*To view a recording of this event click here.
You are invited to a virtual roundtable to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the Head Tax Redress Apology
For 22 years, the Chinese Canadian National Council spear-headed a national movement seeking redress for those who paid the Chinese Head Tax. An apology was a minimum. Compensation for payers who were still alive or for the surviving spouse, was a must. The campaign reflects the community’s strength persistence and indomitable spirit — strong shoulders for today’s generation as it faces pandemic racism.
This virtual round table jump-starts two milestones:
- 17 May 2022 is the 75th anniversary of the 1947 Repeal of the Chinese Immigration Act (1923) also known as the Exclusion Act
- 1 July 2023 marks 100 years since the Canadian government imposed the Exclusion Act, shutting Canada’s borders to Chinese immigrants. Not even Canadian-born Chinese were spared from this legislation.
This event is presented with support from:
Institute for Social Research (ISR), York University
Canada-China Initiative Fund, York Centre for Asian Research, York University
Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice (CCNS-SJ)
Multicultural History Society of Ontario
Two of the panelists, and , penned an op-ed for the Toronto Star on 22 June 2021. Click on either of these hyperlinks to read their piece: original URL or accessible URL.
Avvy Go is clinic director of the Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.
Gary Yee is vice-president of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice, and he led the redress campaign in the late 1980s.
