Canadian human rights law and Chinese

Human rights mean that everyone should enjoy equal rights. Such as freedom of movement, wealth, religion, speech and association. There are different opinions on what these rights should include.

"Equality of rights for all" means equality of rights, that is, the right not to be subjected to any racial discrimination or unreasonable treatment. For chinese canadians, the development of human rights law in Canadian history and China people's efforts for human rights are worth recalling.

The earliest Chinese in Canada were Chinese workers who immigrated to British Columbia more than 0/00 years ago. Many Chinese shed blood and sweat to build the Trans-Canada Railway, but their salary is only one tenth of that of whites. Many Chinese workers starved to death on the road. The contribution of the older generation of Chinese immigrants to Canada was not only not recognized at that time, but was discriminated against everywhere, not to mention human rights. Although children in China have always been known for their hard work and humiliation, Canadian China people have never stopped fighting for human rights in a peaceful way for a hundred years.

The history of equal rights for Chinese in Canada can be divided into five stages:

The period of partial Chinese exclusion (1858 to 1885): During these 27 years, Chinese Canadians mainly lived in British Columbia, with a few gold diggers first, then railway construction workers introduced by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, and then engaged in mining and housework. In order to protect the economic, political and demographic advantages of whites, the British provincial government has enacted a series of laws to exclude Chinese. For example, the Chinese Tax Law stipulates that Chinese in British Columbia must pay a work card license fee every three months; [Chinese land law]-prohibiting Chinese from buying real estate; [Provincial Voter Election Law]-It means that China people, Japanese businessmen and aborigines have no choice. There is also the Prevention of China Entry Act, which prohibits new immigrants from China from entering British Columbia. At this first stage, Chinese resistance mainly came from successful Chinese who had the money to hire lawyers. They accused British Columbia's laws of violating the federal legislative power in court. Many of these cases have successfully passed some Chinese exclusion laws in British Columbia by virtue of constitutional decentralization.

Full-scale Chinese exclusion period (1885 to 1947): During these 62 years, the Canadian federal government passed and implemented a series of Chinese exclusion immigration laws. From 1885 to 1923, the Canadian government collected a small poll tax from China immigrants, which increased from 50 yuan to 500 yuan, equivalent to the wages of China workers in the past two years. This measure has not played a role in preventing immigrants from China from entering the country. Therefore, in 1923, the Canadian government passed an immigration law that completely prohibited Chinese from entering the country, and it was not cancelled until 1947. During this period, China people were repeatedly petitioned by representatives of mass organizations in Beijing, but because China people had no choice at all, they did not have much political influence.

Turning point (1947 turn 1948): In the past two years, the attitude of Canadian society towards Chinese has changed greatly. The Chinese exclusion immigration law was abolished, and Chinese people also gained the right to vote. The first factor that led to the change was the influence of the anti-racism war in World War II, which made the idea of racial equality in Canadian society become the mainstream. At the same time, Chinese veterans in Canada exerted influence on the public opinion of the government and the people and promoted the abolition of inequality laws.

Open immigration period (1948 to 1967): With the abolition of the Chinese exclusion law, the number of China immigrants to Canada began to increase, but the immigration law at that time still contained provisions for different races to be treated differently. At that time, Asian business immigrants had to become citizens before they could apply for family reunion in Canada, but European business immigrants did not have such a requirement. It was not until 1967 that Canada's immigration law was truly open and fair, because it adopted a points system and treated applicants of any ethnic or cultural background equally.

Constitutional Equal Rights Period (1967 to 1983): Although the laws of racial discrimination have been abolished and the immigration laws are no longer racial, the right to amend the laws is still in the hands of the government. Only by writing human rights into the constitution can racial justice be effectively prevented from reappearing in the law. 1982, Canadian Art and Freedom Association. Freedom) finally passed smoothly. Canada has entered a new stage of constitutional equality.