Vancouver will apologize for historical discrimination toward Chinese

The Vancouver city council in Canada will officially apologize for historical discriminatory actions by previous councils against Chinese people in April, according to a report by Mingpao Canada.

An apology report was passed by the Vancouver city council recently, and a city council staff member introduced details of the upcoming apology ceremony on March 10.

The ceremony will be held in the auditorium of the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, at 2 pm April 22. The apology will be read in English, Cantonese and Taishan dialect — where most Chinese in Vancouver are from, and responded to by three delegates from veterans, overseas Chinese and teenager groups. Cultural performances will follow.

The official apology will also be issued in written versions in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

"The contribution to Canadian society made by generations of Chinese people in Canada is the great impetus for this event," said Kong Weiwei, consul general of Chinese consulate-general in Vancouver. "It will be representative and influential for Vancouver, a city with a large number of Chinese, to have this event."

"This is to ensure the future generation knows what had happened and to ensure that doesn't happen again," said Raymond Louie, an ethnic Chinese councilor.

The Vancouver city council passed a series of discriminatory laws and policies against Chinese people between 1886 and 1947, including banning certain businesses from hiring Chinese people, restricting Chinese businesses and civil rights.

150,000 overseas Chinese took part in the construction of Canadian Pacific Railway, one of the most important projects in the early founding of Canada, in the late 19th century and over 1,000 died. However, after the completion of the railway, the government didn't allow any Chinese laborers to participate in the final spike ceremony.

Later on, they passed "Chinese immigration regulations", with measures restricting Chinese people’s ability to enter and settle, levying taxes from 50 CAD (about 38.6 USD) to 500 CAD (about 386 USD) per person, equivalent to two years’ salary.