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Chinese Head Tax (Started)
-The Chinese head tax was a fixed fee charge to every Chinese person entering Canada.
-The Head Tax was created to discourage people of Asian descent from immigrating to Canada after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
-In 1923 the Head Tax was removed but the immigration of Chinese people was legally prohibited until 1947.
-In 2006, Canada's government formally apologized to Canada's Chinese citizens for the Head Tax. -
Internment of Ukrainian Canadians
-At beginning of WWI in 1914, more than 8000 people of Ukrainian and German descent were arrested and sent to internment camps because of their cultural identity.
-Canada made the arrests under the War Measures Act, which was passed at the outbreak of the war in 1914.
-In many cases the government seized the homes and possessions of those who were arrested.
-The internment continued until 1918. -
Komagata Maru Incident
-A Japanese steamship coming from Hong Kong holding passengers from Punjab wanting to enter Canada.
-The Canadian government denied the hundreds of passengers entry into their country.
-The ship stayed in the harbor for two more months.
-Later the ship was forced to leave and go back to India.
-They denied the immigration of these people because of race, religion and ethnic origin. -
Chinese Head Tax (Ended)
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Internment of Italian Canadians
-During WWII, Canada used the War Measures Act to arrest people of Italian descent and send them to internment camps
-The arrests began on June 10th, 1940. This was when Italy declared war on Canada.
-The arrests mainly focused on men, but some families had to follow the men to the camps.
-The government seized properties of some people who got arrested.
-The arrests affected about 700 people.
-Canada was again prejudice of foreign peoples.
-The internment lasted until 1945. -
Internment of Japanese Canadians
-On December 7, 1941, during WWII, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. -Canadians of Japanese origin suddenly found themselves being treated with suspicion or even hatred.
-On February 1942, Canada's government decided to move all people of Japanese origin away from the west coaster Canada.
-Under the War Measures Act, more than 20,000 men, women and children were forced to leave their communities. They could only bring what the could carry.
-This internment lasted until 1949, four years after WWII. -
Creation of Immigration Categories
-In Canada, there are four immigration categories: Family Class, economic immigrants, refugees and other.
-There have been numerous acts to put these categories into play.
-The Immigration Act helped establish some of those categories and it's replacement, The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, had developed the categories. -
Refugees being added as an immigration category
-Refugee is one of the four immigration categories. This is established under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
-In 1951, Canada signed the U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
-During the 1950's and 1960's, Canada offered to shelter refugees in response to specific world crises.
-In 1976, it made refugees as one of there immigration categories. This made it so that refugees could be accepted whenever, rather than crisis by crisis. -
Singh Decision
In 1985, the Singh decision was ruled. A man named Satnam Singh came to Canada from India seeking refugee status.
-Canada rejected his case under the Immigration Act of 1976.
-The Supreme Court disagreed, and said that this violated section 7 of the Charter. This resulted in people who claimed refugee status in Canada to have a right to a hearing.
-Canada established the Immigration and Refugee Board and provides people seeking refugee status with the necessities of life. -
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
-It is one of the most recent laws Canada has about immigration.
-It establishes categories of who can immigrate to Canada and create permanent homes.
-Some of its objectives were: to pursue social, cultural and economic benefits for all Canadians; to promote successful integration of immigrants into the Canadian society, and much more.
