1 I finally discovered many things about my father while researching for Moving the Mountain. La Presse journalist Jooneed Khan called the documentary a homage to my father. “Un film sur une ignominie que le Canada doit assumer…,” La Presse, October 20, 1993.
2 Accessed April 19, 2018. http://www.okthepk.ca/dataCprSiding/spike/spike.htm.
3 Patricia E. Roy, The CPR West, Hugh A. Dempsey, ed. (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1984), 292.
4 Hansard, Commons Debates, May 31, 1887.
5 Accessed June 16, 2018. http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/immigrants-china-1885-1949/Pages/list.aspx?RegistrationDate=1949-09&&p_ID=45.
6 Starting in Confucian times, a courtesy name was conferred on both men and women as they reached adulthood. This practice is not so common today, but it seems to be having a revival with the growing re-acceptance of Confucianism.
7 Denise Helley, Les chinois à Montréal – 1877–1951 (Québec: Institut québécois de recherche sur la culture, 1987), 95.
8 “Les Chinois Ne Veulent Point Payer,” La Presse, July 31, 1915.
9 Accessed May 25, 2018. http://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/le-15-18/segments/chronique/39177/jean-francois-nadeau-chinois-quartier-blanchisserie-montreal-histoire.
10 Accessed May 25, 2018. http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/lovell/.
11 Denise Helley, 109.
12 Ibid., 278.
13 Hum Yue Teng interview. April 1992.
14 My grandfather wrote this poem in 1944 on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. It was later published in the Chinese Young Men’s Christian Institution Journal to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary in 1961.
15 These names are pseudonyms for friends, as is the literary custom.
16 Ah Ngeen is the title for the paternal grandmother. Ah Paw refers to the maternal grandmother.
17 This is one of two poems written by my father in the 1940s and published in 1970 in the Dere Clan Association journal in Hong Kong.
18 The Canadian Pacific Empress line of ships carried many of the Chinese immigrants to Canada. The Empress of Russia was one of those ships; it also transported the Chinese Labour Corps to service the Allied forces fighting in Europe during World War I, and carried Sun Yat-sen from Hong Kong to Shanghai in 1922.
19 Lisa Rose Mar, Brokering Belonging – Chinese in Canada’s Exclusion Era, 1885–1945 (Oxford University Press, 2010), 149. The detention building was located near the waterfront at the end of Thurlow Street. The building had long been demolished when Vancouver began developing the waterfront with Canada Place and the convention centre. It is ironic that the early Chinese were locked up in detention and paid $500 to get out, while today businessmen pay hundreds to stay in an Asian hotel located at the same place.
20 Harry Con, Ronald J. Con, Graham Johnson, Edgar Wickberg, William E. Willmot. Edgar Wickberg (ed.), From China to Canada, A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982), 143.
21 Peter S. Li, The Chinese in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988), 78.
22 The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1923.
23 Historically, the lo fawn are all those that lived outside the Great Wall. In this case it refers to white people.
24 Con et al., 185. The labour market was very restrictive to the Chinese, especially during the Depression.
25 Betty Lee Sung, Mountain of Gold (MacMillan, 1967). Chapter 11, “Laundries – A Haven and a Prison,” gives a good description of the hand laundry business in the US.
26 Paul C. P. Siu, The Chinese Laundryman – A Study of Social Isolation (New York University Press, 1987). This is a PhD thesis on Siu’s research into the hand laundries of Chicago in the 1930s. Siu was the son of a laundryman.
27 Ibid., 130.
28 Thomas Hum had a plaque commemorating his service to the Chinese community at the Montreal General Hospital.
29 Eileen Hum interview. July 8, 1992, at the Laval Street YMCI.
30 John Kuo Wei Tchen, “Editor’s Introduction” in The Chinese Laundryman – A Study in Social Isolation, by Paul C. P. Siu, xxxiii.
31 The term “sojourner” is controversial among Chinese Canadian activists and academics. Paul Siu’s definition is more dialectically nuanced, as quoted by John Kuo Wei Tchen in the introduction to The Chinese Laundryman – A Study of Social Isolation. Siu defined a sojourner as one who “clings to the culture of his own ethnic group as in contrast to the bicultural marginal man. Psychologically he is unwilling to organize himself as a permanent resident in the country of his sojourn. When he does, he becomes a marginal man.” Tchen added, “Chinese sojourners could also choose to be settlers.” In reality, the “sojourners” became immigrants due to a confluence of historical events beyond their control. Even though they remained marginalized, the immigrants became citizens the first chance they got.
32 The woi was a unique institution of the early North American Chinese immigrant economy. Each week, one or more borrower would bid for money by secretly writing on a piece of paper the interest he would be willing to pay for the loan. The borrower who bid the highest interest would take the amount of money required, either for a business or a trip home to China. The borrower paid off the loan through weekly contributions. Banks, which few laundry workers trusted, always had higher interest rates. The woi did not require any collateral or security since everyone knew and trusted each other. The woi still exists in some clan associations.
33 Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and her family took up four of those numbers. Clarkson’s father, William Poy, worked for the Canadian Trade Commission in Hong Kong. When the colony fell to the Japanese in 1942, the Canadian staff was repatriated, but the Exclusion Act prevented the Poys from immediately coming to Canada. External Affairs intervened and used an unfulfilled quota in a US–Japanese prisoner exchange agreement, bringing the Poys to Canada under the auspices of the Red Cross.
34 Kwok Bun Chan, Smoke and Fire—The Chinese in Montreal (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1991), 144. With permission of the publisher.
35 Ibid., 209.
36 Ibid., 178.
37 Li, 20.
38 Paul Yee, Saltwater City—An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1988), 95.
39 Accessed May 26, 2018. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/early-chinese-canadians/Pages/introduction.aspx.
