20 lugl 1885 anni - Chinese Immigration Act (passed, 1885), head tax implemented

Descrizione:

"Canada passed its first Chinese Immigration Act in 1885, the same year Prime Minister John A. Macdonald was able to muster enough support in Parliament for an electoral franchise act that excluded persons belonging to the Chinese race, and fast on the heels of a Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration."

"Justice John Hamilton Gray had recommended in his final report, as a commissioner to the Royal Commission, that the federal government impose a $10 tax on every Chinese man, woman or child disembarking from a ship at a Canadian port. Interestingly, it was Justice Gray who had earlier ruled against the constitutionality of British Columbia’s Chinese Tax Act, in Tai Sing v. Macguire (1878)."

"Parliament went a step farther, when it assented to the Chinese Immigration Act on July 20, 1885 to impose a $50 head tax on Chinese immigrants to Canada. The Act in its entirety placed an unequal financial burden on Chinese immigrants, attempted to limit new arrivals and interfered with the development of community services that responded to state-sanctioned racism."

"Sections included in the Chinese Immigration Act (1885):

s. 4 '. . . every person of Chinese origin shall pay into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada, on entering Canada, at the port or other place of entry, the sum of fifty dollars, except the following persons who shall be exempt from such payment, that is to say, first: the members of the Diplomatic Corps, or other Government representatives and their suite and their servants, consuls and consular agents; and second: tourists, merchants, men of science and students . . .'"

"s. 5 'No vessel carrying Chinese immigrants to any port in Canada shall carry more than one such immigrant for every fifty tons of its tonnage; and the owner of any such vessel, who carries any number in excess of the number allowed by this section, shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars for each person so carried in excess.'”

More restrictions

"While the former two sections of the Act are widely known, and regarded today as the most discriminatory aspects of the law as it was used against Chinese individuals, further restrictions on the Chinese Canadian community included:

s. 17 'Every person who takes part in the organization of any sort of court or tribunal, composed of Chinese persons, for the hearing and determination of any offence committed by a Chinese person, or in carrying on any such organization, or who takes part in any of its proceedings, or who gives evidence before any such court or tribunal, or assists in carrying into effect any decision of decree, or order of any such court or tribunal, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding twelve months, or to a penalty not exceeding five hundred dollars, or to both . . .'”

"Section 17 was in all likelihood the Canadian government’s response to the establishment the previous year in Victoria, B.C., of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which was a community initiative in the struggle for both individual and group rights for Chinese in Canada. The CCBA had a role in arbitrating disputes, which was allowed under the Chinese Immigration Act, within the Chinese Canadian community and advocating for justice in its interactions with broader society."

"Restrictions were also put on naturalized and Canadian-born Chinese residents in Canada who had to pay a fee of 50 cents to register with local authorities. Travel by any Chinese outside of Canada, after paying the registration fee or the head tax, was also regulated by the government."

"Head tax payers received receipts as proof of payment, as well as serving as an identity document that nonetheless could still be challenged by customs officers with the burden of proof lying with the accused."

"An accord was also struck between Ottawa and the provinces on collecting the head taxes on Chinese, and included hiring a controller to execute the duties of the Act and a portioning of one-quarter of all money collected being allocated to the provinces from the general treasury."


Legal citation:
Chinese Immigration Act, S.C. 1885, c. 71.

Link to legislation:
https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.ssl/sscan0178&i=378&a=eW9ya3UuY2E

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