February 19, 1947: First Chinese become citizens
Four men and three women stand
before Chief Justice WB Farris
in a crowded downtown Vancouver ballroom. The date is February 19, 1947, and the seven are declared
Canadian citizens. Though the Chi-
nese have been present in Canada for
nearly ninety years, they have never
been given citizenship. Louis King,
Thomas Koo Chung, Wilf Bing, Tong
Seto, Donald Sung, Lila Wong, Jean
Suey Zee Lee, and Marion Laura Mah
are the first.
The initial wave of Chinese, lured by the 1858 gold rush, arrived in British Columbia by way of the gold fields of California. More came in 1880 for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway line in the precipitous Fraser Canyon. But when their tasks were finished, they were left to scrounge for low-paying jobs. Whites hoped this would discourage the Chinese from staying in the country.
More racial discrimination came with the "head" tax, a proviso of the Chinese Immigration Act passed by the federal government in 1885 that forced Chinese immigrants to pay fifty dollars to enter the country. When the tax didn't completely stop the flow of Chinese, it was raised to $100 in 1901 and $500 in 1903. The province of British Columbia passed laws, too, forbidding the Chinese lo vole. Yet Chinese communities continued to flourish.
The most infamous piece of legislation against the Chinese was the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, which revoked the head tax but halted virtually all emigration from China. Passed on July 1,, the act led Chinese communities across Canada to greet Dominion Day as "Humiliation Day" by closing their businesses and refusing to partake in celebrations. Protests against the act were to no avail; without the right to vote, the Chinese were powerless.
Many of the Chinese born and educated in Canada found few jobs outside of their community. Some attended universities, obtaining degrees in medicine, law, and accountancy. But their entry into professional societies and the work that followed was barred because citizenship was mandatory.
During the Second World War, Chinese communities across Canada were divided over the issue of going to war. Some maintained that as second class citizens they must be enfranchised first. "Treat us as equals and we'll he glad to serve," veteran Roy Mah recalls the argument. Others, Mah among them, took the opposing view: "The best way was to join first, fight, come back, then we would have solid credentials to demand our rights."
Eventually some six hundred Chinese volunteered to serve their country. At first, most were rejected at recruiting stations, though a few individuals were admitted. Only after the war expanded from Europe to Asia were the Chinese accepted, particularly for their language skills and ability to blend with the local populace to conduct intelligence work. In this atmosphere, public opinion began to change. Two years after the war ended, under political pressure from both inside and outside the Chinese communities, the government repealed the 1923 Act.
The seven men and women who became the first Chinese Canadian citizens were veterans from the war, having served with the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. In recognizing their contributions, Justice Farris said to them: "You have earned your right to a citizenship by the part you played in the armed forces of the world war just over. See to it that you retain cognizance of the great respon- sibility of citizenship."
It was an exciting occasion, but as
one of the women commented years
later. "I was born and raised in Canada
and I asked myself, why do I need a
certificate to prove it?"
Larry Wong
The Beaver February-March 2003