40 Con et al., 183.
41 Yee, 90.
42 Ibid., 90.
43 Edgar Wickberg, ed., From China to Canada, A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982), 167.
44 Yee, 90.
45 Con et al., 193.
46 Ibid., 193.
47 Ibid., 200.
48 “Montreal Chinese Raise $10,000 For Red Cross Work in War Area.” Montreal Gazette, September 4, 1937.
49 “Chinatown Battle Averted as Police Stage Night Raids.” Montreal Gazette, January 22, 1934.
50 An article in the French language La Patrie, which ran on March 22, 1936, painted a dark and mysterious picture of Montreal Chinatown with this headline: “Randonnée Nocturne dans le Quartier Chinois de la Métropole—Un Guide Peu Banal Lorsque la Nuit Tombe—Le Magasin du Diable—Promenade Souterraine—Un Coin de L’Orient—Chez les Fumeurs D’Opium—Dans L’Obscurité des Caves—Chez les Chee Kung Tong.” It’s little wonder that mothers would say to their kids, “Behave, or I will send you down to Chinatown.”
51 Patricia Roy, “The Soldiers Canada Didn’t Want: Her Chinese and Japanese Citizens,” Canadian Historical Review, LIX, 3. 1978.
52 Ken Lee interview. May 17, 1992, Vancouver.
53 “The Chinese Immigration Act.” Montreal Gazette, August 23, 1943.
54 Accessed June 5, 2018. http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/features.php?searchterm=030_chronology.inc&issue=030.
55 Accessed May 26, 2018. http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/features.php?searchterm=030_1940.inc&issue=030.
56 Shuang Shen postulated in Cosmopolitan Publics: Anglophone Print Culture in Semi-Colonial Shanghai (48): “The time of The China Critic was one of national resistance to foreign domination and Japanese military aggression, the magazine avoided the label ‘nationalist,’ the editors tried hard to distinguish themselves from what they considered to be ‘narrow-minded nationalism’ both within China and in the outside world.”
57 George Mar interview. May 17, 1992, Vancouver.
58 Hansard, May 1, 1947. 2646.
59 Hansard, February 11, 1947. 335.
60 Ibid., 313. Thatcher later left the CCF and became the Liberal premier of Saskatchewan. His quote reflected the position of the CCF during the parliamentary debate to repeal the Exclusion Act.
61 Con et al., 211.
62 Accessed May 26, 2018. https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofsta1948cana/proceedingsofsta1948cana_djvu.txt.
63 Con et al., 214.
64 Ibid., 216.
65 Ibid., 217.
66 Ibid., 216.
67 Accessed May 26, 2018. https://ccncourstories.wordpress.com/videos/paper-sons-video/.
68 Freda Hawkins, “Canada and Immigration, Public Policy and Public Concern.” (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1971), 133.
69 Denise Helley, 277.
70 Con et al., 218.
71 Li, 93.
72 The French school system had a policy of not accepting immigrants in those days. Many European Catholics, like the Italians, ended up going to English schools. Immigrants then identified with the Anglophones of Québec. Bill 101 now requires all immigrant children to go into the French system. See the following article on the experience of Italian immigrants with the language of education in Québec: http://www.pkidd.com/doc/Gazette.2014-02-14.Sabino.Grassi.Echoes_of_rejection.pdf (accessed May 26, 2018).
73 A dress with side slits worn by socialites, upper class women and showgirls.
74 Upon the suggestion of my godmother, my father transferred me to St. Thomas More primary school for grades 4 to 7 because it was a newer school with young teachers, including Ed Kirk. St. Thomas More was in the more affluent west end of Verdun.
75 Marlon K. Hom, Songs of Gold Mountain (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), 146. Used with the permission of University of California Press.
76 Interviews with my mother when she was 85 to 90.
77 Toicheng is the county seat of Toishan.
78 Third Uncle was probably a village cousin or friend of my father. Chinese call males “uncles” whether we were related or not. Third means that the man was the third son in the family.
79 The old-fashioned cast iron weighed up to ten pounds. Laundry work was known as the “ten pound livelihood.”
80 Chinese expression meaning “at peace.”
81 Karl Marx, preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Social Economy (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1977).
82 During the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist period of world history, the “Third World” refers to the developing countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. These countries were fighting for independence against the domination of the developed capitalist countries of the First and Second Worlds.
83 Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (New York: Grove Press, 1963), 53.
84 Ibid., 311–315.
85 Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (London: Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, 1972).
86 Régis Debray, Revolution in the Revolution? (New York: Grove Press, 1967), 21.
87 Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China (New York: Grove Press, 1968), 16.
88 Ibid., 95.
89 Sean Mills, The Empire Within: Postcolonial Thought and Political Activism in Sixties Montreal (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010). See my review of the book at Rabble.ca: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2010/11/montreals-sixties-heyday (accessed May 27, 2018).
90 Pierre Vallières, White Niggers of America (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1971). Vallières’ “white niggers” are the Québécois de souche.
91 SWAPO of Namibia was the national liberation movement that gained independence from South Africa in 1990. Southwest Africa (the colonial name) was a former German colony that was taken over by Britain after World War I. South Africa administered the colony and imposed its apartheid policies. SWAPO waged a guerrilla struggle from 1966 until it gained Namibian independence in 1990.
92 The Patriotic Front was a united front of the ZAPU and ZANU national liberation movements that waged a guerrilla war for independence against the Rhodesian colonial regime. ZANU won the post-independence elections in 1980 and has remained in power ever since.
93 Lin Piao, Mao’s heir apparent, was accused of plotting against Mao and died in a plane crash as he fled to Moscow in 1971.
94 Roger Rashi interview. October 27, 2015.
95 This was made up of the CSN, FTQ (Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec) and the CEQ (Conseil des enseignantes et enseignants du Québec).
