BC

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Victor Wong, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council, is pictured in Toronto's Chinatown on April 2, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/J.P. Moczulski

The grandson of an Chinese immigrant forced to pay a head tax says British Columbia's premier shouldn't let her political woes interfere with delivering a meaningful apology for the policy.

Victor Wong with the Chinese Canadian National Council is wondering about Christy Clark's suggestion that the timing around an announcement for redress may be affected by the ethnic vote scandal that has rocked her government.

Clark made it clear on CTV's Question Period on Sunday she may need to postpone making any apology so there won't be any accusations that she is playing politics with the issue.

"I think it's the right thing to do to apologize for the Chinese head tax, I am very committed to that," she said.

"I think, though, the apology needs to be seen outside of politics. It needs to be an absolutely genuine apology and if the discussion about all the rest of this is going to taint that, I say we wait."

Clark added that there are two MLAs in the Liberal caucus who are the children of those who paid the head tax, and that they are very passionate about seeing an apology through.