By: Diva Rachel
Canadians from coast to coast have expressed concern about the pending drastic changes to the rules surrounding immigration buried in the 400-page omnibus bill. As the House of Commons debates the voluminous bill, little time is devoted to dissecting the hundreds of policy changes. Those Canadians who study history regard the new rules with a different lens -- a return to tactics of yesteryear, of which few are proud today. Let us take a stroll through Canadian immigration memory lane.
1867 -- A NATIONAL "OPEN-DOOR" POLICY
Following Confederation, the newly formed country of Canada began to develop its own national immigration policies. Its open-door policy helped attract a more diverse group of arrivals than ever before, but not all the new immigrants were welcomed with open arms.
1870s - BRITISH JUVENILE DELINQUENTS WELCOME
Between 1869 and the 1930s, Canada received over 100,000 juvenile immigrants from the British Isles. Most of these children had been brought up in poverty, and were homeless or living in the urban slums of the UK. Some were accused or even convicted of crimes. (cough.) Ottawa did not view their shortcomings as a barrier to immigration however.
1885 – HALTING CHINESE VIA HEFTY HEAD TAX
To avoid spoiling Canada-China relations, the federal government could not outright forbid Chinese immigration. Therefore, Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act, which put a hefty head tax on Chinese immigrants in the hopes that this would deter them from entering Canada. No other ethnic group had to pay this kind of tax at the time. The head tax would prove to be profitable for the federal government, while effectively stifling the flow of Chinese newcomers. As the tax increased a number of times reaching $500 in 1904 (over $12,000 in 2012 dollars), it would prevent wives and families from joining their husbands or fathers in Canada.
1867 -- A NATIONAL "OPEN-DOOR" POLICY
Following Confederation, the newly formed country of Canada began to develop its own national immigration policies. Its open-door policy helped attract a more diverse group of arrivals than ever before, but not all the new immigrants were welcomed with open arms.
1870s - BRITISH JUVENILE DELINQUENTS WELCOME
Between 1869 and the 1930s, Canada received over 100,000 juvenile immigrants from the British Isles. Most of these children had been brought up in poverty, and were homeless or living in the urban slums of the UK. Some were accused or even convicted of crimes. (cough.) Ottawa did not view their shortcomings as a barrier to immigration however.
1885 – HALTING CHINESE VIA HEFTY HEAD TAX
To avoid spoiling Canada-China relations, the federal government could not outright forbid Chinese immigration. Therefore, Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act, which put a hefty head tax on Chinese immigrants in the hopes that this would deter them from entering Canada. No other ethnic group had to pay this kind of tax at the time. The head tax would prove to be profitable for the federal government, while effectively stifling the flow of Chinese newcomers. As the tax increased a number of times reaching $500 in 1904 (over $12,000 in 2012 dollars), it would prevent wives and families from joining their husbands or fathers in Canada.
1898 – BARRIERS FOR BLACKS
There was -- as government correspondence in Ottawa records now makes clear--a long series of letters exchanged among immigration authorities worried about how to be functionally anti-Black without seeming anti-Black. Since much of its recruitment of immigrants was done by mail, it became difficult for immigration officials to discern the race of African-American postulants. In U.S. cities where there were no Canadian immigration agents present to discriminate openly, civil servants would write to the local (presumably white) American postmaster and ask whether the applicant was Black. Those few Blacks in Canada had apparently got to here either by persistence or through accident.
For example, for Blacks trying to enter Canada there were strict regulations on health, literacy, and financial support. These regulations were set up on the assumption that most African-Americans would never meet them and thus would not be allowed to enter the country. On March 21, 1911, a party of two hundred Blacks arrived at a Manitoba border station and requested admission to press on to Amber Valley, to which relatives had preceded them. The Canadian officials subjected them to the most rigorous exam possible and found that they could not stop a single member of the group. No one had less than $300 (or $100 more than the law required), all were in excellent health, and all had documented proof of good moral standing. During the pre-First World War years, Ottawa was under various kinds of pressure to exclude blacks. In 1910, for instance, the Edmonton Board of Trade passed a resolution to stop the undesirable influx of Negroes. Six months later, Canada would shift its underhanded discrimination policy to bar Blacks overtly.
1905 – ONLY WHITES FOR THE WEST
PM Laurier’s Minister of the Interior from 1896-1905, Clifford Sifton, was eager to populate western Canada with farmers in order to stimulate the economy and help pay the national debt. The government offered free homesteads to applicants who qualified. Canadian immigration authorities rated newcomers according to their race, perceived hardiness and farming ability: If British immigrants are not available, other white immigrants would do. White immigrants from Eastern Europe (Italians, Portuguese, South Slavs, Greeks, Syrians, Jews) were reluctantly accepted in large numbers, but Black and Asian immigration is discouraged.
There was -- as government correspondence in Ottawa records now makes clear--a long series of letters exchanged among immigration authorities worried about how to be functionally anti-Black without seeming anti-Black. Since much of its recruitment of immigrants was done by mail, it became difficult for immigration officials to discern the race of African-American postulants. In U.S. cities where there were no Canadian immigration agents present to discriminate openly, civil servants would write to the local (presumably white) American postmaster and ask whether the applicant was Black. Those few Blacks in Canada had apparently got to here either by persistence or through accident.