96 Howard Fast, Being Red (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990), 101.
97 With the kind permission of the poet, Amin Kassam.
98 For more information on the MPIQ, see Amanda Ricci, “From Acculturation to Integration. The Political Participation of Montréal’s ltalian Canadian Community in an Urban Context (1945–1990)” (master’s thesis, Université de Montréal, 2009).
99 Alan Silverman interview. July 14, 2015.
100 My notes on the meeting with Chai Zemin, president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, May 31, 1975.
101 Roger Rashi interview. October 30, 2015.
102 J. Peters, The Communist Party, A Manual on Organization. (San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975).
103 Roger Rashi interview. October 30, 2015.
104 Notably, the Azania People’s Support Committee (South Africa), Zimbabwe Support Committee, Canada-China Society and Kampuchea Support Committee.
105 Juanita later became the first Black judge in Quebec.
106 CSN, teachers, machinists, metalworkers, oilworkers’ unions, Palestine Solidarity, Association of Métis and Non-Status Indians of Saskatchewan, to name a few.
107 Azania was the name the PAC used for South Africa, which they considered to be a colonial name. Although of Greek origin, Pan-Africanists interpret “Azania” to mean “Land of the Black People.”
108 Other groups that entered into unity talks with the League and later rallied: Regroupement des comités de travailleurs; Centre de recherches et d’information du Québec; Groupe d’action socialiste; Noyau des petites entreprises; Groupe Abitibi-Témiscamingue (M-L).
109 From Herman Rosenfeld, who took part in the unity talks with the BSG in Toronto.
110 Roger Rashi interview. October 30, 2015.
111 Jean-Philippe Warren, Ils voulaient changer le monde, le militantisme Marxiste-Léniniste au Québec (Montreal: VLB Editeur, 2007).
112 Roger Rashi interview. October 27, 2015.
113 Gillian Taylor interview. July 16, 2014.
114 Ibid.
115 Accessed June 5, 2018. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19771001&id=U08xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1aEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2970,20032&hl=en.
116 Manuel Vazquez Montalban, Murder in the Central Committee (London: Pluto Press, 1984), 59.
117 John Nyathi Pokela helped found the PAC with Robert Sobukwe after they broke away from the ANC over armed struggle and other nationalist differences. Pokela, upon his release from thirteen years at Robben Island, assumed the leadership of the PAC in 1981 to unite the various factions of the liberation movement.
118 Accessed May 30, 2018. https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ca.secondwave/bsg-rallies.htm
119 Theoretical journal of the Workers Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist), October no. 7, Autumn 1979, 103.
120 “‘Multiculturalism’ pits immigrants against nationalities.” The Forge, May 23, 1980.
121 The CBW and the CCNC each celebrated its tenth anniversary and billed this as “an unprecedented coalition building event” of the two communities. It was held at the Negro Community Centre in Montreal on December 16, 1990.
122 Statement made during Xi Jinping’s visit to Mexico on February 11, 2009, before he became president.
123 Accessed May 30, 2018. https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ca.collapse/wcp-quebec-serious.htm.
124 Yvette Matyas interview. March 3, 2016.
125 Roger Rashi interview. October 30, 2015.
126 Ibid.
127 Ibid.
128 Mary Gabriel, Love and Capital (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2011).
129 Alan Silverman interview. July 14, 2015.
130 Conversations and correspondences with James, who requested that his full name not be used in this era of the Internet where Googled information can be misused and abused.
131 One of the many studies on Bhopal by Daya Varma was this one, co-written with his wife, Dr. Shree Mulay, and published in the Handbook of Toxicology of Chemical Warfare Agents (2009). Daya wrote over 225 scientific publications and two books.
132 Mao Zedong, On Contradiction: Selected Readings from the Works of Mao Zedong (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1971).
133 Daya Ram Varma, The Art and Science of Healing Since Antiquity (Xlibris, 2011), 144.
134 World Economic Forum. Accessed May 30, 2018. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/06/7-things-to-know-about-chinas-economy.
135 Xue Muqiao, China’s Socialist Economy (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1981).
136 June Fourth is synonymous with the Tiananmen Democracy Movement. Today, conflicting reports have emerged from the Western press on whether a “massacre” actually took place at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
137 Used with permission of Monthly Review. Accessed May 30, 2018. http://monthlyreview.org/2013/03/01/china-2013.
138 Accessed May 30, 2018. https://in.reuters.com/article/cuba-castro-quotes/factbox-cubas-fidel-castro-in-his-own-words-idINKBN13L04E.
139 See Chapter 18 for more on my father-in-law, Chen Zhongshu.
140 Zhaxi Dele is the Chinese transcription of the traditional Tibetan greeting, loosely translated as “blessings and good luck.”
141 Frank Chin, The Chickencoop Chinaman/The Year of the Dragon (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1990), 29. With the kind permission of the author, Frank Chin.
142 The four classics are: Water Margin/Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Naian; Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong; Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en; and Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin.
143 Jim Wong-Chu, Chinatown Ghosts (Vancouver: Pulp Press, 1986).
144 Frank Chin, 71. With permission of the author.
145 The essay appeared in The Big Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature. Edited by Jeffery Paul Chan, Frank Chin, Lawson Fusao Inada and Shawn Wong (New York: Penguin Books, 1991).
146 The Big Aiiieeeee!, 2. With permission of the author.
147 Ibid., 3.
148 Ibid., 27.
149 Ibid., 12.
150 Coincidentally, I interviewed her great grand nephew, Charles Laferrière, for my film Gens du pays: The Chinese of Québec. He introduced me to la chinoiserie, of which he had a big collection.
151 SKY Lee, Disappearing Moon Cafe (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1990).
152 The term Toishanese (Taishanese) is generically applied to those coming from the Sei-yap (Four Counties) districts of Taishan, Kaiping, Enping and Xinhui.
