Vol. 6, No. 2 (2010): 49\u201369.<\/p>\n
Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n George Leslie Mackay (1844\u20131901) is a national hero in Taiwan, father of the\u00a0Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, and the first Canadian missionary sent overseas\u00a0by a Canadian Church, to Taiwan (Formosa) in 1871. He was the most famous\u00a0Protestant missionary of his generation. He is almost unknown in Canada today.\u00a0Even less known is the fact that he was the most prominent and outspoken\u00a0opponent of the first poll tax (head tax) imposed on Chinese immigrants by the\u00a0Canadian government in 1885. Beginning with his first return to Canada from\u00a0Formosa in 1881, he began to speak against this “unequal and unjust law”. On his\u00a0second and final return to Canada, in 1893, his “uncompromising opposition to\u00a0all restrictive legislation against the Chinese” was fired to a fury by the attempt of\u00a0the Customs Officer in Vancouver to impose the head tax on his Taiwanese wife.\u00a0Mackay crossed the country speaking out against the “anti-progressive, anticommercial and anti-Christian” law, encouraging resolutions in public meetings.\u00a0He gained much support in the church, but no prominent Canadian politician or\u00a0newspaper publicly supported his campaign. In 1894 he was elected Moderator of\u00a0the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Through his urging, the General Assembly\u00a0passed a resolution condemning the head tax, and proposing to send a delegation\u00a0to visit Ottawa on this issue. Unfortunately, the whole plan was quietly dropped\u00a0after Mackay returned to Taiwan. Had Canada listened to Mackay, there would\u00a0have been no need to apologies to Chinese Canadians. Mackay is the prophetic\u00a0pioneer of Canadian anti-racism.<\/p>\n Author’s bio<\/strong><\/p>\n Michael Stainton is a Research Associate, of York University, and is the Secretary of Canadian Mackay Committee. His areas of specialisations are Taiwan indigenous peoples, Taiwan politics, and Canadian missionary history. Recent publications include \u201cNationalist Party\u201d, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Modern China (Cleveland: Gale Publications, 2009); \u201cRelieving Human Misery: George Leslie Mackay set the tone for progressive missions\u201d, Presbyterian Record, January 2007; and, \u201cTaiwan Aboriginal Peoples\u201d, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life, 2nd ed., vol. 3: Asia and Oceania (Detroit: Gale Research, 2009; first published in 1998). Current work involves the editing a volume of papers drawn from a conference on Religion and human rights in China, and assembling writers for an edited volume on George Leslie Mackay.<\/p>\n Download\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Download full article (PDF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vol. 6, No. 2 (2010): 49\u201369. Abstract George Leslie Mackay (1844\u20131901) is a national hero in Taiwan, father of the\u00a0Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, and the first Canadian missionary sent overseas\u00a0by a Canadian Church, to Taiwan (Formosa) in 1871. He was the most famous\u00a0Protestant missionary of his generation. He is almost unknown in Canada today.\u00a0Even less … Continue reading