For example, for Blacks trying to enter Canada there were strict regulations on health, literacy, and financial support. These regulations were set up on the assumption that most African-Americans would never meet them and thus would not be allowed to enter the country. On March 21, 1911, a party of two hundred Blacks arrived at a Manitoba border station and requested admission to press on to Amber Valley, to which relatives had preceded them. The Canadian officials subjected them to the most rigorous exam possible and found that they could not stop a single member of the group. No one had less than $300 (or $100 more than the law required), all were in excellent health, and all had documented proof of good moral standing. During the pre-First World War years, Ottawa was under various kinds of pressure to exclude blacks. In 1910, for instance, the Edmonton Board of Trade passed a resolution to stop the undesirable influx of Negroes. Six months later, Canada would shift its underhanded discrimination policy to bar Blacks overtly.
1905 – ONLY WHITES FOR THE WEST
PM Laurier’s Minister of the Interior from 1896-1905, Clifford Sifton, was eager to populate western Canada with farmers in order to stimulate the economy and help pay the national debt. The government offered free homesteads to applicants who qualified. Canadian immigration authorities rated newcomers according to their race, perceived hardiness and farming ability: If British immigrants are not available, other white immigrants would do. White immigrants from Eastern Europe (Italians, Portuguese, South Slavs, Greeks, Syrians, Jews) were reluctantly accepted in large numbers, but Black and Asian immigration is discouraged.
1906 -- INDIANS NEED NOT NAVIGATE TO CANADA
Then-Clerk of the Privy Council, Rodolphe Boudreau wrote on the restriction of immigration from the Orient, in particular British East Indians: “Experience has shown that immigrants of this class, having been accustomed to the conditions of a tropical climate, are wholly unsuited to this country”. He further goes on to write that the restriction of newcomers from India is “no less in the interest of East Indians themselves, than the interest of the Canadian people”. Then Deputy Minister of Labour W.L. Mackenzie King, went on a mission to England to negotiate an agreement by which Canada was made “distinct” in the British Empire, thus allowed to refuse certain classes of immigrants based on country of origin.
1907 – JAPANESE GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT
In 1891, B.C. provincial legislators were complaining that Japanese immigrants were “just as injurious” as the long-despised Chinese, going so far as to exclude Japanese residents from the 1891 census. In 1897, Premier John Herbert Turner’s provincial legislature unanimously asked the federal government to prevent immigration of Japanese, citing concern about “the lower class Jap” who competed in the labour market. Heeding to xenophobic pressure, only six Japanese immigrants entered Canada in the years 1901–4, while the "gentlemen's agreement" with Japan to limit immigration to 400 a year only became official in 1907.
1908 – THE CONTINUOUS JOURNEY CLAUSE
To keep immigrants of Asian origin out of Canada, the Canadian government passed an Order-in-Council on January 8, 1908, that prohibited immigration of persons who did not "come from the country of their birth or citizenship by a continuous journey". At the time, ocean steamers crossing the Pacific Ocean from Asia stopped at Hawaii. The policy, a veiled aim at passengers from India, required immigrants to travel to Canada in an uninterrupted journey straight from country of origin – though, curiously, the rule was not applied to European immigrants.
Then-Clerk of the Privy Council, Rodolphe Boudreau wrote on the restriction of immigration from the Orient, in particular British East Indians: “Experience has shown that immigrants of this class, having been accustomed to the conditions of a tropical climate, are wholly unsuited to this country”. He further goes on to write that the restriction of newcomers from India is “no less in the interest of East Indians themselves, than the interest of the Canadian people”. Then Deputy Minister of Labour W.L. Mackenzie King, went on a mission to England to negotiate an agreement by which Canada was made “distinct” in the British Empire, thus allowed to refuse certain classes of immigrants based on country of origin.
1907 – JAPANESE GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT
In 1891, B.C. provincial legislators were complaining that Japanese immigrants were “just as injurious” as the long-despised Chinese, going so far as to exclude Japanese residents from the 1891 census. In 1897, Premier John Herbert Turner’s provincial legislature unanimously asked the federal government to prevent immigration of Japanese, citing concern about “the lower class Jap” who competed in the labour market. Heeding to xenophobic pressure, only six Japanese immigrants entered Canada in the years 1901–4, while the "gentlemen's agreement" with Japan to limit immigration to 400 a year only became official in 1907.
1908 – THE CONTINUOUS JOURNEY CLAUSE
To keep immigrants of Asian origin out of Canada, the Canadian government passed an Order-in-Council on January 8, 1908, that prohibited immigration of persons who did not "come from the country of their birth or citizenship by a continuous journey". At the time, ocean steamers crossing the Pacific Ocean from Asia stopped at Hawaii. The policy, a veiled aim at passengers from India, required immigrants to travel to Canada in an uninterrupted journey straight from country of origin – though, curiously, the rule was not applied to European immigrants.