153 Louis Chu, Eat a Bowl of Tea (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1979).
154 It’s the same Wong Foon Sien who made the annual trip to Ottawa seeking equal treatment for the Chinese community after World War II. Wong founded the Chinese Trade Workers’ Association in 1942.
155 Ann Silversides, “Chinese group to press Ottawa for redress over $500 head tax.” The Globe and Mail, May 5, 1984.
156 Joong is cooked to celebrate May 5 each year in commemoration of the Chu Dynasty poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the river after the Chu kingdom fell in 278 BC. As the legend goes, people threw packets of rice into the water to prevent the fish from eating his body. Chinese have been eating joong ever since.
157 Ingrid Peritz, “City tearing us apart, brick by brick, says Montreal’s Chinese.” Montreal Gazette, November 18, 1981. Front page.
158 Ingrid Peritz, “Montreal Lobby Dogging Drapeau to Far East.” Montreal Gazette, May 10, 1985. Front page.
159 Some of the members of the committee were: Helen Jong, Queenie Hum, Johnson Choi, Yat Lo, George Lee, Jonas Ma, Sandy Yep, Thinh-Yien Hua and me.
160 Lilly Tasso, “Trois membres de la communauté chinoise se presentent aux élections scolaires, le but: changer les attitudes, combattre les stéréotypes.” La Presse, September 30, 1987. A14.
161 “Unmanned polls meant long wait for voters.” Montreal Gazette, November 16, 1987. Complete with a photo of the elderly women waiting.
162 “Grogne dans le quartier chinois.” La Presse, November 18, 1987.
163 Clair Balfour, “Impression of possible arrogance was not intended.” Montreal Gazette, November 9, 1987.
164 Some other members were Queenie Hum, Jonas Ma, Sandy Yep, Fo Niemi, Leung Tom and Tommy Hum.
165 Mémoire présenté au Comité consultatif sur les relations inter-culturelles et inter-raciales de la Communauté urbain de Montréal par un groupe d’individus et d’organisations de la communauté sino-canadienne. William G. W. Dere, Queenie Hum, Kai Lee, Jonas Ma, Min Yi Pang, Service à la famille chinoise du grand Montréal, Association des professionnel(le)s, hommes et femmes d’affaires, Union des chinois du Cambodge au Canada, Communauté catholique chinoise, Chambre de commerce du Quartier Chinois de Montréal, Association des restaurateurs chinois de Montréal, Amitié chinoise de Montréal, Association des chinois du Vietnam à Montréal, Association des chinois volontaires du Québec, Emission chinoise de Radio Centre-ville. 1 et 2 février 1988.
166 Tracy Wong, “Head Tax—benefit draws large support.” Asian Leader, December 1989. 11.
167 Program for the Toronto International Film Festival, September 9–18, 1993. 303.
168 Some of these volunteers were: Patty Kwan, Shirley Lo, Connie Ho, Nicole Lemire, Melinda Young, Belle Kei Wing Wong, Anita Malhotra, Lisa Wong, Raymond Foo and Mary Sui Yee Wong. In Vancouver, there was Barry Wong, Peter Mah, Seline So and Shelly Cheung.
169 Cynthia Lam was the executive director of the Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal for many years. She was a recipient of the Order of Canada.
170 Kenneth Cheung was a community activist who took on Montreal’s city hall. He was a leader in the HTEA redress movement.
171 Queenie Hum was the former assistant executive director of the Chinese Family Service. She was the first Chinese to be elected to office in Quebec as a school commissioner in 1991. Queenie was later appointed a Refugee Board judge.
172 Taishan is the Pinyin name for Toishan. While one million people live in Toishan today, there are 1.5 million Toishanese scattered in ninety-one countries. The majority of Toishanese are in North America.
173 Letter to the CBC from Ms. Priscilla (Pat) Fong, which was copied to me, Gary Yee and Walter Tom, December 3, 1993.
174 Jooneed Khan, “Un film sur une ignominie que le Canada doit assumer ….” La Presse, Montreal, October 20, 1993.
175 In Victoria, a detention centre for Chinese immigrants was built at the corner of Dallas Road and Ontario Street. Immigrants were questioned, given a medical examination and made to pay the head tax there. Many poems written by the detainees were discovered on its walls before the centre was torn down. https://www.uvic.ca/library/featured/collections/about/Victoria-Chinatown.php (accessed June 5, 2018).
176 “Chinese Players Give Performance at Gayety Theatre,” Montreal Daily Star, May 1, 1923. 6.
177 For an excellent account of the Japanese Canadian redress campaign, read Maryka Omatsu’s Bittersweet Passage: Redress and the Japanese Canadian Experience (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1992).
178 Economic Losses of Japanese Canadians after 1941: a study conducted by Price Waterhouse (Winnipeg: National Association of Japanese Canadians, 1986). https://search.library.utoronto.ca/details?652012&uuid:31042f28-62464e92-b863-1d043abb44a3.
179 Debbie Parkes, “Chinese-Canadians call for compensation.” Montreal Gazette, November 4, 1988.
180 Editorials supporting head tax redress appeared in the Vancouver Sun, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and Montreal Gazette.
181 SUCCESS is the original acronym for United Chinese Community Enrichment Services Society. Now it is just known by its initials.
182 Reports gleaned from Wikileaks exposed some of the fabricated “eyewitness” reports from Tiananmen on that fateful night to be “pack journalism” to fit the Western narrative on China. See the following, all accessed May 31, 2018: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html; http://tiananmenmyth.blogspot.ca/; http://www.cbsnews.com/news/there-was-no-tiananmen-square-massacre/.
183 Gary Yee interview. June 9, 2016.
184 “From CCNC monthly bulletin,” Asian Leader, July, 1989. 10.
185 Correspondence from Amy Go, national president, CCNC, May 2, 1991.
186 For a good account of the anti–W5 struggle, see Anthony B. Chan, Gold Mountain: The Chinese in the New World (Vancouver: New Star Books, 1988).
