Contemporary Canada has been deeply affected by the War on Drugs. Yet drugs and drug law enforcement are not new. How do nation and identity factor into early 20th century Canadian attitudes towards drug usage and law enforcement?
doraleung, alexwickett, mosachoff, and 5 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
During this time Canada had just finished fighting in the “war to end all wars” or the first world war, the RCMP’s future was not completely secure as the police force of Canada, William King had written a paper calling for a need to suppress opium traffic in Canada in 1908 after the Chinatown riots of 1907. These factors would lead to a “war on drugs”, which in reality was propaganda that would attempt to create large-scale fear and panic, as well as create an enemy, which would be the Asian population.
Coming out of the 1st world war Canada had developed a need for moral rectitude and social purity and the drug use of the Asians was a good place to purify Canada. So utilizing the Opium Act of 1908 that was amended in 1911 to include smoking of opium. The RCMP coming out of the 1st World War were unsure of their status as those to “serve and protect” the communities they once did, they now needed a reason to basically keep their jobs. What better way to prove your importance by finding and making a war that may or may have not been really essential. Thus began the War on drugs and the polarization of the Asian populations of Canada.
Essential to having a war is having two sides to fight against one another and a cause. The government, middle class society, reformers, the RCMP and the media took up arms against the evil and vile Asians. The main cause was to protect society but more in part to protect women and young girls from the evils of Opium and the colored folk who had access to this lifestyle of immoral pleasures. The media would serve as the propaganda machine with such writers as Jack Canuck, and Janey Canuck who would slander the Asian population and create a sense of fear into the public or even better into middle class Canada. The Asians were on par with communists and singled out in this war to preserve the Moral compass of this great country, and the Yellow Peril could not win against the tall white middle class Anglo –Saxon RCMP. The government at the time gave the RCMP special powers to search without a warrant then eventually gave the ONDA the ability to enter premises without warrant.
Canada had virtually had started a war along with the RCMP on drugs and since the war needed a face they gave one to the public in the form of any Asian that was out there. They misinformed the public; they built a sense of security into the nation built upon propaganda and they polarized an entire populace based upon the color of their skin and how they looked. This war only seemed to wage on in the press and a few confined areas of the major cities. Looking at this though one wonders was the real crime done by the few who did drugs or sold them or imported them? Or was it those who were already in power who deemed it okay to regard racism rants and attack an entire peoples based upon one groups desire to keep their employment? The RCMP justified their existence, the Canucks got to spout off racist slurs and middle class could sleep better knowing that history would show that Canada had fought a hard war on drugs and sort of won, but not really. Enter the depression.
Hewitt argues that the RCMP’s purpose was in question around 1921 after the first World War, and that it was discussed that the RCMP police force would be shut down, as there was next to no need for them anymore. There are a few things responsible for this, Hewitt argues. He says that the police forces in provinces were becoming more and more recognized as the authority within their own borders, and that regional police forces were being developed so there was very little left for the RCMP to do. That and the Liberals had just won their place in government, and the Liberals and their supporters were large advocates for provincial sovereignty, so there was no need for the RCMP at the time. The Mounted Police would need to convince Canada for the legitimate basis for their presence and their need for funding in order to stop themselves from being taken off the list. This legitimate need to have the RCMP showed itself in the case of the substance Opium.
Opium, commonly known as coming from China, is a drug that is often smoked by Chinese workers and Immigrants. This becomes the first problem with nation and identity, as this drug, seen as bad for you, was brought in through the Chinese which made Chinese-Canadians become relatively despised within Canada. Hewitt mentions that before these events, alcohol was seen as a scourge that needed to be illuminated, however, following the Anti-Asian riots of 1907 that changed the mindset very much and presented the RCMP with a new purpose: get a control on the Opium usage. The Anti-Asian Riots of 1907 made apparent that the Anglo-Canadians living in British Columbia were very unhappy with Chinese presence. After a year where about eleven thousand Chinese immigrants came into Canada, with rumors of another boatload of immigrants coming, over ten thousand Anglo-Canadians gathered and stormed the City Hall with signs splattering propaganda about the Yellow Peril, or the dangerous ‘yellow’ people who were then blamed for various diseases within Canada, and blamed for any recent faults. These riots destroyed tons of Chinese property, and even went as far as to destroy factories of people who were hiring Chinese workers.
