PM to apologize for head tax on Chinese

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will stand in the House of Commons today to formally apologize for a head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants to Canada between 1885 and 1923.

Ralph Lung Kee Lee, who at 106 is the oldest surviving person to pay the head tax, carries a symbolic 'last spike' used in the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway as he arrives at the train station in Ottawa on Wednesday. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

An estimated 80,000 Chinese paid the tax, which ranged from $50 to $500, and amounted in some cases to as much as two-years' salary.

• LINK: Chinese immigration

About 100 people, including some who paid the head tax and their families, boarded a train in Vancouver last week to travel to Ottawa to hear the apology, in a journey dubbed the "Redress Express." Only about 20 people who paid the head tax and 250 of their spouses are still alive.

Jen Jung said the $500 head tax paid by her father, Wood Jung, was discriminatory.

"They did Chinese people a disservice," said Jung. "They didn't treat them like everybody else. Other people came into the country and they didn't have to pay a head tax."

Jung said it's about time the government apologized to Chinese immigrants who contributed to Canada's economy by doing odd jobs, opening new businesses and building the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Linda Ing said the train ride is making her father, 106-year-old Ralph Lung Kee Lee, remember his days working on the railroad.

Lee is the oldest surviving person to pay the tax. He carries with him a symbolic "last spike" given to the Chinese community by author Pierre Berton in recognition of the work done by immigrants to build the railway.

"He looks after it like a baby," said Ing.

James Pon, 88, whose father paid $1,000 to bring him and his mother to Canada, praised Harper for making the apology.

"I think he's doing it for compassion," Pon said. "At the same time, he recognizes the wrongs done to the Chinese people."

Compensation in works?

Chinese-Canadian groups said they expect Ottawa to give a multimillion-dollar compensation package to survivors, their widows and their children, but the government has not confirmed any money will be offered.

A train dubbed the 'Redress Express' carried about 100 people, including some who paid the head tax and their families, from Vancouver to Ottawa to hear the government's apology. (CBC)

"It will be meaningful, it will be an honorable compromise, it will reflect a broad consensus in the larger Chinese-Canadian community and in the Canadian community at large," said Kenney.

The apology is an opportunity for Canadians to learn about a chapter of their country's history, "that we did actually target a particular group through laws and policies that were effectively racist," said Kenney.

Susan Eng, the Ontario Coalition of Head Tax Payers and Families, called it a historic day.

"In our private lives, we remain responsible for all of our wrongs," said Eng.

"For the government to step up to the plate and say we take responsibility for our wrongs, I think it sends a major message to all Canadians of the kind of values we hold dear."

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney apologized to Japanese-Canadians in 1988 for their internment during the Second World War.

• INTERVIEW: The Early Edition's Rick Cluff speaks with 99-year-old Charlie Kwan, one of the few surviving head-tax payers.