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

[an apology and compensation are never going to happen, at least as long as the Liberals are in power. The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have already called for a formal apology] -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 (#2664550@0)
"The Chinese community stands united in the cause of educating all Canadians about this tragic period in our history," noted Ping Tan, the NCCC's executive co-chair. -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 (#2664562@0)

the key word: The Chinese community stands UNITED -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 (#2664564@0)

Head tax stance may cost Liberals; Issue pivotal in Trinity-Spadina Ianno vulnerable to NDP challenger (from Toronto Star) -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 {4628} (#2664529@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Head tax stance may cost Liberals; Issue pivotal in Trinity-Spadina Ianno vulnerable to NDP challenger

Rita Daly

Toronto Star

765 words

15 December 2005

The Toronto Star

ONT

B02

English

Copyright (c) 2005 The Toronto Star

Old loyalties to political parties die hard. But the controversial Chinese head tax issue is stirring up a cauldron of emotions in Toronto's Chinatown that could cost Liberal incumbent Tony Ianno some crucial votes.

"This time the Liberals are being taken down because they have done wrong," says George Lau, trudging along the snow-covered sidewalk on Spadina Ave., south of College St.

His father, now deceased, paid the discriminatory $500 head tax to come into this country and now Lau, 74, is angry enough at the Liberals' position to be out campaigning for the NDP's Olivia Chow.

Ianno, has held the Trinity-Spadina riding for 12 years, but for the third time he is up against a formidable foe. Chow, who resigned her Toronto City Council seat to run, hopes to join husband and NDP Leader Jack Layton in Ottawa after the Jan. 23 election. Running for the Conservatives is lawyer Sam Goldstein.

While Ianno and Chow remain equally popular among many residents, the head tax issue has turned some die-hard Liberal voters against their traditional party of choice.

Up until last year's election Lau always voted Liberal, a common practice for many foreign-born Canadians grateful to the Trudeau government for easing immigration rules. He won't any more.

"It's not just me," he says, clutching one of Chow's election leaflets. "A lot of people are putting their vote into the NDP."

Late last month the federal government hammered out a $2.5 million agreement with a group called the National Congress of Chinese Canadians, angering other Chinese organizations left out of the deal who wanted an official apology and individual compensation to head-tax payers and their families. The money is being earmarked instead for educational activities.

"We're not compensating an individual for something that took place at the time the laws were what they were," says Ianno, campaigning a few blocks north on College St.

"What we're dealing with is the future, and today, in a way that educates Canadians at large so we can never allow this to happen again."

The community, he adds, "supports it overwhelmingly."

Ronnie Chiu, a real estate agent in the area, considers Chow a friend. But he sides with the Liberals on this issue and is campaigning for Ianno. Individual compensation would "open up a whole can of worms," he says.

His father, too, paid the head tax, he explains. But like so many Chinese immigrants back then, he bought another man's immigration papers to enter the country. "I, on the other hand, arrived on my father's papers. The guy who sold my father his papers has sons as well. So who is legally entitled to receive compensation? It would be one big mess."

Some 81,000 Chinese paid a total of $23 million between 1885 and 1923 under the head-tax scheme. Only a few hundred are still alive. Chow says it wouldn't hurt the government, at the very least, to pay those survivors back their money and apologize to the head-tax families.

"You can't move forward until you settle the past," she says. For years Chow has listened to families' stories of hardship, of years of labour it took for fathers to pay off the head tax, of families separated by the government's discriminatory laws against the Chinese.

The Chinese community, comprising nearly 20 per cent of the riding population, has been divided in the past when it comes to politics. Chinatown sits in the middle of Chow's former city ward, but long-time resident and NDP supporter Doug Hum - also the descendant of a head-tax payer - says not everyone in the Chinese business community likes her.

"Some don't feel she is business-oriented enough. You know, when public health gets after the restaurants, I guess they feel she doesn't crack down on public health and tell them to lay off."

Some businessmen with ties to the booming economy of mainland China have also criticized Chow for being too vocal in denouncing the Tiananmen Square massacre and raising human rights issues.

483568-337523.jpg | "What we're dealing with is the future," Liberal Tony Ianno says. Olivia Chow of the NDP says settle the past first. Sam Goldstein, a lawyer, is running for the Conservatives. - Olivia Chow of the NDP says settle the past first. - Sam Goldstein, a lawyer, is running for the Conservatives.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
More groups, including the NDP and Tories, are calling for a review of the Chinese Head Tax settlement given the dubious credentials of the NCCC, its main beneficiary. -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 {7065} (#2664580@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛More groups, including the NDP and Tories, are calling for a review of the Chinese Head Tax settlement given the dubious credentials of the NCCC, its main beneficiary.
By Cindy Drukier

Epoch Times Staff
Dec 15, 2005

Head Tax Certificate, 1913. (Fortsteele.bc.ca—Image courtesy of Trail City Archives, Trail, BC, 1253)

High-res image (600 x 470 px, 0 dpi)

Making official amends to Chinese Canadians for 62 years of discriminatory immigration policy became an election issue last week when both the Conservatives and New Democrats criticized the Liberals mishandling of the so-called 'head tax' issue.