Following these riots, large racist campaigns were held and the reaction within the government was very immediate. The Government did not try to stop racism, nor did it even try to do anything about it, instead the “head tax” or the fee to immigrate into Canada remained at a costly $500 a year, which was the equivalent to a years work of pay in some cases, and very few people were able to immigrate. Following these events, Dominion Day, July the 1st in 1923 actually suspended all of Chinese immigration indefinitely, with no idea when the immigration would be “allowed” to return. Being a Chinese person in the 1900’s influenced the way you were treated, and your nation and where you were from began to become the way that you were identified.
This event reminds me a lot of Fred Wah, who wrote a book called “The Diamond Grill” about his family who grew up in Vancouver, and were Chinese immigrants. He discussed that his father was a highly respected Chinese business man only because of the fact that he could speak English fluently, with very rare grammatical errors. He also discussed that when he was in school, he was asked to fill out a form saying where he was from. He wrote down Canadian, being that he was from Canada, and his teacher told him that he would put Chinese, because that’s where he comes from (despite living here his whole life) and he shouldn’t try to lie about his identity. I think when it comes to law enforcement, that being Chinese meant that you were strictly on the outside, and this made the RCMP look like a set of heroes that were able to come in and save the world from the Yellow Peril! They could SAVE Canada, and make it a place of British, White Canadians as it should be, and this was often synonymous with the appearance of the Mounties themselves.
It is because Chinese are associated with Opium, a restricted drug substance, that Opium indefinitely becomes a restricted substance punishable by law. Hewitt mentions that before this time, many kinds of drugs were freely and readily available, which convinces me that begin Chinese involvement with drugs (after King had interview Chinese-Community leaders specifically) that just because of racial backgrounds and nationality, the drug became ultimately bad as it was being used by the wrong ‘type’ of people. Drugs become something that only degenerates and criminals would do, or people who are not able to be Canadian, or cannot be assimilated (as Chinese were seen not to be), and you didn’t want to associate yourself with that, so it became early in the turn of the century to associate drugs with all of these things, and to legitimize a large national police force to regulate the use of drugs on a national or even international trading level.
The characteristics of Canadians as portrayed by the government and RCMP itself leading up to the early 20th century were Anglo-Celtic males who were strong and sturdy. They were also polished, honest, kind, and had good morals which could not be tainted. This ideal Canadian characteristic was epitomized by the government, which then morphed into Canada’s national identity. As a result of the self-righteousness and the social class they created for themselves, Canadians, specifically white males, found it to be their duty to weed out those who went against this moral character they had built in order to keep up their national identity. Hence, with the growing concern for drug usage and distribution, the RCMP took it upon them to crack down on the drug users and distributors, which they stereotypically depicted to be Chinese and “degraded whites”. (92) The RCMP were struggling to make a place for themselves in Canada’s national security sectors and had to prove to not only the governments, but also the citizens, that they were important and held the views of all Canadians when they started their operation and goal of ending the drug trade. The image that the RCMP wanted to be portrayed as was a “protector of [the] innocent and helpless.” (90) This “patriarchal role” and their associated characteristics emerged during their fight over the “moral battle” (86) and enforcement of the Opium and Narcotics Drug Act (ONDA), as well as other drug related offences, and was carried over to become Canada’s national identity as a result.
Attitudes towards drug usage during the early 20th century were extremely negative and highly associated with it’s passage into Canada through immigrants, specifically Chinese immigrants. There was a huge problem with opium during the early 20th century which was thought to have been brought as a menace upon society by the Chinese. If your identity was associated with being an immigrant or basically a man of color, you were looked upon with suspicion. In the case of the drug usage, Chinese immigrants were extremely despised and thought of as incapable of being assimilated. Opium was seen to be a symbol representing the assault on the “purity” of the white race. Emily Murphy went as far as saying that men and women who indulged in drug usage were prone to seek the company of those with “lower status” (the immigrants, Chinese particularly) than with those of their own social standing. As there was extreme discontent with Chinese immigrants and immigrants of various other races, specific laws were put into place to curb their passing into Canada. The Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act were implemented during this era in order to prevent Chinese immigrants from immigrating to Canada and thereby bringing narcotics with them and corrupting a stable society of Anglo-Canadian citizens.
