The head of Kamloops’ Chinese Cultural Association (KCCA) says the B.C. government’s latest attempt to formulate an apology for the Chinese head tax comes too soon after the B.C. Liberals’ ethnic-ting scandal, and doesn’t offer enough time for public consultation.
KCCA president Joe Leong told KTW the key issue for his association is whether Christy Clark’s government is willing to spend money to back up its words.
The government will hold a community forum in Kamloops on Thursday, Dec. 19 to gather feedback on how best to apologize to the Chinese community.
FORMULATING AN APOLOGY
The Government of British Columbia confirmed the remaining six dates, venues and times for the consultation forums to discuss the wording, delivery and legacy efforts of a formal apology to B.C.’s Chinese community for historical wrongs. In addition to the Dec. 19 event in Kamloops, forums will be held in Kelowna, Prince George, Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond. Those who are unable to attend the consultations in person can provide their input by visiting: www.EmbraceBC.ca.The head tax was levied on the majority of Chinese immigrants entering the country between 1885 and 1923.
Originally $50, it was raised as high as $500 before it was dropped in favour of an outright ban on most Chinese immigration.
While the tax was federally mandated, B.C. received a portion of the fees through a revenue-sharing agreement with Ottawa.
As part of an apology, Leong said he wants to see the government commit to building a museum, preferably in Kamloops, that focuses on Chinese-Canadian history.
“Without something like that, it’s really meaningless,” he said.
Leong said Kamloops would be a good fit for such a project because of the Chinese community’s history here.
“The railway was built here in Kamloops. We have an exclusively Chinese heritage cemetery here,” he said.
“We do have a history in Kamloops. Not only that, back in 1890, for example, one-third of the population of Kamloops was Chinese.”
Kamloops was also the first city in North America’s to elect a mayor of Chinese descent, Peter Wing, who served three terms in the 1960s and 1970s.
“Right now you try to find a history of Peter Wing and it’s sometimes obscured,” Leong said.
“With a museum, we’d present all that and there would be other stories here of head-tax people, railway people. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Leong believes the consultation process came “a bit too fast” on the heels of the B.C. Liberals’ so-called Quick Wins scandal.
A Liberal outreach strategy, leaked before the May 2013 election, identified an apology to the Chinese community as one of several “quick wins” that could be used to drum up votes in the province’s ethnic communities.
In August, NDP Leader Adrian Dix filed a complaint with the RCMP, alleging possible Election Act violations connected to the outreach strategy. A special prosecutor and the RCMP are now investigating.
The Kamloops forum runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Coast Kamloops Hotel and Conference Centre, 1250 Rogers Way in Aberdeen.
