Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology in the House of Commons on June 22 to Chinese Canadians who suffered from a “head tax” beginning in 1885 and Canada’s adoption of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1923.
　　The head tax started at CA$50 per person and grew to CA$500 by 1903. It was collected from over 81,000 Chinese immigrants, most of whom helped to build the Canadian Pacific Railway under harsh conditions but were no longer wanted after the project was finished. From 1885 to 1923, the total head tax collected from Chinese immigrants nearly equaled the total expenditures on the railway.
　　In 1923, Canada enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning Chinese immigrants to Canada for the next 24 years.
　　During Canada’s federal election in January, Harper’s Conservative Party promised to address the historical issue in an effort to win support from the large number of Chinese voters.
　　Describing the head tax as a “grave injustice,” the Canadian Government said the 20 or so surviving Chinese Canadians who paid the tax, or their surviving spouses, will get a symbolic CA$20,000 ex-gratia payment. The government is also establishing a program that gives grants to ethnic communities for commemoration projects dealing with past discriminatory actions.
　　“On behalf of the Government of Canada, we offer a full apology to Chinese Canadians for the head tax and express our deepest sorrow for the subsequent exclusion of Chinese immigrants…We fully accept the moral responsibility to acknowledge the shameful policies of our past.”
　　Stephen Harper
　　
　　“It finally brings closure to our people, that we’re finally recognized as human beings.”
　　Mary Mah, who came to Canada in 1923 at the age of 3
　　
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