The idea of protecting the Canadian nation, a nation that was comprised of Anglo-Celtic citizens who constituted a stable society, was a highly motivational factor as well. The fear of the corruption of the white women by Chinese immigrants contributed to the development of patriarchal protective sentiments towards the women and children. It was important to preserve the morals and values of the nation and to not let it be corrupted by “foreigners”. Therefore, this idea of having a nation built by and for a specific a set of people also played a part in the enforcement of specific laws, like the laws I’ve mentioned above, that worked to mainly exclude people of color from society and to crack down on these people of color only in order to put drug selling and usage to an end.
In keeping with the theme of our course for the past few weeks – myth and identity – the story of the RCMP’s strategy for survival reveals the underlying Canadian identity crisis, and how the RCMP shaped an identity that the government, reinforced by the citizens, wanted to create.
According to Hewitt, the RCMP used the war on drugs in the early 1920s to justify their existence and make their institution an important, if not integral, part of Canadian law enforcement. It’s hard for me to imagine the Mounties not being a part of Canadian law enforcement in the present day. The Chinese were the perfect target as the Yellow Peril swept through the United States and an international anti-drug movement started. The RCMP seized the opportunity to sensationalize the threat of the Chinese and their Opium trade by catering to the white Canada’s racist inferiority complex. Yellow could not equal White. Drugs use would stain our pristine, white society.
The imagery of this scene, to me, is delightful. The crooked, yellow Chinaman has an innocent, helpless young white girl trapped in his opium dungeon. Whiteness, innocence, purity – especially of our women – was at stake. Who better to save her than a tall, white, ultra-masculine man on horseback? The RCMP painted themselves as real-life Knights in Shining (Scarlet) Armor, and the government was too happy reinforce this portrait. Canada had a seat in King Arthur’s Court. Additionally, it wasn’t just their physical nature that was ideal, it was the principles they embodied, like humility, nobility, sacrifice, duty and sympathy.
Who better to represent Canada on the world stage than this ideal? The Mounties became the most identifiable Canadian icon in the world and cemented Canada as the Great White North.
Nation and identity factored heavily on the attitudes Canadians had towards drugs, their usage, and enforcement against them during the early 20th century. While drugs were the target of laws and agencies like the RCMP and the ONDA, drug users were seen as a pernicious force destined to debase a Canadian society considered by many to be respectable. In hopes of preserving the integrity of a pure, Christian, and white Canada, the enforcement of drug laws became an issue beyond ridding the country of vice but also one intertwined with Canadian Identity. In the early years of drug enforcement, the group most associated with drug use and supply was the Chinese population of Canada. Xenophobia lingering from the Yellow Peril and Pacific Coast Race Riots of 1907 in Vancouver influenced the creation and enforcement of drug laws. Convicted drug users of the early 20th century were composed of mainly Chinese (Hewitt, 89). The drug most often used at the time was opium. Chinese migrants had brought the habit with them when they came to Canada, and for many it was not debilitating substance rendering its user incapable of functioning in society but a leisurely pastime. Nevertheless, all users were offenders under the law and many faced deportation as a result. In this way, the drug laws and the often racial-biased enforcement of them represent ideas many white Canadians had about the identity of Canada. The RCMP was tasked with enforcing these laws and at the time 78% of officers listed their birthplace as in the United Kingdom. Laws written by white men in government were then enforced by white men who sought to purge their country not just of what they saw as a vile substance but also a group of users who consisted of mainly Chinese.
