OTTAWA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian government is ready to redress the racist head tax applied to Chinese immigrants over 120years ago.

    Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to speak to the House of Parliament on Thursday, offering a formal apology as well as compensation to head tax payers, their widows and children.

    "An apology will be made in the House and we will also be addressing appropriate acknowledgement," Heritage Minister Bev Oda told the parliament Wednesday.

    Chinese-Canadian groups say they expect the package will include payments of 21,000 Canadian dollars (19,000 U.S. dollars) for head tax payer survivors and widows, 10,000 Canadian dollars (9,000 U.S. dollars) to first-generation children, as well as some money for education and commemoration of the dark historic period for the Chinese immigrants.

    Meanwhile, a group of about 100 head tax survivors and their relatives from across the country arrived in Ottawa Wednesday by a train dubbed "Redress Express," to witness the event.

    The journey, which started off last Friday from Vancouver, the starting point of Canada's Pacific Railway, symbolizes the painful connections between early Chinese immigrants and the railway.

    The head tax, ranging from 50 Canadian dollars to 500, was assessed on Chinese immigrants from 1885 until 1923 when immigration from China was banned entirely. Canada opened its doors again to Chinese immigrants in 1947.

    Chinese immigration to Canada began in 1858, and about 6,500 labored on the Pacific Railway project from 1881 to 1885. The head tax was applied immediately after the railway was completed.

    About 81,000 people are believed to have paid the tax, which amounted in some cases to about two year's wages.

    Joseph Wong, founding president of the Chinese Canadian National Council, said there are about 35 survivors, 360 of their widows and fewer than 4,000 of their children.

    "The purpose of tying this in with a railway ride is to remind ourselves that the railroad is part of the mythology of Canada and helped build Canada," said Susan Eng, co-chair of the Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers, on Wednesday. "And we have to remember the Chinese workers who gave their lives to build this country."

    Eng stressed that the government's apology was vital. "An apology means that there is a public and official acknowledgment that this was legislation that was unreservedly racist ... and this is something that the government of the day has chosen, properly, to apologize for." Enditem