The Komagata Maru The Komagata Maru has been an important aspect to the life of many individuals because it changed the immigration policy and it is the reason why Canada has become a multi-cultural country today. Canada had a main focus to exclude Chinese, Japanese and Indian immigrants. In 1904, Canada raised the head tax which is a tax on incoming Chinese laborers, to $500 which is equal to two years ' gross earnings of a Chinese laborer here (Hannant). This had made it harder for Chinese, Japanese and Indian immigrants to come as if they moved here they would be put in poverty. Having a head tax stopped many Chinese immigrant but not enough Indian immigrants as Canadian government hoped which had led them to find a new way to keep them
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It had required Indian immigrants to begin their journey in India and come directly to Canada; however the government discourages all shipping companies from providing a direct passage from India to Canada. The second law was required that each immigrant processes $200 (Pamela, 6). These laws had been made to try and have only white Europeans live in Canada. Not only did Canada make it hard for the immigrant to come but with the few that had been able to come to Canada had been discriminated and had gotten no human rights. “There were between 200 and 300 Sikhs. They have four or five cookhouses and different sized bunkhouses; some had thirty, forty, fifty people living in them. That’s how they lived then. We had our own temple, a small one built by the mill at their own expenses. We had only gotten 25 cents per hour while the white got 30 cents for the same job” (Pamela, 27). This shows that immigrants had gone through the struggle to get here only to be treated unfair and different from the Europeans. This has changed throughout history as now Canada is a multicultural country and is welcoming to a variety of cultures as well as respect individuals regardless of who they are and where they are from. Canada has learnt to welcome any type of immigrant and we live in a society where one’s
It had required Indian immigrants to begin their journey in India and come directly to Canada; however the government discourages all shipping companies from providing a direct passage from India to Canada. The second law was required that each immigrant processes $200 (Pamela, 6). These laws had been made to try and have only white Europeans live in Canada. Not only did Canada make it hard for the immigrant to come but with the few that had been able to come to Canada had been discriminated and had gotten no human rights. “There were between 200 and 300 Sikhs. They have four or five cookhouses and different sized bunkhouses; some had thirty, forty, fifty people living in them. That’s how they lived then. We had our own temple, a small one built by the mill at their own expenses. We had only gotten 25 cents per hour while the white got 30 cents for the same job” (Pamela, 27). This shows that immigrants had gone through the struggle to get here only to be treated unfair and different from the Europeans. This has changed throughout history as now Canada is a multicultural country and is welcoming to a variety of cultures as well as respect individuals regardless of who they are and where they are from. Canada has learnt to welcome any type of immigrant and we live in a society where one’s