dec 16, 1878 - Tai Sing v. Macguire (1878),
end of B.C. Chinese Tax Act (1878)
Description:
"Tai Sing challenged the right of the local tax collector in Victoria, B.C., to seize and sell his property under the Chinese Tax Act, which had been created by the B.C. Legislative Assembly in August, 1878, to enumerate and tax all Chinese living in the province.
The provincial law had required among other things that 'every Chinese person over twelve years of age shall take out a license every three months, for which he shall pay the sum of ten dollars, in advance, unto and to the use of Her majesty, Her heirs and successors.”
The law further stipulated that employers of Chinese could be held liable if employees did not pay the tax, and that their property and other assets could be seized. Additionally, Chinese persons in violation of the law could be forced into service on public works at a rate of fifty cents per day until the tax was paid, and they could also be charged more fees to cover their food, guard’s wages and for the use of tools while working to pay their debt.
Tai Sing challenged the constitutionality of the Chinese Tax Act and B.C. Supreme Court Justice J. Hamilton Gray held that the law was beyond the power – ultra vires – of the provincial assembly, and further asserted that only the federal government had the power to make laws in regards to aliens, trade and commerce and treaty making. “The present Act is entirely beyond the powers of the local legislature, and is therefore, unconstitutional and void,” Justice Gray wrote in his decision.
The B.C. Chinese Tax Act (1878) was struck down with Justice Gray’s ruling, but it entirely failed to address the discriminatory treatment of the Chinese under the law. Significantly, it left open the door to federal law being used to discriminate against the Chinese – which occurred seven years later with the first federally mandated head tax on Chinese."
http://www.roadtojustice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/KEY-COURT-CASES.pdf
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BIPOC Oppression & Resistance in Canada & the US
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