中英对照：从华人移民加拿大历史看为何今天的华人社区出现了两个阵营

 

 

二十世纪60年代，加拿大皇家委员会做了一个有关双语和双文化主义的报告。该报告首次提出加拿大现代多元文化主义的政治构想。当年的总理特鲁多（现任总理特鲁多的父亲）于1971年宣布，加拿大将承认和尊重其社会的多元文化，包括语言，习俗和宗教。

 

In Canada, the origin of modern political awareness of multiculturalism started with the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the 1960's. Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Father of Justin Trudeau – the current Prime Minister) declared in 1971 that Canada would adopt multicultural policy that would recognize and respect its society that included diversity in languages, customs, and religions.

 

1982年，《加拿大权利与自由宪章》第27条确认了多元文化主义。随后，当年的加拿大总理马尔罗尼颁布了《加拿大多元文化主义法》。

 

In 1982, multiculturalism was recognized by section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Canadian Multiculturalism Act was subsequently enacted by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney at that time.

 

多元文化主义的本意是崇高和善良的，但在解释和执行它的时候却是另一回事。今天，我们看到来自世界不同民族的群体，仍然以原籍国的母语和文化在加拿大过日子。实际上，这些人自成一体，对与其他加拿大人交往和融入主流社会毫无兴趣。这一现象令人担忧。另外，我们发现这些群体还有更大的问题。在这些群体中，祖国的政治影响使得这些群体分裂出不同阵营。

 

The multiculturalism intentions are noble and good but not their interpretation and implementation. Today, we are looking at groupings of different peoples congregating in enclaves and practising their own cultural traditions in their native languages from their countries of origin. In effect, these are self-sustaining groups that do not have any motivations to mingle with other Canadians and merge themselves with the mainstream society. This condition is unsatisfactory in itself but we are now looking at an even bigger problem. Within these groups, new fractures have created yet more polarizing fractions due to political influences from the motherlands.

 

以加拿大的中国移民为例。在过去的二十年中，中国移民经历了缓慢的“细胞分裂”行动，并分化为两个阵营：“大陆华人”和“所有其他华裔”。就像前面所说的那样，华裔会选择加入哪个个阵营，并视另一个阵营的人为敌。

 

Take the Chinese population in Canada, for example. The people of Chinese heritage has undergone a slow “cell splitting” operation over the past two decades and polarized into two camps : “Mainland Chinese” and “All others of Chinese heritage”. Much like the situation described in the earlier paragraph, each group becomes more cohesive within its own constituents and views the other group as aliens.

 

要了解为什么会发生这种情况，我们需要看看中国移民的历史和移民自身的背景。加拿大于19世纪从中国的沿海省份招募了大约15,000名的工人，以完成横跨加拿大的太平洋铁路（CPR）的卑诗省那一段铁路。对加拿大华人实施的每人50元的“人头税”于1885年实施，并最终在1903年提高到500元，这在当时可不是一笔小钱。“人头税”臭名昭著。

 

To understand why this happens we have to go back in time and look at the Canadian immigration history and patterns for people of Chinese heritage. In the 1800's, around 15,000 Chinese workers are recruited from China's coastal provinces to complete the last leg of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in British Columbia. The infamous “Head Tax” of $50 was implemented in 1885 and eventually raised to $500 in 1903 – a princely sum of money at that time.

 

加拿大1923年的《华人移民法》（又称《华人排斥法》）几乎禁止华人移民加拿大。从1923到1967的44年中，这一法律有效地阻止了加拿大华裔人口的增长。联邦政府于1967年修订了《移民法》。新法适用于所有想移民加拿大的外国人。从此，华人移民人数开始增加，但从中国大陆来的移民却没有增加，因为毛泽东统治下的中国仍然是个“封闭国家”。

 

The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 (also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act) nearly bans Chinese immigration to Canada. This effectively arrested the growth of the Chinese population for the next 44 years until 1967. That year, the federal government revises the Immigration Act issuing one set of rules for all applicants from all countries. Immigration to Canada starts to increase but not for the Chinese from Mainland since they were still a “closed country” under Chairman Mao's rule.

 

1967年，我的家人从香港前往加拿大参观蒙特利尔的世界博览会并爱上了这个国家。我们当时直接在加拿大境内申请移民，一年后获得批准。当时，几乎没有香港人打算移民加拿大。即使有这种想法，他们的自身条件也很难满足加拿大的移民条件。这种状况持续了10年。在此期间，来自其他亚洲国家的华裔为“中国”人口在加拿大的有限增长做出了贡献。

 

My family came to Canada from Hong Kong in 1967 for a visit to EXPO 67 in Montreal (that was the Canada centennial) and we fell in love with this country. The immigration process got started within Canada and we got our landing papers a year later. At that time, very few from Hong Kong have the intentions and means for meeting the immigration requirements to be accepted to Canada and it continued for the next decade with few exceptions. Other peoples of Chinese heritage from other Asian Countries contributed to a limited increase in the “Chinese” population during this time.

 

想当年，除非你去当时位于市中心市政厅后面的唐人街，你很难见到中国人。当年的唐人街小得可怜，只有3家中国餐馆，大多数华裔是广东省台山市的第二代华裔。他们说台山话而不是广东话。“警察”一词的发音为“绿衣”，打“电话”为“打喊线”。台山方言只传给了下一代，随着再下一代融入加拿大社会，台山话也跟着消失了。

 

It was rare for us to spot other Chinese looking people unless we visit the then Chinatown behind the City Hall downtown. It was a very small strip of land with 3 Chinese restaurants and most Chinese were second generation Chinese from Toishan, Guangdong province. Many spoke a local Toishan dialect and they had special speaking phrases different from Cantonese for objects like “Police” (Green coats) , and “Telephone” (the Yelling Line) This dialect is passed onto their next generation only to be lost in subsequent ones through integration with society.

 

1973年，加拿大大赦非法移民。只要在1972年11月30日以后连续在加拿大居住60天，你就可以申请永久居民。大赦政策获得了加拿大所有党派的支持。该政策最大的获益者是那些从美国逃到加拿大而躲避征兵的美国人。大赦让39,000人获得了加拿大永久移民身份。许多来自香港的留学生也借大赦获得移民身份。我的一些朋友也从中受益。他们当时在加拿大的大学学习，毕业后把父母和兄弟姐妹也接到加拿大。

 

In 1973, the Canadian Immigration Amnesty Program came along. Persons who had lived in Canada continuously since Nov. 30, 1972, had 60 days in which to apply for permanent residence. The amnesty, supported by all the major political parties, benefited mostly American draft dodgers, and 39,000 people obtained landed immigrant status under it. Many Chinese students from Hong Kong benefited from this program, including some of my friends. These people were studying in universities and they eventually sponsored their parents and siblings for family reunion after their graduations.

 

我将在下一篇文章中继续介绍加拿大“中国人”的移民历史。当分析了全部移民统计数据时，我们将了解加拿大的华裔社区是如何过渡到今天这个样子的，以及为什么华裔会出现两个阵营。

 

Next time, we will continue with the immigration history on the “Chinese” in Canada. When we are all caught up with the immigration statistics, we will understand how the Chinese population becomes what it is today and why there are two camps within it.