Alliance. A number of the leading groups demanded meaningful redress, not only for the handful of surviving "head tax" payers and their widows or spouses, but first-generation sons and daughters who were direct victims, as recounted in the documentary Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice, proposing that the redress be represented (and limited) by each, actual "head tax" certificate brought forward by its surviving family members, or estate. Early demands from community groups for individual redress, ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 for the estimated 4,000 registrants. On June 22, 2006, twenty-two years after the Chinese Canadian redress campaign began, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an official apology to Chinese Canadians in the House of Commons for the first session of the 39th Parliament. During his address Harper spoke a few words in Cantonese, "" (, 'Canada Apologizes'), breaking the parliamentary tradition of speaking either English and French in the House of Commons. To the disappointment of many in the Chinese Canadian community, it was announced that only original head tax payers, or their surviving spouses, then in their nineties, or a total 785 claimants, would receive CAD$20,000 in individual redress, representing less than a fraction of one-percent of the 81,000 original head tax payers. Only an estimated 20 Chinese Canadians who paid the tax were still alive in 2006. As no mention of further redress was made, the Chinese Canadian community continued to fight for redress from the Canadian government. A national day of protest was held to coincide with Canada Day 2006 in major cities across Canada, and several hundred Chinese Canadians joined in local marches. Documentaries See also Chinese Canadian National Council Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice New Zealand head tax White Australia Policy Chinese Exclusion Act Anti-Chinese legislation in the United States Internment of Japanese Canadians References External links Search for names in Canadian government head tax records LOST YEARS: A People's Struggle for Justice Transcript of Prime Minister Harper's apology in Parliament National Post-Chinese Cdns Speak of Anger, Anguish - April 23, 2006 Redress.ca HeadTaxRedress.org ChineseHeadTax.ca Anti-Chinese legislation Chinese Canadian Head Tax History of immigration to Canada Human rights abuses in Canada Political history of Canada Taxation in Canada Anti-Chinese sentiment in Canada Poll taxes zh:人頭稅