*** Over 17,000 Chinese came
to Canada from 1881 through 1884 to work as labourers on CPR's Trans-Continental
Railroad. They encountered a hostile reception in British Columbia. The
Chinese workers died in accidents, landslides, cave-ins, explosions and
from disease, drowning, extreme weather, malnutrition, and lack of health
care. Blasting tunnels through the mountains of B.C. made it the most dangerous,
time-consuming, and deadly section of the railroad. They were paid around
half of what other workers made ($1 a day to the $2–$2.50 paid to other
labourers). Their supervisors on the railroad, in addition to paying them
so little, forced them to buy supplies and food from the company store.
They were assigned and did the jobs that other workers refused to do. One
Chinese died for every mile of track laid down through the Rocky Mountains
between Calgary and Vancouver.
*** Those who survived building the railroad often
couldn’t afford to return to China -- nor were they allowed to bring their
families to Canada. They were left without jobs in hostile territory. Thousands
drifted in near destitution along the completed track. All of them remained
nameless in the history of Canada. The Asian community met with further
discrimination from the press, labour unions and politicians. This resulted
in violent outbursts against them -- the worst of which was the Vancouver
Race Riots.
*** The government rewarded them by imposing a $500
head tax and later banning Chinese immigration entirely with the passing
of the Chinese Immigration/Exclusion Act.
Despite all the obstacles, the Chinese in Canada went
on to serve in two world wars and to succeed beyond all expectations in
all walks of Canadian life. This is their story. . . and the story
of generations to come.
Their Story:
PART I:
a. Railroad Building and Discrimination
www.hillmanweb.com/chinese/epic
b. The Truth About the Chinese Head
Tax
www.hillmanweb.com/chinese/epic/tax.html
PART II: Successes
www.hillmanweb.com/chinese/epic/successes.html
PART III. Six Related Photo and Art
Albums
www.hillmanweb.com/chinese/photos
RELATED PERSONAL STORIES AND
SITES
PART IV. Chinese Head Tax Monument
in Brandon
www.hillmanweb.com/monument
Plus Eight Feature Photo Pages:
1
| 2 | 3
| 4 | 5
| 6 | 7
| 8
PART V: My Story by Sue-On (Choy)
Hillman
www.hillmanweb.com/mystory
www.hillmanweb.com/soos
VI. Visit to our Toisan Village 2017
Click for full-size collage
www.hillmanweb.com/china2017/toisan.html
VII. Visit to Sue-On's Birth Home
in China
that she left when she was two years old
Click for full-size collage
www.hillmanweb.com/china2017/home0.html
VIII. Chinese in Mantoba: The Choy
Family Story
https://www.hillmanweb.com/legacy
IX. The Chinese in Canada Museum
https://www.hillmanweb.com/chinese/museum.html
OFF-SITE
REFERENCES
Bill and Sue-On Hillman
Eclectic Studio
www.hillmanweb.com
E-MAIL CONTACT:
hillmans@wcgwave.ca