Upon the conclusion of the First World War and in the early years directly following it, the RCMP was not regarded as the mighty Canadian symbol of nationalism that it is today. They needed to make themselves seen as invaluable to Canadian society, and they used a tactic that has been commonly used throughout history; create unity by finding a common enemy to fight. As the Yellow Peril and threats of communism were sweeping throughout the United States, the RCMP began its ‘War on Drugs” which united the moral, white, and masculine Canadians against the foreign Asians who were seen as inferior. Narcotics, and those who were involved in their trade and consumption were seen as pernicious threats to Canadian society who must be removed. Hewitt refers to the common view that, “Chinese, arguably, topped the list of the most despised group in Canada.” Especially after the Anti Asian riots, it was made crystal clear that the Anglo-Celtic Canadians were not at all happy with the growing presence of Oriental people in British Columbia. The war on drugs not only allowed the RCMP to purge Canada of undesirable substances, but under legislation supported by the government, provided a reason to deport many Chinese people back to their homeland. The RCMP employed undercover officers to keep certain suspicious people under surveillance, and offered rewards to those who provided any information about illicit narcotics. Ironically, some Canadians did not approve of these practices because they paralleled Communist surveillance techniques. Regardless, up to 2% of the Chinese population was deported back to Asia, and the largest demographic of people in the prisons were Asian. The Mounties wanted to be seen as the noble Canadian who saved the white Canadian population from the mischievous and evil oriental men who took part in the illicit drug trade.
Throughout the post confederation era in Canada, the ongoing main motif of national identity was one of the strong, true northern white man. During the early 1900s, the Canadian RCMP try to find a way to appeal back to the public because the need for this kind of police force was needed less and less due to the rise of provincial police forces. The perfect way for them to do this was to find an issue to fight against, which conveniently, at the time was an increase of drug use, mainly opium, which was seen to have been brought in by the Chinese. Simultaneously, the increase of Chinese immigrants was unwanted by the white community.
The RCMP would, of course, use this situation to their advantage. They would end the “war on drugs” by manipulating the scene so that they would be seen as the heroes and the yellow skin man as the villain. Anti-Asian Riots, such as the “Yellow Peril”, were ensued to “stop the yellow man”. Some Chinese were even deported as a result. This also continued to shape the “white” identity to Canada that the nation was trying so hard to seek.
doraleung, 
alexwickett, 
mosachoff, and 5 others are discussing.
kenthen 8:36 pm on January 27, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
During this time Canada had just finished fighting in the “war to end all wars” or the first world war, the RCMP’s future was not completely secure as the police force of Canada, William King had written a paper calling for a need to suppress opium traffic in Canada in 1908 after the Chinatown riots of 1907. These factors would lead to a “war on drugs”, which in reality was propaganda that would attempt to create large-scale fear and panic, as well as create an enemy, which would be the Asian population.
Coming out of the 1st world war Canada had developed a need for moral rectitude and social purity and the drug use of the Asians was a good place to purify Canada. So utilizing the Opium Act of 1908 that was amended in 1911 to include smoking of opium. The RCMP coming out of the 1st World War were unsure of their status as those to “serve and protect” the communities they once did, they now needed a reason to basically keep their jobs. What better way to prove your importance by finding and making a war that may or may have not been really essential. Thus began the War on drugs and the polarization of the Asian populations of Canada.
Essential to having a war is having two sides to fight against one another and a cause. The government, middle class society, reformers, the RCMP and the media took up arms against the evil and vile Asians. The main cause was to protect society but more in part to protect women and young girls from the evils of Opium and the colored folk who had access to this lifestyle of immoral pleasures. The media would serve as the propaganda machine with such writers as Jack Canuck, and Janey Canuck who would slander the Asian population and create a sense of fear into the public or even better into middle class Canada. The Asians were on par with communists and singled out in this war to preserve the Moral compass of this great country, and the Yellow Peril could not win against the tall white middle class Anglo –Saxon RCMP. The government at the time gave the RCMP special powers to search without a warrant then eventually gave the ONDA the ability to enter premises without warrant.
