immigrants had to pay a $50 head tax in order to be allowed to enter Canada. Yet, "the whites" from British Columbia were not satisfied with $50, and so the tax was raised to $100 per person of Chinese origin entering Canada in 1900, and later to $500 in 1903 (Knowles, 1997: 51). Moreover, between the years of 1906 and 1907 about 7,000 new immigrants entered British Columbia, mostly of Japanese and east Indian origin. This new wave of "non-white" immigrants created a great deal of unrest in British Columbia's "white" residents. As a result of this dissatisfaction, Vancouver residents started to rebel against the admission of the Japanese into British Columbia, due to their fear of "a Japanese invasion" (Knowles, 1997:92). Hence, the federal government of.
Canada passed a bill in the Immigration Act of 1910, known as the " continuous journey regulation." This regulation prohibited an entry to Canada to any immigrants, who did not came directly from their country; without any other stops at any other ports along the way (Knowles, 1997:93). Thus, this new regulation made it impossible for the Japanese and east Indians to enter Canada, because there were no direct steamship service from either country into Canada (Knowles, 1997:93). After a while, the federal government was once again pressured from British Columbia on the issue of Chinese immigration into British Columbia. Therefore, the Immigration Act 1923 was passed, which banned all Chinese from entry to Canada, except "members of the diplomatic corps, children born in Canada to Chinese parents, students, and merchants who had a minimum of $2,500 invested in a business for at least three years and who were prepared to invest at least $2,500 in a business in Canada" (Knowles, 1997:107). Because of this restriction, only twenty five Chinese people entered Canada between the years of 1923 and 1946 (Knowles, 1997:107). During the years of World War II, Japanese Canadians had to endure another discriminating phase from the federal government of Canada.
