“For this blog assignment, I would like you to research and summarize one of the state or governing activities, such as The Royal Proclamation 1763, the Indian Act 1876, Immigration Act 1910, or the Multiculturalism Act 1989 – you choose the legislation or policy or commission you find most interesting. Write a blog about your findings and in your conclusion comment on whether or not your findings support Coleman’s argument about the project of white civility.”

There are quite a few landmark moments in Canadian immigration history, and the early 1900’s were particularly eventful when it comes to this. These events highlight a lot of problematic legislation that was enacted in that time. I would like to focus on some of the events that took place during this time to show how this legislation worked to further white civility in British Columbia, and Canada as a whole.

A lot of these policies were enacted between 1906 and 1910 with the Immigration Acts and their orders-in-council. The Immigration Act of 1906 was supposed to consolidate all immigration legislation, in an effort for the Department of Immigration to deal with undesirable immigrants. This legislation granted power to the government to exclude immigrants under the categories of “prostitutes and others convicted of crimes of “moral turpitude”; epileptics, the mentally challenged, and the insane; the hearing, sight, and speech impaired; and those with contagious diseases.” On the surface this may seem to be protective of Canada, but in reality it brought broad powers to a singular person (Minister of the Interior, Frank Oliver) to deny any immigrant he did not deem worthy of entering Canada. All in the effort to uphold white civility.

This continued into 1908 when the Continuous Journey Regulation was added to the Immigration Act. This “prohibited the landing of any immigrant that did not come to Canada by continuous journey from the country in which they were natives or citizens.”  As the article points out, this was done by the Minister of Labour William Mackenzie King, in response to an increase in immigration from Japan. The government was concerned that the foreign immigrants would be taking jobs from white nationals, and this would impact this fictional white narrative that they had created for Canada’s identity. This regulation led to probably the most incredulous moment in Canadian history for me personally. This is something that has stuck with me since high school and something that serves as a reality check every time someone says Canada is the bastion for multiculturalism. This is the story of the Komagata Maru. As you have probably all heard this story, and it is listed in the article linked above I will spare you the details, but this very much underlines the Canadian governments priority to maintain this white narrative for the country. They instituted a law to make it almost impossible to for immigrants from Japan and India to get to Canada, but when the Komagata Maru arrived lawfully, they forced the passengers to stay on the ship for two months, and then sent them home without them ever disembarking. The government had instituted a frankly racist law to limit immigration of non-whites, and when a group arrived still under the conditions of that law, they were turned away anyway. This was astounding to me that the government could be so blatant in this discrimination, when growing up here in BC, all anyone talks about is how accepting Canada is. The juxtaposition when I first learned of this was mind boggling. The point was driven home even more recently, as my girlfriend and I found out that her great-grandmother was actually on the Komagata Maru. It was a surreal moment for both of us.

This discrimination continued in 1910 with the new Immigration Act. This act added on to the previously mentioned in a few ways. It granted even greater powers to turn immigrants away, including simply on the basis of “belonging to any race deemed unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada”. In 1910 and 1911, groups of African-Americans were headed to central Alberta after being pushed out of Oklahoma. Upon hearing of this, “the government merely instructed immigration inspectors and their medical aides along the American border to reject all Blacks as unfit for admission on medical grounds.” Asian immigrants at this time also had a head tax of $200 placed on them as a requirement for entry, another barrier in place to protect the idyllic white Canada.

After reading over these materials the only conclusion that can be drawn is that this evidence supports Coleman’s idea of white civility. The Canadian government had decided what it’s history was going to be, and that meant that Canada was going to have a white history (fictitious or not). They cultivated this through series of discriminatory policies, and tight control over immigration so that they could ensure this fiction remained true. I think the greater fiction though is the story we are told now that Canada is and always has been a multicultural nation. We have a ripe history of discrimination, and I think this needs to be acknowledged more.

Works Cited

“Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.” Pier 21 | Pier 21, pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/continuous-journey-regulation-1908.

“Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.” Pier 21 | Pier 21, pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/immigration-act-1910.

“Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.” Pier 21 | Pier 21, pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/order-in-council-pc-1911-1324.

“Immigration Act (Canada) (1906).” Immigration to America, immigrationtous.net/140-immigration-act-canada-1906.html.

“Immigration Act (Canada) (1910).” Immigration to America, immigrationtous.net/141-immigration-act-canada-1910.html.

“Immigration in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/immigration.