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Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration
The Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration was a commission of inquiry appointed to establish whether or not imposing restrictions to Chinese immigration to Canada was in the country's best interest. Ordered on 4 July 1884 by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, the inquiry was appointed two commissioners were: the Honorable Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, LL.D., who was the Secretary of State for Canada; and the Honorable John Hamilton Gray, DCL, a Justice on the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
The commissioners heard from 51 witnesses who submitted their testimonies to 27 questions regarding Chinese immigrants in Canada, and what policies should or should not be implemented to restrict them. Each of these witnesses gave their accounts and the commissioners gathered their answers to draw upon for their conclusions. However, a majority of their interviews were concentrated in Victoria rather than in the countryside where Chinese men competed for jobs, and many[who?] felt that this lost credibility for the report. Although they did venture to other cities, like Nanaimo and New Westminster, none of the voices from those cities make it into the final report.[why?] (They held interviews in some locations in the United States as well, notably San Francisco and Portland.)
Submitting their final report in 1885, the commissioners concluded that there was little evidence to support the claims made against Chinese immigration. According to them, the Chinese were judged by unfair standards and subject to broad generalizations about their character and habits. Despite the lack of proof against the threat of Chinese immigration to Canada, the report recommended moderate legislation to restrict such immigration.
In the 1880s, around 15,000 labourers from China came to Canada to work on the western section of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in British Columbia. When the railroad was completed in 1885, Chinese labourers entered other industries like fishing and agriculture, or worked as domestic servants, among other things.
Though employers generally supported Chinese labour as it was cheap and reliable, the growing anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination in the public sphere meant Prime Minister Macdonald could not ignore calls for the creation of anti-Chinese policies, particularly by politicians, trade unionists, and white residents.
While initially refusing to introduce such regulations out of recognition for the necessity of Chinese labour for the construction of the CPR, Macdonald eventually yielded to public dissatisfaction pressure when railway construction ended.
Commissioners Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau and John Hamilton Gray collected evidence from Canada, the United States, and Australia relating to the effect of Chinese immigration on trade, social relations, and morality. Their survey of British Columbia's Chinese population lists 157 Chinese women (classified as wives, girls, and prostitutes) and 10,335 Chinese men.
The immigration policies of other countries were also examined by the commission, including the American Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), as well as the Chinese immigration laws in New Zealand (1881) and Victoria, Australia (1855), both of which levied a £10 poll tax on Chinese immigrants.
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Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration
The Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration was a commission of inquiry appointed to establish whether or not imposing restrictions to Chinese immigration to Canada was in the country's best interest. Ordered on 4 July 1884 by Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, the inquiry was appointed two commissioners were: the Honorable Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, LL.D., who was the Secretary of State for Canada; and the Honorable John Hamilton Gray, DCL, a Justice on the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
The commissioners heard from 51 witnesses who submitted their testimonies to 27 questions regarding Chinese immigrants in Canada, and what policies should or should not be implemented to restrict them. Each of these witnesses gave their accounts and the commissioners gathered their answers to draw upon for their conclusions. However, a majority of their interviews were concentrated in Victoria rather than in the countryside where Chinese men competed for jobs, and many[who?] felt that this lost credibility for the report. Although they did venture to other cities, like Nanaimo and New Westminster, none of the voices from those cities make it into the final report.[why?] (They held interviews in some locations in the United States as well, notably San Francisco and Portland.)
Submitting their final report in 1885, the commissioners concluded that there was little evidence to support the claims made against Chinese immigration. According to them, the Chinese were judged by unfair standards and subject to broad generalizations about their character and habits. Despite the lack of proof against the threat of Chinese immigration to Canada, the report recommended moderate legislation to restrict such immigration.
In the 1880s, around 15,000 labourers from China came to Canada to work on the western section of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in British Columbia. When the railroad was completed in 1885, Chinese labourers entered other industries like fishing and agriculture, or worked as domestic servants, among other things.
Though employers generally supported Chinese labour as it was cheap and reliable, the growing anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination in the public sphere meant Prime Minister Macdonald could not ignore calls for the creation of anti-Chinese policies, particularly by politicians, trade unionists, and white residents.
While initially refusing to introduce such regulations out of recognition for the necessity of Chinese labour for the construction of the CPR, Macdonald eventually yielded to public dissatisfaction pressure when railway construction ended.
Commissioners Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau and John Hamilton Gray collected evidence from Canada, the United States, and Australia relating to the effect of Chinese immigration on trade, social relations, and morality. Their survey of British Columbia's Chinese population lists 157 Chinese women (classified as wives, girls, and prostitutes) and 10,335 Chinese men.
The immigration policies of other countries were also examined by the commission, including the American Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), as well as the Chinese immigration laws in New Zealand (1881) and Victoria, Australia (1855), both of which levied a £10 poll tax on Chinese immigrants.