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The Stakes of Inclusion: Chinese Canadian Head Tax Redress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2008

Stephen Winter
Stephen Winter
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
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Abstract

Abstract. Between 1885 and 1923 Canada imposed a discriminatory head-tax on Chinese immigrants. In 2006 Canada implemented a material redress program intended to resolve this historical injustice, but aspects of this program have been subjected to vigorous criticism by those seeking greater inclusivity. Paying particular attention to the program's intergenerational aspects, this study explores how the current program's conceptualization of a valid redress claim is situated with respect to both its critics and to domestic and international precedents. Recognizing the dynamic potentiality of redress, the study explores aspects of why and how Canada's understandings of historical redress are politically implicated.

Résumé. Entre 1885 et 1923 le Canada a imposé un impôt discriminatoire aux immigrés chinois. En 2006, le Canada a mis en oeuvre un programme de réparation afin de redresser cette injustice historique, mais certains aspects de ce programme sont vivement critiqués par les partisans d'une plus grande inclusivité. Se concentrant en particulier sur les aspects intergénérationnels du programme, cette étude analyse la manière dont le programme actuel situe la conceptualisation d'une demande légitime de réparation en fonction à la fois de ses détracteurs et de précédents nationaux et internationaux. Prenant en compte le potentiel dynamique de la réparation, cette étude analyse les implications politiques de la démarche canadienne de redressement historique.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 119 - 141
Copyright
© 2008 Canadian Political Science Association

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