While many Chinese immigrants suffered under discriminatory legislation in B.C. of more than a century ago, others actually profited.
In the mid 1880s the major source of labour for canneries in Richmond and Vancouver was governed by "Chinese" contracts which agreed to supply a specified number of workers for the canning season in return for a stipulated amount per case of salmon processed.
At the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Steveston, that route was taken from 1894 to 1930.
But the Head Tax effectively put a strangle hold on the labour supply, prompting the formation of the Chinese Cannery Employees Union in 1904.
The union demanded wage guarantees and significant wage increases when the Head Tax increased to $500 after 1904.
Workers who were earning $1.25 a day at the turn of the century were then able to demand $65 a month, sparking an outcry from some cannery management who stated
the Chinese workers were the "most useful implements for the development of the country."
To address the labour shortage and hopefully bring the wages back into line some cannery owners sought a reduction of the Head Tax to $100 which drew little support from the average working man.
According to Patricia E. Roy's book A White Man's Province, "While salmon canning was a job well left to the Chinese, white workingmen did not want any more of them."
But that did not quell calls for a reduction of the tax as Chinese labour became increasingly scarce.
One columnist, named Gwen, for the Vancouver News-Advertiser called for the revocation of the "imbecile" $500 Head Tax.
"Why should we women be forced to give up our homes, why should we be forced to neglect our children, our sewing and our requisite rest and recreation because we cannot afford the high wages demanded by Chinese since the imposition of the $500 tax."
