Speech

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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PM addresses Head Tax and lauds accomplishments of Chinese Canadians

October 10, 2006
Vancouver

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Good Evening,

I would like to begin by thanking S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and the Community Care Advancement Association for the hard work they put into organizing this evening’s dinner.

Speaking on behalf of Canada’s New Government, I’d like to convey our profound appreciation for the great honour you have chosen to bestow upon us.

The outpouring of support that has followed in the wake of the Head Tax apology has been exceptionally moving.

Our government, however, feels itself undeserving of this effusive response.

Ours wasn’t a brave decision.

Nor for that matter was it a difficult one.

Apologizing for the Head Tax was simply the right thing to do – and it was long overdue.

We, along with most Canadians, have recognized that this past measure constituted a moral blemish on Canada’s soul.

Therefore, addressing it directly and honestly has been an issue we’ve felt strongly about for some time.

After all the Chinese-Canadian community has contributed to this country over the years – from the great national railway forward - you were deserving of nothing less.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the Canada we know and love today would not exist without your efforts.

And whether newly arrived, or second, third, or fourth generation, Chinese-Canadians continue to help build a stronger, better Canada for all of us.

A Canada that knows what it believes in and knows where it stands.

A country that cherishes its past, while confidently embracing the future.

A country in which where you’re going and what you’ve accomplished matter more than where you’re from or who you know.

A country that is strong, united, independent, and free.

I believe that the values held most strongly by our Chinese community are truly Canadian values – the values that have, that are, and that will make us a successful nation if they guide the decisions of government.

Values like hard work and honesty …

A willingness to take risks and embrace opportunities …

A commitment to excellence in education …

And an appreciation of the importance of family and community …

For policy makers like me, one of the greatest challenges we face is how to ensure that we don’t lose sight of these values.

That we don’t forget the big picture.

With all the hustle and bustle and pressures of media, polls and interest groups, it is surprisingly easy for politicians to lose the focus on what matters to working families and taxpayers.

That’s why it’s so important for us to get off Parliament Hill and come to meet people like yourselves.

And explain how what we are doing – the laws we pass, the regulations we put in place, the spending decisions we make - reflect values like hard work, opportunity, educational excellence, and the importance of family and community.

Since taking office, our new national government has tried to use these values to guide our actions.

For instance, our government has been doing its best to make it easier for hard-working people to get ahead.

One way we’ve done that is by leaving more money in the pockets of Canadians through cutting taxes.

To that end, our recent budget provided broad-based tax relief.

As we said we would, on Canada Day we cut the GST from 7 to 6%.

We cut taxes for small business – both the rate and the threshold at which the rate applies.

We cut the right of landing fee for new immigrants in half.

And we introduced a new tax credit aimed at specifically at working Canadians whose labours are fuelling our national economy.

The philosophy behind these reductions is simply: it’s your money. And you deserve to keep more of it - so that you can save, invest, and more easily afford the essentials of life.

Tax reduction, however, is just one part of the equation for increasing opportunity.

If Canada’s true potential is to be realized, we need a first-class workforce.

And that’s why Canada’s New Government – just like the Chinese-Canadian community – has placed such a high value on education.

As you well know, it will be the youth of today who build the Canada of tomorrow.

Mindful of this fact, our government is investing in post-secondary education.

We are rewarding educational achievement by exempting scholarship, bursary, and fellowship income from federal income tax.

And we’re also helping ease the cost of textbooks with a recently introduced tax credit.

Because those who choose to pursue a higher education deserve a break.

So too do those who wish to enter the skilled trades.

In the years to come, the strength of Canada’s economy is going to depend vitally on more people entering the trades.

To that end, our government has helped to lessen the financial obstacles faced by apprentices through offering financial help in the way of grants and tax breaks.

Of all the issues that matter to Canadians, however, none is more important than that of family.

As a father of two young children, I’m well aware of the pressures today’s families face.

It’s not easy balancing home and work and kid’s activities.

