Remembering Sid Tan

Tan was a community activist passionate about the head tax

The first story I ever did for CBC Radio in 2003 was about the head tax that Chinese migrants had to pay to enter Canada in the 1800s. 

Only the Chinese were forced to pay this discriminatory tax that was CAD$500 per person, which was a fortune at the time and took years to pay back.

There was a callout looking for a Cantonese speaker to conduct interviews and I answered it.

Quon (right) paid the head tax

It was then that I found out I was to interview Charlie Quon, one of the last surviving head tax payers and the growing campaign to demand the federal government address this shameful period in history and compensate the victims and their families.

I also interviewed Gim Wong, the son of a head tax payer. He was well into his 70s but still fit into his military uniform. He talked for over an hour about how the head tax affected his family. I found out later he died in 2013.

Spearheading the movement called Head Tax Families Society of Canada was Sid Chow Tan, a rotund fellow, his hair desperate for a haircut and had a scraggly moustache and goatee. 

What I remember most was how passionate he was about the cause, insistent that head tax payers had to be compensated.

Redress finally came in 2006 when then Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologised and compensated CAD$20,000 to each surviving head tax payer. 

He also had an interest because he was a "paper son" -- a "son" of a Chinese man who was already living in Canada. Tan was born in then Canton, now Guangzhou, China and then came to Battleford, Saskatchewan.

Wong in his uniform

It was only when he was a teenager that he discovered he was a paper son and led to his mission in life.

The news came out on Tuesday that Tan had died the day before on September 26. Tan was 73 years old.

He kept in daily contact with his son Jordan in Victoria. When Jordan didn't hear from Sid, he rushed over to Vancouver and found him in his apartment. 

I found out later Tan was also passionate about many other causes like environmental activism with the Sierra Club of BC, mentoring community media producers and running for city council in 2014.

Many in the community and media circles are mourning his loss. Though I never met him again, I am thankful to him to having me tell the head tax story and be a part of the journey to right a wrong.