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Fraser River Gold Rush
First group of Chinese immigrants arrive from Califorinia by boat in June 1958 in search for gold. -
Pioneer Days
During this time period, the government forced Chinese contractors to recruit Chinese workers to fix the shortage of labour. The workers were then forced to work in long, physically demanding jobs for several hours with very little payment. -
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The Gold Rush
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Victoria Chinatown
Many locals (mostly of European decent) despised the Chinese & wanted them as far away from them as humanely possible. Therefore, the Canadian governement has arranged for them to live on the fringe of the city & call it Chinatown, which the locals consider the place of the "evil Chinese" & that "no one decent enters there". But the Chinese liked being segregated, as they feel that their location is a safe haven from abuse & discrimatory attacks. -
Gold Mountain
Gum Shan, (also known as the Gold Mountain), is home to thousands of Chinese men that crossed the Pacific from Hong Kong, leaving behind their wives & children to seek a better life, prepared to face hardships that await them. -
Post Gold Rush
After the Gold Rush period was over, many unemployed White workers began protesting & blaming the Chinese for taking their jobs away because of they are being willing to work more for a smaller salary. This lasted from the late 1860's to the 1870's. -
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Canadian Pacific Railway
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B.C. Confederation & Disfranchisment
A year after British Columbia entered Confederation, the Legislative Assembly has distrubuted an act to legally exclude citizens of Native Indian & Chinese decent. -
Pride or Railway
After several talks on hiring workers for the CBC, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald gave the people in B.C. an ultinanium. Either they hire Chinese workers to build the railway quicker or else the project will be scraped. Although the European-Canadians strongly disliked the Chinese workers, the possibliity of not having a railway is out of the question. So in the end, they chose to endure working alongside the Chinese labourers. -
Railway Construction
Over 50,000 Chinese workers were brought to work on some of the most dangerous & grusome sections on the railway. Every mile on the track, one Chinese person died from accidents, illness, cold from the wintertime & malnutrition. -
Chinese Head Tax
The Chinese Head Tax was imposed in 1885 by the Federal Government (from influence by the B.C. Government), The starting cost was $50 for every immigrant (the average worker makes $220 a year (after expenses, only $43 is left over)) which is a heavy financial burden for them. The motive is to convince Chinese immigrants not to move to Canada. The only classes exempt from the tax is diplomats, clergyman, students, merchants, tourists & men of science. -
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Post CPR
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Head Tax Pt.2
Despite the Head Tax increasing from $100 in 1901 & $500 in 1903, the Chinese labourers are intent on coming to Canada as they are unempolyed or they make a salary of $2 a day in China when they can make 10x more in Canada. B/c there were no immigration offices in China at the time, Several of them arrive in ships carrying at least a 100 people to Victoria, where they are to undergo a medical examination & see if they are able to pay the head tax. If not, family/friends are responsible for them. -
Economic & Social Segregation
The Chinese were segregated in all aspects of living alongside society. Even in marriage they had to get approved by the local sheriff. Supiciously the couple would "mysteriously" disappear after the wedding. It wasn't long before the government banned small Chinese-owned business from hiring White Women, sparking protests from both sides of the spectrum. -
Protest for Union Cooperation
In 1916, a group of labourers in the lumber industry created a group named the Chinese Labourers Association to protest that they recieve equal treatment as the White Workers. This has stirred an anit-Chinese movement created by some of the White Workers against them. -
Exclusion
In 1923, the government passes a law stating that no one of Chinese decent is allowed to enter Canada after the Head Tax was proven to be ineffective. -
Unwanted Soilders
After the war in September 1939, the provinces of British Columbia & Saskatchewan has strongly opposed letting Asians enlist into the army. Despite this, many young Chinese men would join the army yet they would be treated differently than Canadians militants. That all changed after Japan entered the war that the British would need the assistance of the Chinese to fight behind Japanese lines. -
Chinese-Canadian Citizens
25 years after the exclusion in the mid 1920's, Chinese people are allowed to become Canadian citizens. -
First Vote
A Chinese man was allowed to cast a ballot for the first time. -
Political Participation
Now with the right to vote, Chinese-Canadians are beginning to get involved in politics. Many Chinese war veterans find themselves as elected officials in the future. -
Physical Intergration
Chinatown is no longer seen as the dark, forbidden place as it was once percieved. Now, it is considered a developing utopia that is greatly intergrating to the urban Canadian landscape. -
Chinese Contribution Motion
On that special day, the government has passed a notation "appreciating the Canadian mosaic & culture by the people of Chinese background." This is the first appreciation of the railway workers. -
Official Apology
Stephen Harper & the Parliament of Canada state an public apology for the mistreatment of the Chinese community in Canada.
