It Is Not Known Whether A Similar ApologyIsAlso Being Planned For South Asians Who Suffered
This week,NDP LeaderAdrian Dix releaseddetails ofover 100 recordsof governmentsanctioneddiscr i m i n a t i o n ,including billsrestricting immigrationanddenying Asiansright to vote. The Liberal government is conducting a round ofpublic discussions about an apology, but Dix says the forums lacksubstance because British Columbians don’t know what the governmentis apologizing for.
VANCOUVER – The New Democratic Party has taken the “Apology For Racism To Chinese-Canadians” mantle away from the BC Liberals by highlighting British Columbia’s long documented history of creating laws that discriminated against Chinese Canadians.
The NDP’s unveiling of that documented history of racism against the Chinese in BC pushed newly installed BC Liberal multicultural minister Teresa Wat to get busy with her her own take on the long due official apology after her party was dilly-dallying with public discussions of the issue,
The question is will the NDP and the BC Liberals do the same for the South Asian community, which also suffered severe forms of racism and discrimination in BC and Canada. It is not known whether such an apology is being contemplated for the South Asian community which has long been asking for one.
This week, NDP Leader Adrian Dix released details of over 100 records of government-sanctioned discrimination, including bills restricting immigration and denying Asians right to vote, reported Canadian Press.
Dix told the media the release of the documents is a significant step towards issuing a formal apology to the province’s Chinese community for historic wrongs.
The Liberal government is conducting a round of public discussions about an apology, but Dix says the forums lack substance because British Columbians don’t know what the government is apologizing for.
“Rather than just criticize, we’re making a positive contribution by making this information available, by engaging with young people, by making the situation better,” Dix told reporters on Wednesday.
An all-party apology over the Chinese head tax fell apart just before last May’s provincial election, when news broke that the Liberal government planned to use a controversial strategy to win votes from ethnic communities.
The plan, which suggested having government workers appeal to multicultural communities ahead of the election, resulted in the resignation of a cabinet minister and an aid to Premier Christy Clark.
In 1876, a motion was put forward in the British Columbia legislature that called on the government to prevent Canada from being flooded with “a Mongolian population” that would ruin B.C.’s working class.
Though the federal government disallowed the law, “An Act to Prevent the Immigration of Chinese”, discussions about opposing the “influx of Orientals” and banning employment of Chinese or Japanese workers continued in the B.C. legislature up until the 1930s, reported Canadian Press.
On Wednesday, more than 100 archival records of such government-sanctioned discrimination against Canadians of Chinese, Japanese and South Asian descent were released to the public by the B.C. New Democrats.
Dix said the legislative records include 89 laws, 49 motions and other records from 1872 to the late 1930s. They reflect restrictions on immigration and employment, taxes based on ethnicity, and bans on the right to vote or to hold public office.
NDP Jenny Kwan pointed that out not all racist or discriminatory acts were documented by legislation, such as the segregation of Chinese children from other school children.
“We all know that, we’ve heard stories about it, and we need to understand … why it is that this is a significant moment in history,” she said.
“It’s to recognize all of those wrongs … and to move forward.”