Starting in 1885, the year the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed largely due to contributions from Chinese immigrants, the Canadian government tried to curtail further Chinese immigration first by imposing $50 head taxes on new immigrants, then by banning Chinese nationals altogether.

The head taxes—which eventually reached as high as $500 per person—and the subsequent halt of Chinese immigration decimated the Canadian Chinese community and broke up numerous families, with wives unable to join their husbands in Canada.

Surviving head tax payers and their relatives are seeking an apology and financial redress from Ottawa.

The Liberals signed a deal for redress in November that they hoped would settle the head tax issue for good. The $2.5-million agreement-in-principle with Canadian Heritage is for setting up a Chinese Canadian Community Foundation to educate Canadians about the past ill-treatment of Chinese immigrants. It does not include individual compensation or an apology.

The rub that's galvanizing the Chinese-Canadian community is that the deal was negotiated with a single organisation, the National Chinese Canadian Congress (NCCC). The NCCC does not represent any head tax payers, nor does it have a track record on rights issues. Many Chinese-Canadians also dislike its close ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Although the final agreement was officially signed by four people, they hardly seem to represent diversity in the Chinese community: Ping Tan is Executive Chair of the NCCC; Man Wai Yu is Vice-chair of the NCCC's Montreal branch (although he signed as the Montreal Chinese Cultural Center); Lena Wong is Vice President of the Greater Toronto Chinese Cultural Centre whose Vice Chair is Hughes Eng, NCCC Co-chair; and Howe Lee, President, Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society.

Last week, the opposition parties entered the fray, supporting the growing number of Chinese Canadian groups in condemning the settlement.

At a Vancouver press conference held by several New Democrats on December 8, candidate Mary Woo Sims slammed the agreement as "completely unacceptable" for "exclude[ing] at least 4000 head tax payers, their families and descendants through an agreement with only one part of the community."

On the same day, Conservative leader Stephen Harper said that it was time for Parliament to "apologize" for what happened then promised that a Conservative government would work with all Chinese-Canadians reach a consensus on redress.

NCCC Credentials Questioned

Critics are challenging the NCCC's claims that it has the support of 280 organisations and 300,000 Chinese Canadians. In fact, several of the organisations the NCCC purports to represent didn't even know they were on the NCCC's list of supporters. In some cases, a director or individual member signed on behalf of the group without consulting the wider membership.

When The Epoch Times requested a copy of the membership list, NCCC Executive Secretary David Lim first reacted evasively, then didn't return phone calls and finally admitted that the NCCC's national co-chairs wouldn't release it. Tan and Eng would not talk to reporters about the issue.

In a December 5 press statement, the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) a human rights organisation representing 4000 head tax payers or family members, called upon the Prime Minister to "verify the accuracy" of the supporters list.

"They even listed CCNC at first as a supporter but later apologized and removed our name from the list," said Colleen Hua, CCNC National President. "The Government should just withdraw this rushed deal because they clearly failed to conduct the necessary due diligence."

The Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans in Canada who also appeared as a supporter, sent a strong letter to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage stating that the NCCC does not have their endorsement.

Other groups that appeared erroneously on the list include, Family Services of Greater Montreal, Amities Chinoises, Chinese Community Centre of Ontario (CCCO) and the Chinese neighbourhood association in Montreal.

On November 27-8, days after the agreement-in-principle was signed with the government, a meeting of Chinese community representatives was convened in Vancouver ostensibly to discuss creating the new Foundation.

Donald Chen, President of the CCCO, described the process at the conference as "undemocratic… chaotic" and without room for discussion.

According to Chen, somehow 23 people were nominated for the Foundation Preparation Committee but it wasn't clear to him by whom. Further nominations were rejected while all 23 original nominees won their posts, among them all ten NCCC co-chairs plus other NCCC officers, such as Executive Secretary Lim. NCCC's chief, Ping Tan, himself was elected Committee Chair.

Chinese Government Ties

The NCCC's executive is often criticised for its cozy relationship with the CCP. A Globe and Mail article on August 6 called Tan and Eng "the most prominent of the [Chinese] consulate's friends." Apparently, it is common for both to host banquets for visiting Chinese VIPs, including the notoriously repressive former president Jiang Zemin, and to "echo" the official CCP party line, said the article.

Tan also owns Toronto's Bond International College, a boarding school with strong connections to the CCP. Consular officials regularly come to speak at the college and many of its students are sent by the Chinese government for training.

