HC Deb 12 December 1906 vol 167 c341
MR. REES

To ask the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that 2,000 Sikhs, more or less, are without occupation in Canada; whether any action can be taken for their repatriation if they cannot obtain employment; and whether the fact has been duly published in the Punjaub and elsewhere in India that there is no career in Canada for Sikhs or other Indians who have crossed the Pacific.

(Answered by Mr. Secretary Morley.) My attention has already been called to the ease of the natives of India to whom the hon. Member refers, and I have been in communication with the Colonial Office and the Government of India on the subject. I can make no statement at present as to the possibility of their being repatriated. I requested the Government of India by telegraph last month to make it widely known that British Columbia is not at present a suitable field for Indian labour.