That’s why we’ve introduced a tax credit for the cost of children’s sports.

And that is why our government has put in place a child care plan that respects the choices of all parents.

It’s why we replaced the programs that funded only bureaucrats, researchers and advocates with the Universal Child Care Benefit that provides $100 per month to every family with pre-school children, regardless of the method of childcare chosen.

And we hope to proceed in the next year with our plan to create new, real child care spaces.

But Canadian families deserve something else as well.

They deserve safe communities in which to raise their children.

To that end, our government is tackling the growing problem of gun, gang, and drug crime.

We brought in legislation to end house arrest for serious offences, and to impose mandatory prison sentences for crimes committed with firearms.

We’ve also introduced legislation that will help safeguard our youth by raising the age of protection from 14 to 16 years old.

Simply put, safer communities lead to healthier families.

While children play a central role in families, so too do grandparents.

As Canadians, we owe a debt of gratitude to our seniors.

They are the men and women whose efforts over the years have helped to build this great country.

Because of all they’ve done for Canada, our seniors deserve to live comfortably.

In order to ensure that this is the case, our government has moved to protect seniors’ pensions from over-taxation.

Canada’s seniors have worked hard all their lives to build equity.

And that is why our government will also oppose any effort by any party to impose an estate tax.

Simply put, Ottawa has no business stepping in and helping itself to the proceeds of what Canadians have spent their lives building.

Of course, an important part of honouring our seniors in this community has been the reason for this dinner tonight - the apology and redress of the Chinese Head Tax.

As you recall, in June 2006 we announced these actions.

And, to bring you up to date, let me just mention that the application process for spouses will begin in November, and details on the Community Historical Recognition Program and the National Historical Recognition Program are to be announced later this fall.

And, of course, the symbolic payments to the surviving Head Tax payers should flow shortly, in the next few weeks.

I know that this is important to your community, and it is especially important and satisfying to do this while some of the original Head Tax payers are still living.

I’ve said I’ve felt strongly about this issue for some time. What few of you know is that the history of the Head Tax personally touched even our own family.

On my wife’s side, her father grew up with a Head Tax payer, Mr. Luke Yip.

Mr. Yip, like so many men of his generation came to Canada for opportunity and adventure, to the land the Chinese called “Gold Mountain” (check on this).

Mr. Yip paid the Head Tax, an enormous burden in its day. But, like so many, he found that his trials had only begun. He found life far more difficult than he imagined.

Alone in Alberta during the Depression, and faced, frankly, with widespread prejudice - and discrimination that deprived him and many like him of the means to survive, he was taken in by my in-laws, the Teskeys.

This was not a popular decision among many of their neighbours – I don’t want to repeat the things that were said. But the hard-working Mr. Yip proved his worth.

He worked wherever he was needed – as a farm hand, on odd jobs, and even helping to raise the children.

Luke came to be not just an employee, but a friend and a member of the family.

They cherish his memory to this day, along with the few possessions he left behind. He had become a second father to the kids – a good deal for both, since the Exclusion Act effectively meant he’d lost his own children.

One of my proudest moments as Prime Minister has been to do what I can to acknowledge and address the wrong done to Luke Yip and those like him. And to make, on behalf of the country, the same statement to all Chinese-Canadians that my wife’s people made to him: you are all part of our family.

And, whatever the mistakes of our past, we are determined to move forward together.

Mr. Yip struggled to survive, but he contributed as best he could – he even eventually managed to run his own small business and add to the economy of his community.

Many of his fellow immigrants did the same, and their descendents have done even more.

And as I look out into the audience this evening, that is precisely what I see.

Men and women who, in their capacities as professionals, businesspeople, and community leaders, are helping to make Canada a better country at home and a stronger country on the international stage.

Therefore, on behalf of all Canadians, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for:

The contributions your ancestors made in the past;

The contributions you are making today; and

The contributions your children and grandchildren will undoubtedly make in the future.

Thank you.

Xie Xie.

And God bless Canada.

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The Prime Minister’s Office - Communications
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