Chinese labours
life as a Chinese labour (in the CPR)
Chinese Labours
Chinese men had to come to Canada to build the CPR. Their families were in poor conditions. They were told by the government that they will be paid money for doing this. Also they will be given food, shelter, education for kids, clothing. needs to help them survive. But they ended up having not getting enough respect they needed.
food
Chinese labors ate rice salmon and washed it down with tea. They did their own cooking outside with an outdoor campfire. Some could not affort fresh fruits or veggies so most went through Scurvy ( a disease caused by a diet without vitamin C )
Shelter
For shelter they had to sleep in camps, tents or boxcars. In the winter it was really hard to keep warm cause they don't have proper shelter. The only way to keep warm is make fire outside. Some froze to death.
Payment
They were paid $1.00 a day and with that they had to pay for their own food. While other workers that were not Chinese got paid $1.50 -$2.50 a day. But they did not have to pay for their food. This was because the government thought Chinese needed less to survive. Also the Chinese were given the most breath taking most dangerous job out of every other workers that were working there.
Medical care
If they get ill or hurt from construction there was no good treatment to cure. So they had to relay on there own treatment. Most of them just died. Like I said before people thought that the Chinese needed less to survive.
After the CPR
After the CPR some found another job, most died and some could not get back to China because they could not afford it. And yes the Government did not give any money for them to get back. Also after the CPR there was something called The Chinese Head Tax. This was so the Chinese would stop coming to Canada cause the government thought there were too many Chinese in Canada. In the 1885 it was that the Chinese had to pay $50 for them to enter. But that did not stop them from coming. So then in the 1900 it increased to $100 for them to enter. But that did not stop them from coming. So agan the price increased to $500 in 1903. But that was too much for them. They had to save up the money they can't even use it for food. So they decided to stay in China. The Federal Government collected $23 million through the Chinese Head Tax.