Chinese In Newfoundland

Members of the Newfoundland-Chinese community welcome the Chinese General Consul to Newfoundland outside the Nickel Theatre in St. John’s in 1938. Image courtesy of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies Archives.

“City or town or village, East or West, from British Columbia to Cape Breton, the heathen Chinee has invaded, and by him the washing industry throughout the continent is monopolized. And now two sons of the flowery kingdom have come by the Polino from Montreal to Newfoundland. …Have they come to stay?”
– The Daily News, Aug. 18, 1895.

“The first attempt to restrict Chinese nationals from immigrating to Newfoundland occurred during the 1904 session of the Newfoundland legislature, when the member for Bay St. George, W.R. Howley, introduced a bill to prohibit their entry. Referring to Chinese labour in the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, Howley argued that the introduction of Chinese into these societies had created chaos… Howley’s proposal was defeated. However, two years later, government legislation imposed a $300.00 head tax on each Chinese immigrant entering Newfoundland.”
– “Newfoundland’s 1906 Chinese Head Tax”, Robert G Hong.