How the Chinese Created Canada

Description:

• The Chinese first immigrated to Canada in the late 18th century, to what we now recognize as British Columbia
• The gold rushes in Canada draw more Chinese to the country and see the beginning of Chinese discrimination
• Chinese workers employed by the CPR were instrumental in building Canada's famous transcontinental railway
• A Head Tax of $50 on the Chinese immigrants, imposed by the Canadian Federal government, began in 1885 after the completion of the CPR in order to restrict further Chinese immigration into Canada
• After the Great Fire in Vancouver in 1886, 60 hectares of land was leased to Chinese immigrants, later sparking the 1887 race riot involving a mob of 300 townspeople ready to run the Chinese out of town
• The Exclusion Act of 1923 saw the height of Chinese population control within Canadian borders when Chinese immigration to Canada was basically banned by the government
• After World War II and the devastating effects of discrimination on so many different races worldwide, Canada enforced the 1947 Canadian Citizenship Act, a repeal of the Exclusion Act of 1923
• In 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized and offered a settlement in a redress acknowledging the discriminatory nature of the Chinese Head Tax in Canada.