Ninety-nine year old Charlie Quan recieved the very first ex-gratia cheque for Chinese head tax redress, presented by Bev Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women.  Oda and David Emerson, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacifc Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics, were in town to present the cheques to Quan, Thomas Soon (aged 95) and Ah Foon Chin (aged 96) who could not attend and was represented by his daughter-in-law. 

In 1923, Quan had to pay $500 to enter Canada, estimated to be the cost of a house or two years wages back then.  Only ethnic Chinese were charged the head tax.  It was a concerted effort to keep Canada white, and discourage Chinese from coming to Canada.  Beginning in 1885, the Canadian government imposed a $50 fee on Chinese immigrants, which was raised to $100 in 1900 and to $500 in 1903. But by 1923, Chinese were still coming, so the Canadian government passed the "Chinese Exclusion Act" which effectively banned all Chinese immigration, and was not rescinded untl 1947, after WW2,

During the head tax redress campaign, Charlie Quan repeatedly stated that he wanted his money back.  Quan was interviewed for the NFB documentary " In the Shadow of Gold Mountain," written and directed by head tax descendant Karen Cho.  Earlier in 2006, Quan stated that he thought a head tax redress settlement would be worth $35,000. 

After Quan received his cheque and posed for pictures with Minister Bev Oda, he sat down beside his friend Gim Wong, also a veteran of Chinese head tax who completed a "Ride for Redress" on his motorcycle across Canada to Ottawa in 2005 to draw attention to the head tax/exclusion act redress campaign. Wong was also featured in the movie "In the Shadow of Gold Mountain."  Quan and Gim immediately looked at the cheque and began to count to check the number of "zeroes"on it.  After so many years of seemingly hopeless campagining, they still found it hard to believe that redress payments were actually happening.  Payments for surviving spouses will begin in November, 2006.


Hon. Bev Oda presents the cheque to Thomas Soon in front of media cameras.  Gim Wong (seated  center in uniform) smiles.  Charlie Quan shows his cheque to grandson Terry. - photo Todd Wong

Quan was accompanied by his favorite grandson Terry Quan and Terry's wife and two children.  Together they represented a legacy of four generations of Chinese Canadians going back to 1923 when Charlie Quan arrived with his father in 1923.

Also accompanying Quan and Wong, were Victor Wong, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council, Colleen Hua (national CCNC president), and Sid Tan national CCNC board representative.  Both Wong and Hua and travelled from Toronto to attend the event, and both say they will continue the campaign to include descendants of predeceased head tax payers and spouses.


Head Tax redress campaigners Ron Mah, Colleen Hua (CCNC National president), Gim Wong and Victor Wong (CCNC executive director) - photo Todd Wong

It was the CCNC that helped lead the campaign for a more comprehensive redress package than the Agreement-in-Principle that was signed almost a year ago by Prime Minister Paul Martin.  That agreement gave no apology nor individual compensation, and only promised an "acknowledgement," and community funding.

Also present were many of the members of the Head Tax Families Society, including Ron Mah, Foon Chan, Cynthia Lee and myself.  Other head tax descendants attending were Col. Howe Lee and Vancouver city councillor George Chow.  Howe was a signatory on the Liberal Agreement-in-principle document for which the veterans signed onto because they hoped to see some form of "acknowledgement" in their lifetime as they saw their numbers  dwindling each year.  Up until the Liberal A.I.P., no previous Canadian government had been willing to tackle the Chinese head tax or Exclusion Act issue.   While the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Green Party each agreed to the CCNC call for Head Tax apology - the Conservative Party did not join the redress bandwagon until after Prime Minister Paul Martin stumbled on his pseudo apology given on a Chinese language radio program.


Head Tax Descendants: Vancouver City Councillor George Chow and Col. Howe Lee, president of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum attended the event - photo Todd Wong.

After the initial and obligatory photographs of each cheque recipient were taken with Ministers Oda and Emerson, I suggested a photo with all the head tax descendants in the room together.  Both Sid Tan and Howe Lee had to finish media interviews before they were able to join us standing at the front.  The three head tax redress cheque recipients sat on chairs in front, beside Ministers Oda and Emerson.  Gim and Sid were both heard saying to Charlie Quan "We kept our promise" - which was to continue campaigning for head tax redress until he would a redress payment.  They cut it pretty darn close to Charlie turning 100 years old before the redress payment arrived.

I was asked today how I felt about the presentation of the cheques, and my reply was that it is bittersweet.  Only less than 1% of 81,000 head tax payers and spouses will recieve the ex-gratia cheque payments, because the Conservative government is only giving them to surviving head tax payers or their surviving spouses.  This means that there will be no recognition of the head tax certificate paid by my great-grandfather Ernest Lee, because both he and my great-grandmother passed away a long time ago.  Only head tax payers and spouses who were still alive in February 2006 when the Conservative government came to power will be recognized.

Sid Tan, long time head tax activist since the 1980's says that the campaign for honour and justice will continue.  Sid's late grandfather paid the head tax, but his grandmother is no longer alive to collect a redress cheque.

But all is not bitter....  There is much to celebrate.  One year ago on Novmber 26th.  Then Prime Minister Paul Martin came to Vancouver for the A-I-P ceremony, and met with Charlie Quan, so that Martin could have a "face to face"with an actual living breathing head tax payer. Martin told Quan to his face, that there would be no individual compensation.  What a difference seven months made when on June 22, Charlie Quan sat at the Hotel Vancouver listening to Prime Minister Harper make an apology for the Chinese head tax, and promised that there would be payments to living head tax payers and spouses.

After the ceremony, we walked up Pender St. and celebrated at the New Town Bakery for lunch.  Charlie was surrounded by his grandson and grandsons.  Gim Wong sat at the next table with Ron Chin, Foon Chang, Victor Wong and myself.  Sid joined us immediately after going to the CBC studios for an interview.  We took pictures.  Charlie held his cheque up for all to see. And... Charlie Quan paid for our celebration.


The celebratory meal...  Charlie Quan holds his ex-gratia head tax payment cheque, accompanied by redress campaigners Sid Tan, Gim Wong, Foon Chang, Ron Mah, Victor Wong and Todd Wong

Click here for Susanna Ng's article + pictures:  Canada-delivers-first-head-tax-redress

Click here for more Head Tax information, links and stories on www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com


check out these other head tax media stories:

Ottawa issues head tax redress payments to Chinese Canadians

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/10/20/head-tax.html

Cheques of $20,000 given to surviving head tax payers