187 http://www.nccccanada.ca/PageNCCCStatement.htm (page no longer accessible).
188 “Chinese group urges apology, endowment fund for head tax.” Canadian Press, May 20, 1991.
189 Ping Tan is a Malaysian-born Toronto lawyer. He was the chairperson of the Confederation of Metropolitan Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO) when he wrote his letter critical of the CCNC to the prime minister. The CTCCO unites the various family and other lo wah kiu associations in Toronto. Tan was later the founding executive co-chair of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians.
190 Memo to the CCNC-NRC from Gary Yee, May 7, 1992.
191 “Canada fields controversial delegate in China trip.” The Globe and Mail, November 7, 2014.
192 “Chinese Canadians demand explanation from CSIS head.” CTV News, July 2, 2010.
193 The letter stated in part: “The Chinese Canadian war veterans (Pacific Unit 280) expressed their view that an official apology should be sufficient; while the Chinese Freemasons as well as some prominent individuals such as Dr. Wally Chung expressed the view that the apology should be accompanied with some funding set aside for the community, but not individual financial compensation. … If you remove the individual compensation component from the redress package, we believe strongly that you will easily win majority support.”
194 Kevin Griffin, “Chinese Head Tax: Rally draws 500 compensation supporters.” Vancouver Sun, July 6, 1992.
195 Letter from Gary Yee, CCNC national president, to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, December 21, 1990. The letter refuted Joseph Du’s July 19, 1990 letter of criticism of the CCNC, which was also sent to the prime minister.
196 Du was a Vietnamese Chinese born in Haiphong in 1933. He immigrated to Canada after graduating from Taiwan National Medical School in 1961. He served as a pediatrician in Manitoba’s northern reserves for thirty-three years. He received the Order of the Buffalo, the Order of Manitoba and the Order of Canada. He was the co-chair of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians. He died in Winnipeg in 2017.
197 Correspondence from Gary Yee to Raymond Wong, president, Montreal Chinese Community United Centre and head of Les Aliments Wong Wing, April 10, 1991.
198 Correspondence from Amy Go, national president, CCNC, May 2, 1991.
199 In an email sent March 20, 2001, Gary disclosed that he was indeed hurt when the “National Congress and some of the Chinese newspaper articles and some elders in our community attacked me personally and questioned my motives for leading the redress campaign from 1987 into the early 1990’s. … My response to their letters to the PM was mildly critical of two Toronto-based groups and I copied these two groups—they then used my letter as the basis for an entire campaign against the CCNC and me for disrespecting the family associations and for using redress to further myself and the CCNC. Eventually, they started the National Congress of Chinese Canadians to oppose us. …And it hurts to be criticized for volunteering your time and energy.”
200 Memo to NRC Policy Subcommittee, from Yantay S. Tsai, Re: Draft Discussion Paper (dated June 13, 1991), June 25, 1991.
201 Other cities that responded: Ottawa, Hamilton, Victoria, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Clearwater, Halifax, London and Charlottetown.
202 Chinese Canadian National Council, National Survey on Redress (1991), Phase II: Report of the Survey (June 12, 1991).
203 Memo to Gary Yee, chair, CCNC-NRC, from Victor Yukman Wong, on the CCNC-NRC Position Proposal, August 19, 1991.
204 Letter from Paulina Zillman, president, Manitoba Academy of Chinese Studies, C.M. Wong, president, CCNC-Winnipeg Chapter; Yantay Tsai, editor, Manitoba Chinese Post; H.C. Lim, president, Chinese Community Council of Manitoba; and Otto So, president, Manitoba Chinese Fellowship, Winnipeg, to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, May 14, 1991.
205 Other delegates: CCNC President Alan Li, Executive Director Shana Wong, and Avvy Go from the Toronto Redress Committee. From Ottawa there was Lewis Chan, CCNC executive member and president of the Canadian Ethnocultural Council, and from the Halifax Chinese Canadian Association, May Lui.
206 The National Redress Alliance was composed of the CCNC-NRC, the National Association of Japanese Canadians, The National Congress of Ukrainian Canadians and the National Congress of Italian Canadians. Gary Yee actively tried to build the redress network with the other affected communities. He participated at the In Justice Conference in Vancouver organized by the NAJC and Simon Fraser University at the end of April 1992, where he met with Art Miki of the NAJC and Dmytro Cipywnyk, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
207 Walter Tom interview. May 6, 2016.
208 Mrs. Lee’s full name is not known, because upon her marriage to Mr. Lee, her identity was subsumed into his, in keeping with Chinese Confucian tradition.
209 Memo to CCNC-NRC, from Gary Yee, May 7, 1992.
210 Gary Yee, “The legacy of a racist law.” The Globe and Mail, April 30, 1993.
211 Resolution of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians, adopted at the National Executive meeting, Toronto, May 30, 1993.
212 Letter from Ping Tan, executive co-chair, NCCC, to Gerry Weiner, covering the NCCC resolution, May 30, 1993.
213 Thanks to research provided by Kenda Gee. The compensation of $415,908,000 was broken down as follows: $21,000 each went to 17,948 survivors including descendants alive on September 22, 1988, totalling $376,908,000; $24 million to the Canadian Race Relations Foundation; $12 million to rebuild Japanese Canadian community institutions, such as community and cultural centres; $3 million to administer the redress settlement.
214 Shack Jang Mack, Quen Ying Lee and Yew Lee v. The Attorney General of Canada. Judgment of the Ontario Superior Court, Justice J. Cumming, July 9, 2001.
215 The CCNC delegation was composed of: James Wing, head tax payer from Montreal; Victor Yukman Wong, chairperson, CCNC-National Redress Committee, Vancouver; Amy Go, chair, CCNC National Board of Directors, Toronto; Alan Li, president, CCNC National Executive, Toronto; Gary Yee, former chair, CCNC-NRC, Toronto; Melina Young, vice-chair, CCNC National Board of Directors, Ottawa; and me, who was then vice-chair, CCNC-NRC.