Canada had virtually had started a war along with the RCMP on drugs and since the war needed a face they gave one to the public in the form of any Asian that was out there. They misinformed the public; they built a sense of security into the nation built upon propaganda and they polarized an entire populace based upon the color of their skin and how they looked. This war only seemed to wage on in the press and a few confined areas of the major cities. Looking at this though one wonders was the real crime done by the few who did drugs or sold them or imported them? Or was it those who were already in power who deemed it okay to regard racism rants and attack an entire peoples based upon one groups desire to keep their employment? The RCMP justified their existence, the Canucks got to spout off racist slurs and middle class could sleep better knowing that history would show that Canada had fought a hard war on drugs and sort of won, but not really. Enter the depression.
enorthwood 9:58 pm on January 27, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hewitt argues that the RCMP’s purpose was in question around 1921 after the first World War, and that it was discussed that the RCMP police force would be shut down, as there was next to no need for them anymore. There are a few things responsible for this, Hewitt argues. He says that the police forces in provinces were becoming more and more recognized as the authority within their own borders, and that regional police forces were being developed so there was very little left for the RCMP to do. That and the Liberals had just won their place in government, and the Liberals and their supporters were large advocates for provincial sovereignty, so there was no need for the RCMP at the time. The Mounted Police would need to convince Canada for the legitimate basis for their presence and their need for funding in order to stop themselves from being taken off the list. This legitimate need to have the RCMP showed itself in the case of the substance Opium.
Opium, commonly known as coming from China, is a drug that is often smoked by Chinese workers and Immigrants. This becomes the first problem with nation and identity, as this drug, seen as bad for you, was brought in through the Chinese which made Chinese-Canadians become relatively despised within Canada. Hewitt mentions that before these events, alcohol was seen as a scourge that needed to be illuminated, however, following the Anti-Asian riots of 1907 that changed the mindset very much and presented the RCMP with a new purpose: get a control on the Opium usage. The Anti-Asian Riots of 1907 made apparent that the Anglo-Canadians living in British Columbia were very unhappy with Chinese presence. After a year where about eleven thousand Chinese immigrants came into Canada, with rumors of another boatload of immigrants coming, over ten thousand Anglo-Canadians gathered and stormed the City Hall with signs splattering propaganda about the Yellow Peril, or the dangerous ‘yellow’ people who were then blamed for various diseases within Canada, and blamed for any recent faults. These riots destroyed tons of Chinese property, and even went as far as to destroy factories of people who were hiring Chinese workers.
Following these riots, large racist campaigns were held and the reaction within the government was very immediate. The Government did not try to stop racism, nor did it even try to do anything about it, instead the “head tax” or the fee to immigrate into Canada remained at a costly $500 a year, which was the equivalent to a years work of pay in some cases, and very few people were able to immigrate. Following these events, Dominion Day, July the 1st in 1923 actually suspended all of Chinese immigration indefinitely, with no idea when the immigration would be “allowed” to return. Being a Chinese person in the 1900’s influenced the way you were treated, and your nation and where you were from began to become the way that you were identified.
This event reminds me a lot of Fred Wah, who wrote a book called “The Diamond Grill” about his family who grew up in Vancouver, and were Chinese immigrants. He discussed that his father was a highly respected Chinese business man only because of the fact that he could speak English fluently, with very rare grammatical errors. He also discussed that when he was in school, he was asked to fill out a form saying where he was from. He wrote down Canadian, being that he was from Canada, and his teacher told him that he would put Chinese, because that’s where he comes from (despite living here his whole life) and he shouldn’t try to lie about his identity. I think when it comes to law enforcement, that being Chinese meant that you were strictly on the outside, and this made the RCMP look like a set of heroes that were able to come in and save the world from the Yellow Peril! They could SAVE Canada, and make it a place of British, White Canadians as it should be, and this was often synonymous with the appearance of the Mounties themselves.
It is because Chinese are associated with Opium, a restricted drug substance, that Opium indefinitely becomes a restricted substance punishable by law. Hewitt mentions that before this time, many kinds of drugs were freely and readily available, which convinces me that begin Chinese involvement with drugs (after King had interview Chinese-Community leaders specifically) that just because of racial backgrounds and nationality, the drug became ultimately bad as it was being used by the wrong ‘type’ of people. Drugs become something that only degenerates and criminals would do, or people who are not able to be Canadian, or cannot be assimilated (as Chinese were seen not to be), and you didn’t want to associate yourself with that, so it became early in the turn of the century to associate drugs with all of these things, and to legitimize a large national police force to regulate the use of drugs on a national or even international trading level.
