Chinese Head Tax in Canada - Essay Example

Name: Subject: Professor: Date: Chinese Head Tax in Canada Introduction For years, the Chinese have contributed significantly to the economic development of Canada. However, history shows that Canadians originally treated the Chinese with dire racism. It is evident from the restrictive laws enacted by Canada over the years. For example, the implementation of the Head Tax law focused on restricting immigration and reproduction of Chinese (“CCNC: Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act” 1). The impacts of such actions affected both Canadian and Chinese communities. Thereafter, the restrictive laws changed the political framework of Canada. The political framework in turn defined the constitutional jurisdictions of Canada. This implies that the impacts of restrictive laws are still visible up to date (Edwards and Calhoun 73). However, there is no record literature that details the scope of such impacts. As such, this paper seeks to use a historical context to explain the impacts or implications of Chinese Head Tax to Canada and the rest of the world. It will achieve its stated objective by providing an evidence-supported sustainable analysis of impacts. Background The first group of Chinese immigrants arrived in 1858. Literature shows that majority of them came from southern China, specifically from Guangdong region. Back then Guangdong was characterized by young, impoverished, and uneducated people (Cho 63). That is why many natives of Guangdong immigrated to British Columbia, Canada in search of gold following the events of ‘gold fever.’ Likewise, they were escaping the harsh survival conditions in China. Such conditions included internal instability, western colonial threats, increased famine and population outburst, among other conditions. Following their immigration, they worked hard not only to support their families back at home, but also to make sustainable retirement financial savings (Cho 63) . The 1880s saw the arrival of the second group of Chinese immigrants. They came to construct the remaining part of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in British Columbia. While working on the railway, they were assigned risky tasks such as conveying heavy rocks, making tunnels and dealing with explosives (“Taxing the Chinese” 1). Such tasks characterized the harshness of their working conditions. The harsh working conditions led to the death of many Chinese CPR workers. It is approximated that, four Chinese workers died for every CPR mile constructed. Regardless of their dedication to construct the CPR, they were paid meager wages that amounted to one dollar per day. The aforesaid amount was less by a third the amount of white workers’ wages. Immediately after the completion of the CPR, British Columbia suffered an economic meltdown in 1885. The meltdown led to high rate of unemployment. Threatened by Chinese’ cheap labor, several labor groups convened to pressurize the federal government to take necessary measures. They wanted the federal government to take necessary measures to prevent the Chinese from taking other manual jobs preserved for Canadians, specifically the white community. Meanwhile, there were politics-sparked concerns on the impacts of high Chinese immigration rate in British Columbia. Due to situational complications, the federal government imposed several measures (Edwards and Calhoun 85). The Chinese Head Tax The federal government’s measures constituted the enactment of laws that restricted the immigration of Chinese to Canada. In 1885, the government implemented the Head Tax law as the first anti-Chinese immigration law (Cho 63). The Head Tax law imposed a 50 Canadian dollar tax on every Chinese individual, who immigrated to Canada. However, the rate of Chinese immigrants continued to increase due to escalation of harsh survival conditions in China. To counteract the increase in immigration rate, the government in 1901 increased the Head Tax fee from 50 Canadian dollars up to 100 Canadian dollars. The rate also increased up to 500 Canadian dollars by the end of 1903. Statistically, 500 Canadian dollars in the 20th century amounted to one Chinese’ two-year wages (“Taxing the Chinese” 1). Despite the high rate of taxation, Chinese immigration rate increased steadily. It prompted the federal government to enact the Chinese Exclusion Act (Chinese Immigration Act), followed by its implementation on 1st July 1923. 1st July marked Canada’s dominion holiday, which was later renamed to ‘Canada Day.’ The implemented Act’s guidelines restricted Chinese entry and settlement in Canada. As such, Chinese immigrants failed to observe the festivities of Canada Day. The Chinese immigrants protested during the holiday’s festivities. The holiday signified the humiliation of Chinese immigrants. In the wake of 1924, the act required every Chinese immigrant to register as Canada’s nationals (Cho 67). Failure to comply with the requirement led to impromptu arrest of suspected individuals. Guilty suspects paid 500 Canadian dollars or served a one-year jail term. However the unfolding events of Second World War prompted a change in Canadians’ attitudes towards Chinese immigrants. This is because; during the war, China allied with Canada, the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK). In addition, Chinese volunteered in collecting relief funds, purchasing victory bonds and conducting Pacific roles. The allegiance displayed by China influenced the need to repeal the Chinese Immigration Act (“Taxing the Chinese” 1). Due to pressurization by the media and the 1944 repeal of US’ Chinese Exclusion Act, the federal government eventually repealed the Chinese Immigration Act in 1947. By focusing on Canada, it is important to discuss the impacts that resulted from the implementation of the Head Tax law. The following section describes the impacts of Head tax law to Canada. The domestic consequences include high revenue collection, development of bachelor societies, change of political framework, launch of redress campaigns, and promotion of racism, among others (Edwards and Calhoun 81). Internationally, the Head Tax impacts contributed to the refinement of United Nation’s human rights providences, World War II alliances, and limited global Chinese immigration. Sustainable Impact Analysis With regards to (Cho 83), the Head Tax led to high collection of tax. In other words, Canada’s fiscal revenue increased substantially. The increment trend continued with regards to the 24-year long implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act. As a result, the federal government accrued approximately 23 million Canadian dollars. It accrued the abovementioned amount from approximately 81,000 Chinese heads. However, it is important to note that due to the changing economies and monetary systems, it is difficult to establish the actual face value of the Head Tax amount (“Taxing the Chinese” 1). By basing on the 1988 economic monetary system, recent research study statistics show that Canadians collected over 1.5 billion Canadian dollars worth of Chinese Head Tax money. Canadians used the tax money for various developmental projects. Canada’s white community benefitted immensely from such projects. In a nutshell, the tax money contributed to the recovery of Canada from economic recession, thereby influencing Canada’s socioeconomic development. Alternatively, literature reveals that, Canada used the Head Tax money to fund their World War II campaigns. This means that the tax money somehow necessitated Canada’s active participation in the World War II. Later on, after the federal government repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act, many Chinese groups expressed their redress concerns. They wanted the Canadian government to apologize and redress the people affected by the implementation of the Head Tax law. The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) heralded the apology and redress lobbying process. In this case, it is evident that the Chinese Head tax had far reaching impacts (“CCNC: Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act” 1). That is why several human rights organizations emerged alongside the CCNC to influence the government’s repeal of discriminatory laws. According to “Prime Minister Harper Offers Full Apology for the Chinese Head Tax” (1), the implementation of Head Tax encouraged racism against the Chinese population. Due to racism, the Chinese population did not enjoy various human rights. Racism segregated the Chinese community from the rest of the Canadian society. The segregation was characterized by inaccessibility to formal education and health care services; inability to practice civil rights; vulnerability to social inequities; inaccessibility to well-paying jobs and finally, predisposal to social exploitation. As such, the segregation resulted in the decline of Canada’s Chinese population. The population declination occurred over a period of 24 years. It mainly happened due to repatriation and Chinese emigration to other parts of the world. On the other hand, the enactment of the Head Tax law defined Canada’s racial heretical doctrine. It is clear that Canadians had not yet embraced the idea of globalization. That is why in the 19th and 20th century, Canada enacted several laws alongside the Head Tax law to discourage foreigners from immigrating to Canada. Some of the foreigners included people with Jewish or African origin. Alternatively, the same laws discriminated minority and vulnerable groups in Canada including the women and Aboriginal societies. Canada’s discriminatory laws hampered its socioeconomic and political development (Edwards and Calhoun 78). It took a several years with the influence of the international community for the country to change the discriminatory nature of its constitutional laws. Although the Head Tax law achieved its mandate of prohibiting the immigration of Chinese, it restricted the entry of many Chinese women into Canada. Additionally, the federal government took measures to ensure that Chinese families remained back in