216 Memo to CCNC-NRC members from Victor Yukman Wong, October 19, 1994.
217 The other organizations were the German Canadian Congress, the National Association of Canadians of Origins in India, the National Congress of Italian Canadians, and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
218 Letter from Sheila Finestone to Alan Li, December 14, 1994.
219 Letter to Sheila Finestone from Bryce Kanbara, director, Greater Toronto Chapter NAJC, December 15, 1994.
220 Kim Bolan, “Chinese group asks UN to act on redress.” Vancouver Sun, March 22, 1995.
221 Chinese Canadian National Council submission to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, March 21, 1995.
222 Ibid.
223 CCNC-NRC submission to Theo Van Boven, special rapporteur on the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, UN Commission on Human Rights. August 23, 1993.
224 For a transcript of the speech: http://www.asian.ca/redress/sp_19951205.htm (accessed May 31, 2018).
225 Matt James, “Redress, Recognition, and Redistribution: The Case of the ‘Chinese Head Tax.’” Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique, December 2004. Originally presented at the Annual General Meetings of the Canadian Political Science Association, May 31, 2003, Halifax. With permission of the author.
226 Ibid., 885.
227 Ibid.
228 Ibid., 895, 896, 897.
229 Wilfred Quiambao, “A cruel separation—Jews, Chinese remember racist immigration barriers.” Montreal Gazette, November 15, 1997.
230 Memo to CCNC and members of the Head Tax/Exclusion Act Charter Challenge Working Group from Phillip R. Pike, June 5, 1998.
231 May later wrote to the Court Challenges Program of Canada expressing “concerns that any process we engage should not create a new financial burden on the head tax payers and their families.” Letter from May Cheng, chair, Head Tax Redress Committee, to Sarah Lugtig, director, Equality Rights Program, August 17, 1999.
232 Shack Jang Mack, Quen Ying Lee and Yew Lee v. The Attorney General of Canada. Judgment of the Ontario Superior Court, Justice J. Cumming, July 9, 2001.
233 Ibid.
234 Susan Eng is the daughter of a head tax payer and a prominent Toronto lawyer, who was the former chair of the Metro Toronto Police Services Board.
235 Minutes of National Redress Committee teleconference. March 7, 2001.
236 Shack Jang Mack, Quen Ying Lee and Yew Lee v. The Attorney General of Canada. Judgment of the Ontario Superior Court, Justice J. Cumming, July 9, 2001.
237 Avvy Go, “Playing Second Fiddle to Yo-Yo Ma.” (Presentation to Fourth Colloquium on the legal profession, March 2005, Toronto.) With permission of the author.
238 Canadian Judicial Council, “Judicial Conduct Committee Vice-Chairperson closes file involving Mr. Justice Macpherson of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.” October 28, 2002.
239 Go, 15.
240 Ibid., 17.
241 Some of these people were Chung Tang, executive director of the CCNC Toronto Chapter, Kenda Gee of the independent Edmonton Redress Committee, Walter Tom and May Chiu from Montreal, Daniel Lai of Calgary, May Lui from Halifax, among others.
242 Avvy Go interview. June 13, 2015.
243 Accessed June 1, 2018. http://www.asian.ca/redress/nr_20020208.htm.
244 Gary Yee interview. June 9, 2016.
245 Letter from Cynthia Pay, national president, CCNC, to Sheila Copps, December 2002.
246 Minutes of Montreal HTEA Redress meeting. December 20, 2002.
247 Email exchange with May Chiu, March 13, 2003.
248 Susan Eng, “If this is ‘inclusive,’ count me out.” The Globe and Mail, May 13, 2003. A19.
249 Ibid. A copy of the offensive poster and the Edmonton Journal article are available on the Asian.ca website, http://www.asian.ca/posteroffends/ahm_poster_offend_ej.jpg (accessed June 1, 2018).
250 Tony Chan’s email to me and many others in the redress community, May 8, 2003.
251 Minutes of CCNC redress conference call. January 14, 2003.
252 Winxie Tse email response to me and twenty-five others in the redress network.
253 Gary Yee interview. June 9, 2016.
254 Chung told me that the Toronto chapter of the CCNC supported the Unity Declaration because it was the right thing to do. Even though they shared the same office, there was little communication between Victor Wong’s CCNC National and the Toronto chapter. Chung didn’t know that CCNC National did not endorse the declaration.
255 Submission to the United Nations special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance by Chinese Canadian National Council and Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic on Redress for Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act, September 25, 2003.
256 Submission to United Nations Special Rapporteur Doudou Diène, by Noah Novogrodsky, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, International Human Rights Clinic, December 22, 2003. https://www.law.utoronto.ca/documents/ihrp/UN_headtax_brief.pdf (accessed July 4, 2018).
257 Email from Raymond Yao, September 10, 2003.
258 Warren A. Maily, “Redressing the Past of the Lo Wah Kui.” Pacific Rim, 2005. http://langaraprm.com/2005/culture/redressing-the-past-of-the-lo-wah-kui-chinese-canadians-demand-compensation-for-past-injustices/ (accessed June 1, 2018).
259 Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the National Association of Japanese Canadians.
260 Paul Samyn, “Documents show bureaucrats told Copps not to apologize to Ukrainian Canadians.” Canadian Press Newswire, December 21, 2003.
261 Shelley Page, “Chinese Canadians deserve head tax redress, Copps says.” Toronto Star, March 7, 1990. A17.
262 The sponsorship scandal was the outcome of the sponsorship program by the Liberal government to promote Canadian industries in Quebec, to counter the influence of the Parti Québécois. The program ran from 1996 to 2004. It was the subject of a judicial inquiry by Judge John Gomery, who found broad corruption where people and companies connected to the Liberal Party were given public money for doing little or no work.