millyzhu 12:30 am on January 28, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
The characteristics of Canadians as portrayed by the government and RCMP itself leading up to the early 20th century were Anglo-Celtic males who were strong and sturdy. They were also polished, honest, kind, and had good morals which could not be tainted. This ideal Canadian characteristic was epitomized by the government, which then morphed into Canada’s national identity. As a result of the self-righteousness and the social class they created for themselves, Canadians, specifically white males, found it to be their duty to weed out those who went against this moral character they had built in order to keep up their national identity. Hence, with the growing concern for drug usage and distribution, the RCMP took it upon them to crack down on the drug users and distributors, which they stereotypically depicted to be Chinese and “degraded whites”. (92) The RCMP were struggling to make a place for themselves in Canada’s national security sectors and had to prove to not only the governments, but also the citizens, that they were important and held the views of all Canadians when they started their operation and goal of ending the drug trade. The image that the RCMP wanted to be portrayed as was a “protector of [the] innocent and helpless.” (90) This “patriarchal role” and their associated characteristics emerged during their fight over the “moral battle” (86) and enforcement of the Opium and Narcotics Drug Act (ONDA), as well as other drug related offences, and was carried over to become Canada’s national identity as a result.
Quotes from Hewitt’s article
nkular93 2:43 am on January 28, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Attitudes towards drug usage during the early 20th century were extremely negative and highly associated with it’s passage into Canada through immigrants, specifically Chinese immigrants. There was a huge problem with opium during the early 20th century which was thought to have been brought as a menace upon society by the Chinese. If your identity was associated with being an immigrant or basically a man of color, you were looked upon with suspicion. In the case of the drug usage, Chinese immigrants were extremely despised and thought of as incapable of being assimilated. Opium was seen to be a symbol representing the assault on the “purity” of the white race. Emily Murphy went as far as saying that men and women who indulged in drug usage were prone to seek the company of those with “lower status” (the immigrants, Chinese particularly) than with those of their own social standing. As there was extreme discontent with Chinese immigrants and immigrants of various other races, specific laws were put into place to curb their passing into Canada. The Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act were implemented during this era in order to prevent Chinese immigrants from immigrating to Canada and thereby bringing narcotics with them and corrupting a stable society of Anglo-Canadian citizens.
The idea of protecting the Canadian nation, a nation that was comprised of Anglo-Celtic citizens who constituted a stable society, was a highly motivational factor as well. The fear of the corruption of the white women by Chinese immigrants contributed to the development of patriarchal protective sentiments towards the women and children. It was important to preserve the morals and values of the nation and to not let it be corrupted by “foreigners”. Therefore, this idea of having a nation built by and for a specific a set of people also played a part in the enforcement of specific laws, like the laws I’ve mentioned above, that worked to mainly exclude people of color from society and to crack down on these people of color only in order to put drug selling and usage to an end.
cprimus 3:00 pm on January 28, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In keeping with the theme of our course for the past few weeks – myth and identity – the story of the RCMP’s strategy for survival reveals the underlying Canadian identity crisis, and how the RCMP shaped an identity that the government, reinforced by the citizens, wanted to create.
According to Hewitt, the RCMP used the war on drugs in the early 1920s to justify their existence and make their institution an important, if not integral, part of Canadian law enforcement. It’s hard for me to imagine the Mounties not being a part of Canadian law enforcement in the present day. The Chinese were the perfect target as the Yellow Peril swept through the United States and an international anti-drug movement started. The RCMP seized the opportunity to sensationalize the threat of the Chinese and their Opium trade by catering to the white Canada’s racist inferiority complex. Yellow could not equal White. Drugs use would stain our pristine, white society.
The imagery of this scene, to me, is delightful. The crooked, yellow Chinaman has an innocent, helpless young white girl trapped in his opium dungeon. Whiteness, innocence, purity – especially of our women – was at stake. Who better to save her than a tall, white, ultra-masculine man on horseback? The RCMP painted themselves as real-life Knights in Shining (Scarlet) Armor, and the government was too happy reinforce this portrait. Canada had a seat in King Arthur’s Court. Additionally, it wasn’t just their physical nature that was ideal, it was the principles they embodied, like humility, nobility, sacrifice, duty and sympathy.