China. As a result, the law prompted the creation of bachelor societies in Canada. This implies that only men could afford to pay the head tax, therefore, the men’s wives remained in China. Bachelor societies led to separation of many Chinese families. The separation continued for a period that approximates to half a century. The longevity of the separation made it hard for some families to reunite after the removal of the Head Tax law. Later on, Canadians adopted a racial tolerant attitude that prompted racial intermarriages between Chinese men and Canadian women. Moreover, it is necessary to recognize that the Head Tax law changed the political framework of Canada. Originally, Canada thrived on restrictive and conservative political aspects. This means that politicians focused on promoting agendas that give the white community an advantage over the other races (Cho 67). Scholars describe such agendas as portrayal of white favoritism. Favoritism encouraged the enactment of social and racial discriminatory legislations. In this regard, the white-dominated political sphere propagated the adoption of discriminatory laws that challenged the essence of human rights. Meanwhile, Canada portrayed high deniability of respecting internationally-accepted human rights. However, the repeal of Head Tax law provided a chance for Canada to amend its political system. The new political agenda focused on establishing democracy in Canada. The adoption of democracy influenced the government to amend its constitution. The amendment of the constitution resulted in the country’s institutionalization of human rights. As a result, Canada is globally recognized as one of the countries with high accolade of human rights’ practices. Nowadays, it is easy to note that most political agendas concentrate on addressing issues related to the practice of human rights (Edwards and Calhoun 75). In summary, the events that followed the enactment of the Head Tax law laid the foundational approaches that transformed the political and legal system of Canada. Internationally, the enactment of the Head Tax law limited the rate of Chinese immigration to other parts of the world (Cho 80). Most Chinese dreaded the fact that they can face harsh discriminatory laws such as Canada’s Head Tax law. In other words, the law prompted the decrease in the rate of Chinese immigration to other parts of the world. Anonymously, the restrictive immigration measures imposed by the law encouraged China to form an alliance with the west during World War II. They forged the alliance to amend the deteriorating diplomatic ties. Eventually, the amendment of the diplomatic ties prompted Canada and US to repeal their exclusion laws. That is why in 1944 and 1947, the US and Canada repealed their Chinese Exclusion Act respectively (“Prime Minister Harper Offers Full Apology for the Chinese Head Tax” 1). On the other hand, the implementation of the Head Tax law alongside other discriminatory laws prompted the re-shaping of United Nations (UN) providences on human rights. The re-shaping of the providences allowed the UN to intervene in international crisis that involved exploitation of human rights. In later years, the UN directly or indirectly influenced the legal transformation of Canada. To summarize the analyzed content, it is true that the Head Tax law had short-term and long-term impacts to Canada and the rest of the world. Conclusion In conclusion, this paper used a historical context to explain the implications or impacts of Chinese Head Tax to Canada and the rest of the world. It achieved its stated objective by providing an evidence-supported sustainable analysis of the stated impacts. In this regard, domestic impacts included collection of high government revenue, establishment of bachelor societies, transformation of Canada’s political framework, and increase in racial segregation. On the international scene, the implementation of the Head Tax law contributed to the refinement of United Nation’s human rights’ providences, formation of World War II alliances, and limited global Chinese immigration. Therefore, the analytical content provides a consequential understanding of Head Tax in Canada. Works Cited “CCNC : Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.” CCNC : Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act. CCNC : Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. “Prime Minister Harper Offers Full Apology for the Chinese Head Tax.” Prime Minister of Canada. Prime Minister of Canada, 27 June 2006. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. “Taxing the Chinese.” Road to Justice » Chinese Head Tax. Road to Justice, 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. Cho, Lily. “Rereading Chinese head tax racism: Redress, stereotype, and antiracist critical practice.” Essays on Canadian Writing 75 (2002): 62-84. Edwards, Jason A., and Lindsay R. Calhoun. “Redress for old wounds: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology for the Chinese head tax.” Chinese Journal of Communication 4.01 (2011): 73-89. Read More