Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

On August 6, Prime Minister Stephen Harper came one step closer to issuing a federal apology over the Komagata Maru incident. At a meeting with Indo-Canadian community leaders in Surrey, Harper declared that the federal government’s decision in 1914 to refuse entry to more than 350 South Asian passengers—all British subjects—“remains a source of sorrow”.

“I also want you to know that the government of Canada acknowledges the Maru incident and we will soon undertake consultations with the Indo-Canadian community on how best to recognize this sad moment in our history,” Harper said.

The Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation of Canada has been lobbying for a federal apology since 2002. Its spokesperson, Surrey restaurateur Jasbir Sandhu, told the Georgia Straight that Harper took an “excellent step” that made him “proud to be Canadian”.

“Certainly, there will be an apology forthcoming,” Sandhu said.

The same day that Harper was making his pledge to Indo-Canadians, a noisy demonstration in Chinatown revealed that not everyone is satisfied with his handling of the redress issue. On June 22, Harper issued a federal apology in Parliament for the government’s imposition of a head tax on Chinese immigrants between 1885 and 1923, and expressed his “deepest sorrow” over the exclusion of Chinese immigrants from 1923 until 1947. The government promised symbolic individual payments of $20,000 to each of the approximately 300 surviving head-tax payers and their spouses, and another $24 million for a community historical-recognition program.

Sid Chow Tan, president of the Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, told the Straight that Harper’s decision to compensate survivors has rewarded the federal government for dragging its heels on this issue for so many years. Tan said that in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were approximately 1,700 surviving head-tax payers. Because the former Liberal government never addressed the issue, most of them died without receiving a penny.

Tan led a group of about 200 demonstrators who gathered at a festival in Chinatown on August 6. “I think they should take into account what the descendants’ families said during the cross-country consultations,” he said. “They were very clear—very, very clear by a 90-percent margin—that they wanted to be redressed.”

Last month, the Straight reported that Tan met with B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal to discuss the possibility of a provincial redress package. Tan said that provinces where Chinese immigrants landed received half of the head-tax fees collected by Ottawa, and he estimated that B.C. collected about $9 million.

According to the Chronicle of Canada (Chronicle Publications, 1990), provincial authorities tried to curtail Chinese immigration by introducing laws in 1903 requiring newcomers to fill out forms that presumed some knowledge of English. Those who couldn’t read and write weren’t admitted.

In the early 1900s, the federal government kept South Asian immigrants out of the country with laws forcing newcomers to make a direct trip to Canada from their country of birth without stopping at any ports along the way. Migrants also had to arrive with at least $200 in cash. The Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation of Canada stated that this was designed to keep people from British India from entering this country.

In 1914, Indian businessman, Baba Gurdit Singh leased a Japanese vessel, the Komagata Maru, to challenge Canada’s racist immigration laws. The government put the ship in “quarantine” after it arrived in Vancouver harbour. Nobody was allowed onshore, and the passengers were denied food and water. Sikh pioneers living in Vancouver held rallies in support of the newcomers. Eventually, a board of inquiry ruled in a test case that one of the Sikh passengers couldn’t
arrive onshore, and the entire boat was forced to leave two months after its arrival.

The Prof. Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation of Canada also wants a memorial established in Stanley Park where the ship tried to land, a museum for people to learn more about the incident, and details of the story integrated into school curricula across the country.

Source: The Georgia Straight, Aug 10 2006