Kew Dock Yip

1906 – 2001

Making the Case Against the Chinese Exclusion Act

FIRST CHINESE CANADIAN LAWYER, WHO WORKED WITH A JEWISH CIVIL RIGHTS ADVOCATE TO FIGHT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS.

Kew Dock Yip was born in Vancouver in 1906. His

father, Yip Sang, was a highly successful merchant in Vancouver who was a paymaster for the Canadian Pacific Railway. After graduating
from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1945, Dock Yip became the first Canadian of Chinese descent to be called to the bar in Canada. Dock had an office in Toronto’s Chinatown where he used his language (he spoke three Chinese dialects) and legal skills to help his clients.

Dock Yip became friends with a Jewish lawyer Irving Himmel, and they joined forces to fight against racial injustices both of their commu-
nities were facing. They formed the Committee for the Repeal of the Chinese Immigration Act, joined by 69 Chinese and non-Chinese members.

Together, they successfully lobbied and brought about the repeal of the exclusionary law in 1947.

Dock Yip shows an example of how Chinese Canadians and other marginalized groups worked together for civil liberties and equal
rights. His efforts have been celebrated by many organizations, including the Law Society of Upper Canada who awarded him the Law Society Medal, which is given to selected lawyers who have made a significant contribution to the profession.

Dock was also an actor and had appeared in such movies as Year of the Dragon. He even appeared in a 1991 rock video with Cyndi Lauper.


In 1923 I attended some Chinese mass meetings against the Exclusion Act.
Joseph Hope — Ying Hope’s older brother, a businessman — tried to oppose it but
he couldn’t do anything. My brother was studying medicine at Queen’s University. He went to Ottawa to protest. He couldn’t do anything either. He was in the gallery at the House of Commons and just watched as they passed the Act. I was at a meeting where Joseph Hope spoke after they passed the Act.
We called it humiliation day, July 1st, 1923.
I listened to him. Maybe that inspired me to
help change the Act when I finished law.