Unit 2 - Rights & Freedoms Pt. 3

Question 1

Chinese Head Tax

Answer 1

• 1885: $50 immigration tax after completion of CPR
• 1901: Ottawa 2x to $100 bc of public pressure
• 1903: $500 = approx. 2 yrs wage
• 1886 - 1923: Gov. collected $22+m in head tax

Question 2

Anti-Asian Riot

Answer 2

• Following anti-Asian speeches, riot too place w/ 7000 ppl marching downtown Vancouver
  - Smashing windows + destroying signs of
  Asian businesses
• In Chinatown, looted + burned thousands of $$$ worth of property

Question 3

Chinese Exclusion Act

Answer 3

• Fed gov replaced head tax w/ Chinese Immigration Act or Canadian Exclusion Act
  - Barred immigrants from Canada altogether
• 1947: Repealed
• 1967: final elements completely eliminated

Question 4

Komagata Maru

Answer 4

• 1914: 376 Sikhs arrived in Vancouver
• After 2 months in the harbour - unsuccessful court challenge - forced to return to India
• Sailed back to Calcutta - met w/ police - 19 ppl killed while disembarking + others jailed

Question 5

Royal Commission on the Status of Women

Answer 5

• 1967: Convened
• 3 yr consultation w/ women across Canada
• 488 page report & 167 separate recommendations
• “to ensure for women equal opportunities w/ men in all aspects of Cnd society”

Question 6

Royal Commission on the Status of Women:
Representation in Gov.

Answer 6

• Fed. gov. increased rep. in all gov. boards, departments, commissions, councils, advisory committees, + task forces
• Created a Ministry for Status of Women

Question 7

Royal Commission on the Status of Women:
Pay Equity & Employment Access

Answer 7

• Wage gap still exists
• Access by women to higher paying professions is problematic

Question 8

Royal Commission on the Status of Women:
Indigenous Women

Answer 8

• A woman’s status under the Indian Act can no longer be taken away if she marries someone w/out it
• Access to education + training programs continues to face barriers to effective implementation

Question 9

Royal Commission on the Status of Women:
Violence Against Women

Answer 9

• Before commission: men couldn’t be charged w/ certain sexual offences unless victim was a woman of “previously chaste character”
  - Phrase eliminated on the commission’s
  recommendations… 13 yrs later

Question 10

60s Scoop

Answer 10

• 10s of thousands of indigenous children taken away from their homes
  - Decisions made by non-indigenous ppl
  who didnt understand factors like extended families
• “Aim” program = get kids adopted to white families + shipped around the world
• ⅕ adoptions broken down by age 15 + 1/2 by 17
• Many abused while in care + Still impacting families
  
  • Trauma, loss, loss of history, identity, language
• Compensation doesnt account for everyone effected
• 50%+ in care today are indigenous
• Struggling to find biological families even today

Question 11

Foster care

Answer 11

• Indigenous kids are 14x more likely to enter foster system
  - Reason: domestic violence, poverty, trauma,
  substance abuse, etc.
• We need mental health programs, education, etc.

Question 12

Cycle of Trauma

Answer 12

• Generations inherit trauma → generational trauma
• Trauma has long lasting + complex effects when it occurs in childhood
  - Takes 5 generations to heal
  - Results in violence, addiction, poverty
• Childhood abuse messes up response to stress → increases cortisol for long term→ increases blood sugar → heart attacks, diabetes, hypertension, chronic pain
  - Increases risk of depression, mental illness, lowering resilience + immune function
• System created anger in kids for their parents
  - Can lead to drinking problems + substance abuse
  - Lack of knowledge for adequate parenting

Question 13

Residential school survivors

Answer 13

• Mental, verbal, physical, sexual abuse
• Kids taken away under 10 yrs old
• Threatened by religion (devil) to make them pray harder
• Rape → Caused feelings of anger, fear, shame that followed them through life