As Canadian politicians denounced the U.S. policy ofracial profiling at border crossings last month, the son of aChinese head tax payer insisted that Canada’s electedofficials acknowledge, and begin learning from, ourcountry’s own racist history.

Yew Lee and his mother, Quen-Ying Lee, are among therepresentative plaintiffs named in an ongoingclass-action suit that seeksredress for sixty-two years of legislated racism endured byChinese immigrants and their families under theChinese head tax (1885 to 1923) and the ChineseExclusion Act (1923 to 1947).

The Chinese head tax extracted millions of dollarsfrom Chinese Canadian families before it was repealedin 1923. From 1923 until 1947, the Canadian governmentbanned Chinese people from immigrating to Canadaaltogether by implementing the Chinese Exclusion Act.Families were separated and community development washampered for decades. (This after seeking Chinese workers for life-threatening labour when it was required.)

Chinese Canadians are asking for an apology fromOttawa. Despite official rejections from Multiculturalism Minister Sheila Finestone in 1984 and from Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan in 2001, the Chinese Canadian National Council’s campaign for redress continues withrenewed energy and unwavering commitment.

Several generations of Chinese Canadians rallied onParliament Hill on October 29, sending Jean Chrétienthe message that the Chinese Canadian community willnever forget the hardship and pain caused by Canada’spast immigration policies.

Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and NewDemocrat leader Alexa McDonough each expressed theirsupport at the rally, as did representatives from awide range of organizations. Even Canadian AllianceMP James Moore spoke out in favour of redress duringquestion period that day. (No, really.)

rabble interviewer Daron Letts spoke with Yew Lee byphone.

Daron Letts: What do you hope to accomplish throughthe class action?

Yew Lee: I am not a lawyer, but as far as my take onthe legal action, this has been forced by the Liberalgovernment. Japanese redress was settled in the late1980s and was done without going through courts. TheChinese Canadian National Council has been working onthis since the early 1980s and we have been rebuffedby the Liberal government. I agree with the judges whohave been passing down decisions as we go up theladder towards the Supreme Court. I think thegovernment has been gutless. This is forcing courts todeal with issues they should address asparliamentarians and as leaders of our country.

Letts: And this is quite a time-sensitive matter?

Lee: Yes. My mother was a young wife of my father who was ahead tax payer. My mother is 92 now. Any kind ofstatement of regret by the government, if it is goingto have any kind of depth to it, would have the mostmeaning if done face to face with at least a handfulof head tax payers. Clearly this is a battle I amgoing to continue fighting, but it will have a lot moremeaning if the Prime Minister apologizes to them andnot to me.

Letts: What have been some of the long-term impacts ofthe head tax and the Exclusion Act for Canadianfamilies and communities?

Lee: It is something I am still trying to come togrips with. I have this long Canadian history that isonly on the male side of my family. My grandfatherdied in Ottawa in 1916. He was denied bringing hiswife and child here. My father, who came later, wasdenied bringing his wife and child here until 1947. Ittook us nearly a half a century to finally begin tounite families.

There was a twenty-year period where my mom only sawmy father very infrequently for periods of a year orless, maybe three times between 1930 and 1950, and aperiod of fourteen years where they never saw each other atall. My mother had to be very strong and determined toraise a family on her own. She still asks thequestion: “Why was I not able to be with my husband?”

Letts: You mentioned the Japanese Canadian community.What cooperation has existed between the ChineseCanadian community and other redress seekers?

Lee: This past summer, we conferenced with people,particularly in the legal community, who had worked onredress over a number of issues. We met with Nativelegal experts. We met with Art Miki (former presidentof the National Association of Japanese Canadians) wholed the Japanese community in their successfulnegotiations with the Mulroney government. We met withpeople of African-American descent and looked at someof the companies that still exist that benefited fromslavery. I think each of these issues stands on itsown merit. You can’t say this is all so overwhelming.I think there is some resolution that has to come toeach and every one of us.

Letts: What would it mean to you now if the federalgovernment finally acknowledged its wrongful treatmentof Chinese Canadians and agreed to reparation?

Lee: My nieces and nephews ask me: “I wonder where wewould have been if our families didn’t have to go intodebt to pay the head tax” or “where would ourcommunities be socially, economically and politicallyif we’d had that base to stand on?” I guess we wouldwelcome some kind of statement of regret or apologyfrom the Prime Minister on behalf of the government ofCanada, but, it would also be a statement about howsomething like this would never happen again.When I see immigration policy arising that treatspeople just as labourers or as skills, it makes mecringe. Our present policies around domestic workers make me wince.

I think settling of this matter in a proper way wouldsend out the message that governments can’t do stufflike that. Right now I am quite sensitive to what maybe happening to people of Middle Eastern descent inCanada.

Someone asked me, “Is this identity politics?” I said, “No, it’s about racism of any kind,discrimination of any kind.”

We have to stop treating people like this. We have totreat people as whole persons. If Chrétien is going toleave some kind of legacy, it should be a message thatall parts of the Canadian family are equal.

Right now the government does not admit to this. Ithopes this issue will go away. It won’t. Like any kindof terrible oppression that has occurred in history,it is going to rise into the light of day. Just as itis doing now.