263 Lynda Lin, “Canada Maintains No Reparations Stance For Chinese Canadians—But UN Report Recommends It Pay Reparations.” Pacific Citizen, April 2–15, 2004.
264 Ibid.
265 Kenda Gee email to Gary Yee, October 14, 2004.
266 Jonas Ma email, September 20, 2004.
267 My email response to Jonas Ma, September 20, 2004.
268 May Chiu email to leaders of the CCRA, October 16, 2004.
269 Walter Tom email, December 10, 2004.
270 Kenda Gee email, December 15, 2004.
271 Rod Mickleburgh, “Obituary: Gim Foon Wong’s motorcycle ride turned the tide on Chinese head-tax redress.” The Globe and Mail, October 1, 2013.
272 Miro Cernetig, “Gim Wong’s motorcycle diaries.” Vancouver Sun, January 14, 2006.
273 For more on Gim Wong’s fascinating story, go to the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society website: http://www.ccmms.ca/veteran-stories/air-force/gim-wong/ (accessed June 1, 2018).
274 CCRA press release, March 21, 2005.
275 Letter from Colleen Hua, national president, CCNC, to Paul Martin, March 4, 2005.
276 Open letter to the prime minister, November 14, 2005.
277 http://www.cic.gc.ca/english//department/laws-policy/agreements/china/china.asp (page no longer accessible).
278 Simon Li’s interview with Paul Martin, Power Politics—Yet Boon Jing King on Toronto First Radio, AM 1540, December 6, 2005. Reproduced with the kind permission of Simon Li.
279 Jan Wong, “Give the money to us—who gets the $2.5 million federal payout announced this week for Chinese Canadians?” The Globe and Mail, November 26, 2005. M2.
280 Raymond Yao interview. August 7, 2014.
281 Ibid.
282 Ibid.
283 Jennifer Forhan, “Chinese Canadians seek apology, could sway election.” Reuters, January 6, 2006.
284 CCRA press release, January 24, 2006.
285 Raymond Leung, Chinese Benevolent Association of Canada press release, February 28, 2006.
286 The consultation meetings were called with less than a week to fly Chinese Canadians involved in redress from across Canada to Toronto. According to Ray Yao, Stephen Harper needed these meetings to honestly say that discussions were underway with Chinese Canadian groups on redress for the April 4 Throne Speech.
287 “Harper expected to agree to an apology first and discussion of compensation later.” Ming Pao, March 21, 2006. A2.
288 Those invited by Canadian Heritage were: CCNC—Colleen Hua, Joseph Wong, Victor Wong; Ontario Coalition—Susan Eng, George Lau, Yew Lee, Har Ying Lee, Doug Hum, Avvy Go; BC Coalition—Bill Chu, Karin Lee; ACCESS (Vancouver)—Sid Tan; CCRA (Montreal)—William Dere; Sien Lok Society (Calgary)—Ray Lee.
289 Susan Eng email, March 23, 2006.
290 Members of the NCCC delegation: Ping Tan—executive co-chair; Jack Lee—Quebec co-chair; Gordon Joe; David Chuenyan Lai—Victoria co-chair; Man Wai Yu—Montreal Chinese Cultural Centre; Lena Wong—Toronto Chinese Cultural Centre; Howe Lee—Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society; K.W. Chang—Alberta Cultural Community Centre; Joseph Du—Manitoba co-chair; Yung Quon Yu—CBA; Chuck Chang—Chinese Freemasons of Canada; Tak Nam Foo—SUCCESS; Raymond Leung—CBA of Canada; Jun K. Wong—Montreal Chinese United Centre; Hughes Eng—Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations; Steve Yang—Regina Chinese Business Association; John Lam—Shon Yee Benevolent Association of Canada; Kitty Mar—Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre; Ming Tat Cheung—Toronto Chinese Cultural Centre.
291 They were: Susan Peterson, associate deputy minister; Diane Fulford, assistant deputy minister; and Kristina Namiesniowski, director general.
292 February 3, 2006 letter from Luc Rouleau, director, Ministerial Correspondence Secretariat (I didn’t make up the title) of Canadian Heritage in response to my November 14, 2005 letter to Paul Martin, which was forwarded to Raymond Chan. In the response, they were still touting the ACE program, “In the coming weeks, the new Government will decide both the direction of the ACE Program and how to address related issues.”
293 Others in favour were: Ontario Community Centre, Calgary Sien Lok Society, Vancouver’s SUCCESS and James Pon, a head tax payer, who said he would donate his money to the Chinese Railway Workers Museum.
294 The information on the NCCC meeting with Oda and Kenney came from Ray Lee, Raymond Leung and Donald Chen who attended the meeting.
295 Victor Wong email, April 18, 2006.
296 The $1 million amount was reported in an article covering a public meeting in Vancouver where a descendant said the pain and suffering caused by the government to his family was worth $1 million. The Congress mischievously latched onto this number.
297 CCRA press release, June 13, 2006.
298 Vancouver Sun, June 8, 2006.
299 Researcher Ken Rubin discovered in 2007, through access to information, that Canadian Heritage bureaucrats floated this drastic speculation in a briefing paper. Canadian Heritage reinforced its original advice to the Martin government to shut tight the floodgates by warning against possible huge payouts. https://www.usherbrooke.ca/sodrus/fileadmin/sites/sodrus/documents/polygamie35.pdf (accessed June 14, 2018). Thanks to Kenda Gee for the link.
300 Susan Eng email, May 8, 2006.
301 “Chinese Canadians ask PM Harper: Please do not discriminate against the Golden Mountain widows.” Press Statement, May 24, 2006.
