The B.C. government's apology to Chinese Canadians for historical wrongs dating back to the 1800s may have done more harm than good.
That's the view of Bill Chu, founder of the Richmond-based Canadians for Reconciliation Society (CFRS), an organization pushing for more recognition and education on the contribution of early Chinese immigrants to the province.
Chu said all the apology - which covered more than 100 pieces of discriminatory legislation, including a head tax on Chinese - served to do was fuel resentment among non-Chinese communities because it wasn't preceded by education.
On the same day Premier Christy Clark read the apology to the legislature, the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) wrote a letter to all B.C. MLAs refusing to accept the sentiment, due to the absence of head tax compensation.
However, Chu, while distancing himself from the CCNC's demands, said his organization has never once asked for an apology or compensation.
"What needed to happen was for people outside of the Chinese communities in B.C. to be educated about what happened in the past or be part of the discussions leading up the apology," said Chu.
"The responses in the mainstream to the apology are mostly very negative and that's because people have little or no idea why the government is apologizing.
"By forcing this apology on them, without the knowledge, just feeds the negative feelings."
Chu said he totally understands why some non-Chinese are angry about the apology,
adding, "If someone apologized on my behalf and I had no idea why, I would be upset as well."
Chu criticized the process leading up the apology, saying that only Asian communities were canvassed by the government.
"They needed to speak to everyone. I would have much preferred they didn't apologize at all until that education had taken place," Chu said.
When pressed on the issue of compensation for the descendants of people subjected to the Chinese Head Tax, Chu said his organization "wouldn't stand in the way" of anyone seeking such recourse.
"But I would only support compensation be given when both Asian and non-Asian communities mutually agree on the subject and that, again, comes from education on what happened in the past."
Chu said B.C. received about 40 per cent of the $23 million collected by the federal government's head tax program in the 1900s.
In last week's apology, Premier Clark said sorry for "the discriminatory legislation and racist policies enacted by past provincial governments. We will ensure that this never happens again."
Chinese people in British Columbia were, in the past, denied basic human rights, like the right to vote, hold public office and own property. They were also subjected to imposed labour, education and employment restrictions, as well as health and housing segregation.
The apology had been first proposed by Clark's Liberal government in 2013, but it was delayed after the so-called ethnic outreach scandal, in which apologies for historical wrongs to ethnic groups like Chinese Canadians were referred to as political "quick wins" by Liberal strategists.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized in 2006 on behalf of the Canadian government for the Chinese head tax and handed out compensation.
