Perspective: Chinese Labourers

Such local fears became a powerful political rallying point for members of B.C.'s political community, who demanded immigration restrictions from the federal government. Patricia Roy's study of B.C. politicians and their policies towards Chinese and Japanese immigrants suggests that racial and economic fears prompted local political action. The B.C. government introduced a series of acts to limit and restrict Asian immigration as early as 1878. The federal government disallowed almost all of them. Macdonald's federal government would not "close" the door to Chinese labour because business interests, mostly in Montreal, saw the benefits of this work force. Poorly paid and exposed to the deadly hazards of mountain valley blasting and construction work - many Chinese labourers died through disease and injury in this treacherous terrain -- the Chinese labourer was understood as integral to the railway's completion.

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