302 Bruce Campion-Smith, “Harper hears first-hand of suffering caused by Chinese head tax.” Toronto Star, May 26, 2006.
303 Yew Lee email, June 7, 2006.
304 CCNC National press release, “No Division on Head Tax Issue.” June 8, 2006.
305 May Chiu email, June 11, 2006.
306 Ontario Coalition of Head Tax Families press release, “Chinese Canadians Ride the Redress Train.” June 13, 2006.
307 Mike De Souza et al, “Cold water poured on redress train.” Vancouver Sun, June 14, 2006. A1.
308 Karin Lee email, June 15, 2006.
309 De Souza, A1.
310 Gord Jin email to redress network, June 15, 2006.
311 Yew Lee email, June 16, 2006.
312 Ming Pao, June 15, 2006. A2.
313 “Chinese Canadian Redress Alliance Demands More Than an Apology Calls for Government Accountability and Transparency in Redress Settlement.” June 19, 2006. Press release issued by May Chiu, Kenda Gee, CCRA and Gord Jin, Newfoundland and Labrador Head Tax Redress Committee.
314 Yew Lee interview. August 7, 2014.
315 May Chiu email to the redress network, June 21, 2006.
316 Daniel Lai email to the redress network, June 21, 2006.
317 Yew Lee interview. August 7, 2014.
318 “Personal Reflections from the Redress Express.” Gary Yee, May 2012.
319 Yew Lee interview. August 7, 2014.
320 A bare bones version of each fighter jet had a price tag of $150 million.
321 Thanks to Kenda Gee for his research. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/multi-report2009/booklet.asp (page no longer accessible).
322 Alan Hustak, “Montrealer fought to right wrongs of Chinese head tax.” Montreal Gazette, November 23, 2008.
323 Kenda Gee interview. April 25, 2016.
324 Walter Tom interview. May 6, 2016.
325 Kenda Gee interview. April 25, 2016.
326 Gary Yee interview. June 9, 2016.
327 I tried several times to reach Victor Wong for an interview for this book but he was unavailable.
328 Ray Yao interview. August 7, 2014.
329 Harvey Lee email to CCNC National, June 27, 2006.
330 I tend to prefer the term “racialized minority” over “visible minority” for reasons that the Ontario Human Rights Commission has expressed: “Recognizing that race is a social construct, the Commission describes people as ‘racialized person’ or ‘racialized group’ instead of the more outdated and inaccurate terms ‘racial minority’, ‘visible minority’, ‘person of colour’ or ‘non-White’.” (From “Racial Discrimination, Race and Racism,” accessed at www.ohrc.on.ca on February 28, 2018.) The old terminology is generally defined in terms of whiteness, whereas “racialized” is based on historical and institutional racial prejudice and not necessarily on the colour of skin.
331 According to a CBC report from September 17, 2013, only 7.1 per cent of government workers come from the “cultural communities,” which make up 12.3 per cent of the general population. And 95 per cent of senior government jobs are held by white Francophones who make up 79 per cent of the population. The inequality is even starker with the median income of visible minorities in Quebec at $19,551 while the median for Francophones is at $29,432. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/francophones-still-dominate-quebec-s-public-service-1.1856933 (accessed June 1, 2018).
332 Accessed June 1, 2018. http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/Documents/COMM_Calego_avril2011_En.pdf ).
333 Robert Chodos, The CPR, A Century of Corporate Welfare (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1973), 22. “The total value of government aid is impossible to estimate.” There was $37.8 million worth of government built lines turned over to the CPR and a grant of 25 million acres of prime land along with the right of way upon which the track was built, among other subsidies.
334 Accessed June 1, 2018. http://www.daintyrice.ca/en/subcontent.php?page=D12000.
335 Accessed June 1, 2018. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/reford_robert_wilson_14E.html.
336 Dainty Foods entry, Canadian Food & Grocery Industry Guide. https://www.contactcanada.com/database/freesearch.php?portal=0a10&action=view_profile&id=2240 (accessed April 25, 2018).
337 Ingrid Peritz, “Dismantled sweat lodge exposes rift in Christian, traditional teaching.” The Globe and Mail, June 17, 2011.
338 Valerie Taliman, “Christian Crees Tear Down Sweat Lodge.” Indian Country Today, July 2, 2011. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/02/07/christian-crees-tear-down-sweat-lodge-15500 (accessed on June 1, 2018; page no longer accessible). With permission of Indian Country Media Network.
339 Nicolas Bérubé, “Jacob Tierney: <<Les anglos et les immigrants sont ignorés>>.” La Presse, July 6, 2010.
340 John Ralston Saul, A Fair Country. (Toronto: Viking, 2008).
341 May Chiu email, February 23, 2012.
342 Marian Scott, “Setback for Diversity.” Montreal Gazette, December 28, 2017.
343 GG is a pseudonym. I don’t feel I have the right to reveal her identity.
344 This policy is still in practice today to ensure centralized leadership is followed and to prevent local cronyism.
345 The Maba Man Museum is the site where the relics of a settlement dating back 150,000 years were found.
346 Gim Shan Haak means “Gold Mountain guest”: the name for Gold Mountain men returning to China to marry.
347 Jook sing literally means “bamboo pole,” which is hollow on the inside. It is a derogatory term for those Chinese who have lost their culture and identity.
348 Cho-yun Hsu, “A Reflection on Marginality.” Daedalus, Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Spring 1991.
349 Loong Wong, “Belonging and diaspora: The Chinese and the Internet.” http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1045 (page no longer accessible).
350 Sui Sin Far means “narcissus flower” in Cantonese. Mrs. Spring Fragrance (1912) is a collection of short stories featuring “The Story of One White Woman who Married a Chinese.”
351 Justin Kong, “The New Chinese Working Class and the Canadian Left.” New Canadian Media, November 6, 2015. http://newcanadianmedia.ca/item/31450-the-new-chinese-working-class-and-the-canadian-left (accessed June 5, 2018; page no longer accessible).
