Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday delivered a message of redress for the racist head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants over 120 years ago.

Harper apologized and offered compensation in a brief speech in the House of Commons, with a few aged survivors of the head-tax era looking on from the gallery.

"On behalf of the people and government of Canada, we offer a full apology to Chinese Canadians for the head tax and express our deepest sorrow for the subsequent exclusion of Chinese immigrants, " Harper told the Commons.

Harper called the head tax "a great injustice," saying he would make symbolic payments to those who paid the tax or their surviving families.

The head tax, ranging from 50 Canadian dollars to 500 Canadian dollars, was assessed on Chinese immigrants from 1885 until 1923 when immigration from China was banned entirely until 1947. About 81,000 people are believed to have paid the tax.

Source: Xinhua