''Quong Wing v R'' is a famous Supreme Court of Canada decision where the Court upheld a provincial law that discriminated against the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

. Quong Wing was a naturalized Canadian citizen, originally from China, who ran a restaurant in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javian ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. In 1912, he attempted to hire two white women, Mabel Hopham and Nellie Lane, to work as waitresses. Consequently, he was charged and convicted under a provincial statute, ''An Act to prevent the Employment of Female Labour in certain capacities'',''An Act to prevent the Employment of Female Labour in certain capacities'', Statutes of Saskatchewan 1912, c. 17. which prohibited white women or girls from working in businesses owned by " Chinamen". Wing appealed, arguing that the law was outside the power of the province as laws related to morality were considered criminal matters which is the exclusive authority of the federal government. As well, he argued that the law did not intend to include naturalized citizens. The Supreme Court held in a four to one decision that the law was valid. The Court interpreted the word "Chinaman" as including all those born in China regardless of subsequent nationality. Justice

John Idington John Idington (October 14, 1840 – February 7, 1928) was a Canadian justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Born in Puslinch, Upper Canada (now Ontario), the son of Peter Idington and Catherine Stewart, he received his LL.B degree from the ...

, alone in dissent, was the only one concerned with the justification of the law and held the law to be invalid on the basis that citizenship was a matter of federal jurisdiction and so ''ultra vires'' of provincial powers.

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case summary

text from decision
Canadian civil rights case law Supreme Court of Canada cases 1914 in Canadian case law Chinese Canadian Minority rights History of Chinese Canadians {{Canadian identity

See also

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