Cathy Liu used to work at Bond, but was fired by Tan two days before an NCCC-organised anti-Falun Gong rally. Liu, a follower of the meditation practice outlawed in China, had been told by Tan to stop appealing outside of the Chinese consulate in Toronto. The reason cited was that the consulate was the College's biggest customer. Liu is currently fighting her dismissal through the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Susan Eng, Co-chair of the Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families sees the election as a great opportunity to expose what's happened behind the scenes and get Ottawa to sign a new deal. "The Opposition Parties appear to understand the need for real redress and we will continue to press the Liberal Party and candidates for their commitment."

Copyright 2000 - 2005 Epoch Times International更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
人头税"方案是如何出炉的(zt) -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-15 (#2664967@0)

自由党至今拒絕平反“人头税”和《排华法案》。所有在这片土地上的华人有责任和义务促使政府面对这段丑恶的历史并做出更正。无知的宽容和愚善只会让历史重演。被政府小恩小惠收买因而对其歌功颂德的确无异于对历史的背叛行为。 -ofuture(ofuture); 2005-12-17 {2270} (#2668208@0)
本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛鐵路後的華人歷史

加拿大太平洋鐵路在1885年完成之後，不再需要華人為它們工作。所以在同一年，工会和卑詩省地區政府要求收取收取$50的人頭稅。当时的加拿大保守党政府是反人头税的。经过8个月长的反击，很不幸，最后不敌工会和卑詩省地區政府，无法阻止人頭稅法案的通過。政府開始了向進入加拿大的華人收取$50的人頭稅。因爲$50的人頭稅沒有有效地阻止華人進入加拿大，保守党1896年下台。自由党聯邦政府在1896---1911年执政,在1900年將人頭稅增加到$100，而在1904年收取$500（這個數目是等於2003年的$8000）。
因爲$500的人頭稅沒有徹底地阻止華人進入加拿大，加拿大自由党政府在1923年 7月1日通過1923年華人移民法案（又稱爲排華法）。除了商人，外交官員，留學生，和特別個案以外，排華法的條款禁止了華人進入加拿大境内。還有，在排華法生效前進入了加拿大的華人要同他們的地區當局報到，以及他們每次出國的時候，他們最多只可以逗留在加拿大境外兩年。

直至到戰後，加拿大的華人社區是可以稱爲一個單身男子社會，因爲當時的中國家庭不會用那麽多錢來送他們的女兒去加拿大。而且，因爲當時大多數華人都不可以說流利的英語，他們都要躲避在唐人街。因爲當時的反華情緒變得太過激烈，加拿大的華人開始了向東定居。由於當時的加拿大已經有很多條例禁止華人從事多個行業，華人只可以做一些白人不願意從事的工作，例如洗衣店和三文魚加工。卑詩省在1872年通過了「卑詩省選民資格法案」（但在1875年才執行），將華人的省選投票權剝奪。因爲聯邦大選的選民名單是從省選的名單來的關係，在卑詩省的華人什麽選舉權都沒有。來面對各種反華的情緒，在加華商創辦了中華會館。第一間中華會館是在1885年在維多利亞開館，而溫哥華的是在1895年開辦。住在這兩個地區的華人必須要成爲中華會館的會員。中華會館的工作包括在法律糾紛中代表華人會員的利益和運送過了身的會員的遺體往返中國。
1935--19 57年自由党执政,
加拿大在1939年 9月10日加入第二次世界大戰。在加華人對加拿大的戰事做出了很大的貢獻。中華會館要求了所有的會員購買加拿大和中華民國的戰時債券。有些華人還入伍加拿大軍隊。可是，当时的政客不願意派華人上陣，原因是因爲他們不想華人在戰後要求公民權利。但在1942年 2月15日，日軍佔領了馬尼亞和俘虜了10萬英軍。所以，加拿大政府在1944年派了一批華裔加軍到馬尼亞。他們的任務是要訓練當地的抗日遊擊隊和作爲間諜，為盟國打聽情報。但是在1944年二戰的結果實際上已經決定了，所以這些華人間諜的影響不大。

戰後的華裔移民
因爲加拿大華人在二戰的貢獻和反華條例是違反聯合國憲章，加拿大自由党政府不得不在1947年廢除了排華法和恢復了在加華人的公民權利。自由党至今拒絕平反“人头税”和《排华法案》更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

#2666825 -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-17 (#2668218@0)

#2666848) -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-17 (#2668219@0)

多伦多都市报对陈丙丁的采访及华联的声明 by 木然 -table(桌子来了); 2005-12-17 (#2668226@0)

More groups, including the NDP and Tories, are calling for a review of the Chinese Head Tax settlement given the dubious credentials of the NCCC, its main beneficiary.

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