The Canadian Press
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson will formally apologize next month for past discrimination against residents of Chinese descent.
The apology will acknowledge the wrongdoings of past legislation, regulations and policies of previous Vancouver city councils.
“This is an important day for council to come together in recognition of the historic discrimination that took place against Chinese residents,” Robertson said in a statement.
“In order to move forward, we must first acknowledge the harm that was committed and how this unfortunate chapter in Vancouver’s history continues to impact the lives of Chinese-Canadians.”
Robertson will make the apology on April 22 as part of a larger Chinatown Culture Day event.
City councillors Bill Yee and Maggie Ip will also read it in Chinese languages.
Between 2016 and 2017, the city established an advisory group of Chinese and non-Chinese experts and community leaders to help guide the development of a formal apology, which was approved by council in November.
Their report said residents of Chinese descent weren’t allowed to vote when the city incorporated in 1886 until 1948, after veterans of the First and Second World Wars lobbied for voting rights. The City of Vancouver also advocated for discriminatory policies like the federal head tax and barred Chinese-Canadians from civic employment between 1890 and 1952.
City policies and practices also included various attempts at segregation in schools, public spaces like swimming pools, and other public areas including residential housing, hospitals, and even cemeteries. Because of restrictions at local cemeteries, Chinese residents had to be returned to China for burial, the report said.
The City of New Westminster became the first B.C. municipality to formally apologize to Chinese-Canadians for past discrimination in 2010.
In 2015, Chinese-Canadians received an apology from former premier Christy Clark on behalf of British Columbia for more than 100 racist laws, regulations and policies of past B.C. governments.
She pointed to Chinese immigrants’ contributions to building the national railway system, noting that one Chinese worker died for every mile of track between Vancouver and Calgary.
In 2006, the federal government offered an apology for the head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants and included $20,000 in compensation for families or surviving people who paid the tax.
Thousands of Chinese immigrants arrived in Canada starting in the 1880s to help build the country’s railway, but starting in 1885, the federal government imposed a head tax of $50, which rose to $500 by the early 1900s.