Continuous journey regulation
In practice, the regulation applied only to ships that began their voyage in India, as the great distance usually necessitated a stopover in Japan or Hawaii.
These regulations came at a time when Canada was accepting massive numbers of immigrants (over 400,000 in 1913 alone – a figure that remains unsurpassed to this day),[2] almost all of whom came from Europe.
[9][10] However, because India, like Canada, was part of the British Empire, Canadian authorities did not pass exclusion laws explicitly targeting those of Indian origin.
[16] Further regulation was issued by an order-in-council on 3 June 1908, which stated thatNo immigrant of Asiatic origin shall be permitted to enter Canada unless in actual and personal possession in his or her own right of two hundred dollars unless such person is a native or subject of an Asiatic country in regard to which special statutory regulations are in force or with which the Government of Canada has made a special treaty, agreement or convention.
[24] The second case involved 39 passengers from India who arrived in Victoria, BC, on 17 October 1913, on the ship Panama Maru,[25] and who were detained and ordered deported under the Immigration Act.
[30]As an appeal from Justice Hunter's decision was limited by law, the government responded quickly, by issuing new continuous journey and $200 cash requirement regulations on 7 January 1914, by orders-in-council P.C.
[34] Gurdit Singh Sandhu, from Amritsar, was a well-to-do government contractor in Singapore who was aware of the problems that Indians were facing in getting to Canada due to exclusion laws.
The Komagata Maru incident was widely cited at the time by Indian groups to highlight discrepancies in Canadian immigration laws.
Further, the inflamed passions in the wake of the incident were widely cultivated by the Indian revolutionary organization, the Ghadar Party, to rally support for its aims.
The announcement was made on 23 June 2006, at the time Prime Minister Harper apologized in the House of Commons for the head tax against Chinese immigrants.
On 23 May 2008, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia unanimously passed a resolution that:[The BC Legislature] apologizes for the events of May 23, 1914, when 376 passengers of the Komagata Maru, stationed off Vancouver harbour, were denied entry by Canada.
The House deeply regrets that the passengers, who sought refuge in our country and our province, were turned away without the benefit of the fair and impartial treatment befitting a society where people of all cultures are welcomed and accepted.
[38]On 3 August 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared at the 13th annual Ghadri Babiyan Da Mela (festival) in Surrey, BC, to issue an apology for the Komagata Maru incident.
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney said, "The apology has been given and it won't be repeated", thus settling the matter for the federal government.
[40] The dissatisfaction with Harper's 2008 apology was communicated to the federal government through individual members and groups of the Indo-Canadian community, such as The Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society.
[41] Finally, on May 18, 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a formal "full apology" for the incident in the House of Commons.