1911 – BLATANT BARRING OF BLACKS
As Canadians, we too often adopt morally superior attitudes toward our American neighbours. While Black slaves who escaped to Canada in the 1800s enjoyed a better life here, it wasn't exactly Eden re-visited. In fact, Blacks were treated so inhumanely that after the U.S. Civil War ended in 1865, the majority of escaped slaves returned home. In 1911, PM Wilfrid Laurier announced changes in the Immigration Act banning "any immigrants belonging to the Negro race, which race is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada." This despite Black Canadians’ long list of accomplishments and contributions to the country: Matthieu Dacosta, hired translator for Samuel de Champlain in 1600s whose talents helped bridge the gap between the Europeans and the First Nations, Wilson Abbott (1801–1876), a successful businessman and Toronto City Councillor, Sir James Douglas (1803–1877) the Father of British-Columbia, and the thousands of Black volunteers fought and won the War of 1812 alongside fellow Canadian soldiers. Once again, our government defied factual evidence while inventing excuses to justify covert racism.
1919 -- WEEDING OUT WORKERS RIGHTS ADVOCATES
Shortly after the Winnipeg General Strike, Canada made a dramatic move to bar immigration from central, eastern and southern Europe. The rising fear of international socialism and communism contributed to the creation of a very selective immigration policy meant to keep so-called "non-preferred" immigrants and "troublemakers" out. “Troublemaker” was a euphemism for non-British Europeans and Jews, who led the most influential strike in Canadian history. That year, the government's revised Immigration Act gave it the power to keep out any "nationality or race deemed unsuitable." The ritual of innuendo to mask institutionalised discrimination continued in as the entry of Ukrainians, Mennonites and Hutterites was prohibited on the ground of their “peculiar habits, modes of life and methods of holding property”.
1991 – REFORM PARTY RHETORIC
The Reform's early policy proposals for immigration were seen as highly controversial in Canada including a policy pamphlet called Blue Sheet that was issued in mid-1991 stating that Reformers opposed "any immigration based on race or creed or designed to radically or suddenly alter the ethnic makeup of Canada" . This controversy and others raised the question over whether the Reform Party was intolerant to non-white people and whether the party harboured racist members. Then-MP Stephen Harper emerged as a prominent member of the Reform Party of Canada caucus. Subsequent repeated accounts of xenophobic and racist statements by individual Reform party supporters and members spread this concern, though the party itself continuouslydenied that it supported such views.
2011 – FROM REFORM PARTY MEMBER TO MAJORITY GOVERNMENT
Since PM Stephen Harper seemingly has free reign in the form of a majority government, the immigration file has been handed to Jason Kenney to chisel away the Trudeau legacy.
Is Canada regressing to the furtive forms the past? Closing Embassies and Consulates, adding barriers to application processes or cancelling them altogether, reducing immigration integration budgets in the province which welcomes nearly half of all newcomers, closing immigration bureaus in the Prairies... The omnibus bill contains a plethora of drastic changes to immigration policy, including the delegation of immigrant selection to the private sector and pre-entrance language requirements. No details have been outlined in how these language tests will be administered, nor which foreign ESL accents will be deemed “suitable” for Canada’s “economicclimate”. No provisions to prevent the chronic employee-selection problem observed in numerous studies where French and English sounding names have a clear advantage when all other factors are equal. Concerned Canadians are wondering if the devolution of immigration will result in neo-profiling – yet another iniquitous and underhanded selection methodology. While they may be scattered in the omnibus bill, the Harper Government has, no doubt, its proverbial ducks lined up in a row.
The Reform's early policy proposals for immigration were seen as highly controversial in Canada including a policy pamphlet called Blue Sheet that was issued in mid-1991 stating that Reformers opposed "any immigration based on race or creed or designed to radically or suddenly alter the ethnic makeup of Canada" . This controversy and others raised the question over whether the Reform Party was intolerant to non-white people and whether the party harboured racist members. Then-MP Stephen Harper emerged as a prominent member of the Reform Party of Canada caucus. Subsequent repeated accounts of xenophobic and racist statements by individual Reform party supporters and members spread this concern, though the party itself continuouslydenied that it supported such views.
2011 – FROM REFORM PARTY MEMBER TO MAJORITY GOVERNMENT
Since PM Stephen Harper seemingly has free reign in the form of a majority government, the immigration file has been handed to Jason Kenney to chisel away the Trudeau legacy.
Is Canada regressing to the furtive forms the past? Closing Embassies and Consulates, adding barriers to application processes or cancelling them altogether, reducing immigration integration budgets in the province which welcomes nearly half of all newcomers, closing immigration bureaus in the Prairies... The omnibus bill contains a plethora of drastic changes to immigration policy, including the delegation of immigrant selection to the private sector and pre-entrance language requirements. No details have been outlined in how these language tests will be administered, nor which foreign ESL accents will be deemed “suitable” for Canada’s “economicclimate”. No provisions to prevent the chronic employee-selection problem observed in numerous studies where French and English sounding names have a clear advantage when all other factors are equal. Concerned Canadians are wondering if the devolution of immigration will result in neo-profiling – yet another iniquitous and underhanded selection methodology. While they may be scattered in the omnibus bill, the Harper Government has, no doubt, its proverbial ducks lined up in a row.
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