Vol. 140, No. 17 — August 23, 2006

Registration
SI/2006-109 August 23, 2006

OTHER THAN STATUTORY AUTHORITY

Order Respecting Ex-Gratia Payments to Chinese Head Tax Payers

P.C. 2006-767 August 14, 2006

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Treasury Board, hereby makes the annexed Order Respecting Ex-Gratia Payments to Chinese Head Tax Payers.

ORDER RESPECTING EX-GRATIA PAYMENTS TO CHINESE HEAD TAX PAYERS

INTERPRETATION

1. In this Order, "Minister" means the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

AUTHORIZATION

2. The Minister is hereby authorized, on application under subsection 3(1), to make an ex-gratia payment of $20,000 to any person

(a) who paid the head tax or on whose behalf the head tax was paid under An Act to Restrict and Regulate Chinese Immigration into Canada, S.C. 1885, c. 71, and any subsequent amendment to that Act or under An Act Respecting the Immigration of Chinese Persons, S.N. 1906 (6 Ed. VII), c. 2 of Newfoundland, and any subsequent amendment to that Act;

(b) who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada or, in the opinion of the Minister, has a long-standing connection to Canada; and

(c) who was alive on February 6, 2006.

APPLICATION

3. (1) Subject to subsection (2), an application for an ex-gratia payment referred to in this Order shall be made to the Minister on or before March 31, 2008, shall be in the form approved by the Minister and shall be supported by such evidence as he or she deems necessary.

(2) Where an application is submitted after March 31, 2008, the application may be accepted by the Minister if he or she is satisfied that the applicant was unable to submit the application before that date because of facts or circumstances beyond the control of the applicant.

PAYMENT

4. Each payment shall be a one-time lump sum payment.

NO CROWN LIABILITY

5. Payments made under this Order shall not be construed as an admission of liability on the part of the Crown.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

The Order authorizes the Minister of Canadian Heritage to issue ex-gratia payments of $20,000 to head tax payers living as of February 6, 2006 in recognition of the stigma and hardship of the Chinese Head Tax. The payments are symbolic and not of a compensatory nature. They are offered to give substantial meaning to the apology for the head tax that the Prime Minister, on behalf of all Canadians and the Government, offered to Chinese-Canadians in the House of Commons on June 22, 2006. These ex-gratia payments are seen as a means to contribute to healing in the Chinese-Canadian community.

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