Statement on the marking of 100 years commemoration of Canada’s 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act

As we commemorate the centenary of the racist practices that the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act encoded into law one hundred years, it is important to shine a light on this history, and to address the root causes of racism, hatred and discrimination. This unconscionable federal law prevented Chinese people from immigrating to Canada. It created untold sorrow and suffering, separated families and broke intergenerational ties. It undermined and prevented Chinese communities trying to grow and flourish in their new home in Canada.

This was just one of many racist laws that discriminated and segregated people on the basis of race and cultural or ethnic origin. Starting in 1885, the Federal government forced Chinese immigrants to pay a “head tax” on arrival to Canada. In 1908, the Federal government’s “continuous journey” rule was adopted to bar new migrants from Asian countries who travelled by ship routes with stopovers.

Different jurisdictions passed targeted laws to prevent migrants from Asian countries and racialized people from taking certain jobs, even to stop them from taking part in leisure activities like swimming.

During and after the Second World War, federal law caused thousands of Japanese Canadians to lose their personal property to seizure and face imprisonment in interment camps or forced labour in harsh conditions, far from home.

Content:

Statement: On marking the 100 year commemoration of Canada’s 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act

As we commemorate the centenary of the racist practices that the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act encoded into law one hundred years, it is important to shine a light on this history, and to address the root causes of racism, hatred and discrimination. This unconscionable federal law prevented Chinese people from immigrating to Canada. It created untold sorrow and suffering, separated families and broke intergenerational ties. It undermined and prevented Chinese communities trying to grow and flourish in their new home in Canada.

This was just one of many racist laws that discriminated and segregated people on the basis of race and cultural or ethnic origin. Starting in 1885, the Federal government forced Chinese immigrants to pay a “head tax” on arrival to Canada. In 1908, the Federal government’s “continuous journey” rule was adopted to bar new migrants from Asian countries who travelled by ship routes with stopovers.

Different jurisdictions passed targeted laws to prevent migrants from Asian countries and racialized people from taking certain jobs, even to stop them from taking part in leisure activities like swimming.

During and after the Second World War, federal law caused thousands of Japanese Canadians to lose their personal property to seizure and face imprisonment in interment camps or forced labour in harsh conditions, far from home.

In 1872, B.C. became the first province to disenfranchise Chinese immigrants and remove their right to vote. The rest of Canada soon followed; it wasn’t until 1949 when Chinese Canadians could vote in their first federal election.

To this day we grapple with the effect of these and other racist laws designed to exclude and discriminate. Many Canadians have never learned the whole truth about our country’s colonial history and the genocide against Indigenous peoples. Their schooling diminished or outright ignored the long history of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Punjabi, and other Asian peoples in what is now Canada. People still fight to remove racial covenants that excluded people from owning land or a home from land titles.

Many immigrants coming to Canada as workers still are denied landed status on arrival, and instead are provided with temporary work permits that cause precarious status in Canada; or face a higher language testing requirement for permanent residency than the job requires; or are being classed as “low-skill” workers that does not reflect the true value of the essential work they do. This encodes discrimination against individuals and classes of people that are largely racialized, and serves to widen the gaps in our society instead of uniting people in equal rights and dignity.

We have to transform our laws institutions to reconcile and make reparation for Canada's colonial history, to root out systemic discrimination and to eliminate the root causes of poverty and inequality.
All people in Canada need to learn our country’s history of injustice against racialized Canadians and never let hate and discrimination prevail over justice and democracy.

Along with this racist history we face the very concerning rise in extremist and hate activity that has real impacts on our day-to-day life. According to a report from Bloomberg, Vancouver is the Asian hate capital of North America. In Vancouver, anti-Asian hate crimes went up 717% in 2020. Every one of these attacks is aimed at stripping us of our sense of safety and dignity. It is a clear message to say that we are not wanted and that we do not belong. It is not enough to say in words that these racist, hateful, discriminatory acts are wrong.

I am glad that the House of Commons unanimously adopted my 2021 motion that calls on the government to include anti-Asian racism in Canada's anti-racism strategy and in all anti-racism policies and programs.
Now it’s time to move to the next steps.