Who better to represent Canada on the world stage than this ideal? The Mounties became the most identifiable Canadian icon in the world and cemented Canada as the Great White North.
mosachoff 3:58 pm on January 28, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Nation and identity factored heavily on the attitudes Canadians had towards drugs, their usage, and enforcement against them during the early 20th century. While drugs were the target of laws and agencies like the RCMP and the ONDA, drug users were seen as a pernicious force destined to debase a Canadian society considered by many to be respectable. In hopes of preserving the integrity of a pure, Christian, and white Canada, the enforcement of drug laws became an issue beyond ridding the country of vice but also one intertwined with Canadian Identity. In the early years of drug enforcement, the group most associated with drug use and supply was the Chinese population of Canada. Xenophobia lingering from the Yellow Peril and Pacific Coast Race Riots of 1907 in Vancouver influenced the creation and enforcement of drug laws. Convicted drug users of the early 20th century were composed of mainly Chinese (Hewitt, 89). The drug most often used at the time was opium. Chinese migrants had brought the habit with them when they came to Canada, and for many it was not debilitating substance rendering its user incapable of functioning in society but a leisurely pastime. Nevertheless, all users were offenders under the law and many faced deportation as a result. In this way, the drug laws and the often racial-biased enforcement of them represent ideas many white Canadians had about the identity of Canada. The RCMP was tasked with enforcing these laws and at the time 78% of officers listed their birthplace as in the United Kingdom. Laws written by white men in government were then enforced by white men who sought to purge their country not just of what they saw as a vile substance but also a group of users who consisted of mainly Chinese.
alexwickett 4:43 pm on January 28, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Upon the conclusion of the First World War and in the early years directly following it, the RCMP was not regarded as the mighty Canadian symbol of nationalism that it is today. They needed to make themselves seen as invaluable to Canadian society, and they used a tactic that has been commonly used throughout history; create unity by finding a common enemy to fight. As the Yellow Peril and threats of communism were sweeping throughout the United States, the RCMP began its ‘War on Drugs” which united the moral, white, and masculine Canadians against the foreign Asians who were seen as inferior. Narcotics, and those who were involved in their trade and consumption were seen as pernicious threats to Canadian society who must be removed. Hewitt refers to the common view that, “Chinese, arguably, topped the list of the most despised group in Canada.” Especially after the Anti Asian riots, it was made crystal clear that the Anglo-Celtic Canadians were not at all happy with the growing presence of Oriental people in British Columbia. The war on drugs not only allowed the RCMP to purge Canada of undesirable substances, but under legislation supported by the government, provided a reason to deport many Chinese people back to their homeland. The RCMP employed undercover officers to keep certain suspicious people under surveillance, and offered rewards to those who provided any information about illicit narcotics. Ironically, some Canadians did not approve of these practices because they paralleled Communist surveillance techniques. Regardless, up to 2% of the Chinese population was deported back to Asia, and the largest demographic of people in the prisons were Asian. The Mounties wanted to be seen as the noble Canadian who saved the white Canadian population from the mischievous and evil oriental men who took part in the illicit drug trade.
doraleung 6:07 pm on January 28, 2014 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Throughout the post confederation era in Canada, the ongoing main motif of national identity was one of the strong, true northern white man. During the early 1900s, the Canadian RCMP try to find a way to appeal back to the public because the need for this kind of police force was needed less and less due to the rise of provincial police forces. The perfect way for them to do this was to find an issue to fight against, which conveniently, at the time was an increase of drug use, mainly opium, which was seen to have been brought in by the Chinese. Simultaneously, the increase of Chinese immigrants was unwanted by the white community.
The RCMP would, of course, use this situation to their advantage. They would end the “war on drugs” by manipulating the scene so that they would be seen as the heroes and the yellow skin man as the villain. Anti-Asian Riots, such as the “Yellow Peril”, were ensued to “stop the yellow man”. Some Chinese were even deported as a result. This also continued to shape the “white” identity to Canada that the nation was trying so hard to seek.