I am calling on the government to go farther than simply condemning anti-Asian hate racism, and all forms of racism and racial discrimination, and take meaningful action to combat the ongoing increase in Anti-Asian hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents through these measures:

• Provide an update to Parliament on specific calls for action to tackle anti-Asian hate;
• Ensure that police in all communities have properly funded, dedicated hate crime units;
• Create and fund a dedicated hate crime prosecution unit;
• Establish national standards for identifying and recording all hate incidents and their
dispensation in the justice system;
• Work in collaboration with non-profits to facilitate the reporting of hate crimes;
• Commit resources including, but not limited to, support for victims of anti-Asian hate that are
culturally specific and language accessible;
• Host a federal-provincial-territorial meeting to discuss the rise in hate crimes in Canada and
to coordinate our collective efforts and identify best practices to countering this trend; and
• Renew Canada’s Anti-racism Strategy through engagement with stakeholders and those with
lived experiences, highlight the unique lived realities of Anti-Asian racism and systemic barriers to inclusion experienced by people of Asian descent, and table the action plan that specifically addresses anti-Asian racism within 12 months.

These measures, if implemented, would go a long way to build truly inclusive community safety for all.
It is long past time that governments of all levels went the full distance to show with action and with resources that Canada is truly a welcoming home for all to live in equal dignity, with respect and with enjoyment of their full human rights, free from hatred and discrimination.

Please be assured that I will stand with the community every step of the way in this work.

Latest posts

Hill Times: Courts unlikely to provide fifth extension to Ottawa to address Lost Canadians before November, says immigration lawyer

Parliament needs to “just get on with it” and address the issue of “lost Canadians” through amendments to the Canada Citizenship Act, according to Jenny Kwan, NDP critic of citizenship and immigration.

She told The Hill Times that she wonders if a judge would have the patience to grant the federal government a fifth extension on a court order requiring action before the current November deadline.

“This is astounding. What the current situation is right now is that Canada’s Citizenship Act, with respect to lost Canadians, is in violation of the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms], and [Bill C-3] will make it Charter-compliant,” said Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.).

Daily Hive: Canadian woman left in limbo after CRA accidentally declares her dead

When June “Juna” Miller filed her taxes in spring, she expected a refund, but instead, she was declared legally dead.

A few weeks later, she attempted to log in to her CRA account. It didn’t work, and she called the agency.

“The woman on the phone said, ‘Well, you’re deceased.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about? You’re speaking to me!'” Miller explained.

What followed was a month-long ordeal that cost her her pension, Social Insurance Number, and sense of stability.

“It took them five seconds to say I was dead… without even asking for a death certificate,” she said. “Now I’m being told it could take six months to prove I’m alive. That makes no sense to me.”

But with her account frozen and no payments coming in, she was suddenly without any source of income.

Her Social Insurance Number had been cancelled, making it impossible to access her bank account or even apply for temporary work to stay afloat.

Even Service Canada wasn’t much help, Miller claimed.

She recalls one interaction with an agent who questioned why she kept insisting she was alive, while another refused to proceed because her name didn’t match across various documents.

When Miller attempted to order a copy of her marriage certificate to fulfill the requirement, her request was denied because her ID had already been flagged as invalid.

Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan stepped in as well, formally raising Miller’s case with the federal government.

Miller provided Daily Hive a copy of the letter dated June 30, in which Kwan wrote directly to Minister François-Philippe Champagne, asking that CRA fix the mistake immediately, restore her pension, and ensure all missed payments were sent without delay.

Resurrection, at last

On June 30, Miller received the call she’d been waiting for.

“CRA just called and I have been resurrected,” she told Daily Hive. “They’re sending an apology letter in the mail.”

Radio Canada International: ’Lost Canadians’ citizenship bill tabled as court deadline looms

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan said the bill was delayed in the last session of Parliament by the Liberals' failure to act in a timely fashion and a Conservative filibuster that stalled the House of Commons' work for months.

The court has given the government yet another extension, and it would be incumbent on this Parliament to make sure that legislation is passed, Kwan said.

The previous lost Canadians citizenship bill died on the order paper when the House prorogued earlier this year. The Senate was engaged in an early study of the legislation to help it become law quickly.

The new legislation, Bill C-3, proposes giving automatic citizenship to anyone denied citizenship under the current law.

It also would establish a new framework for citizenship by descent going forward. The legislation proposes Canadian citizenship could be passed down to people born abroad, beyond the first generation, if their parents spent a cumulative three years in Canada before the child's birth or adoption.

Those were the two primary goals of the original lost Canadians bill.