J. Edward Bird

Joseph Edward Bird (July 16, 1868 – 1948) was a Canadian legal figure. Bird was the primary lawyer, hired by the Khalsa Diwan Society to represent the passengers on board the Komagata Maru in Vancouver, 1914. Bird fought actively against the threat of his clients' eventual deportation, and he made great effort to challenge Canada's highly restrictive immigration laws. Bird was an advocate for equality, and sought to reform the race-based exclusion laws in Canada. Bird attempted to prove that the passengers of the Komagata Maru should have been able to settle in Canada as British subjects, though he was ultimately unsuccessful; public and political sentiments and policies at the time were overtly racist, and the BC Court of Appeal ordered the Komagata Maru to return to India.

Early life and background Born on July 16, 1868, and raised in Barrie, Ontario, on Lake Simcoe, Bird's lineage is Canadian dating back many generations, with a distant Irish past. His mother was Elizabeth Bird, and his father was Henry Bird, a prominent citizen of Barrie who worked as a treasurer and clerk for the municipality of Barrie.

Though Barrie had both a strong farming industry, and a prosperous forestry (saw-milling) industry, Bird's desire to further his education took him beyond the trades of his hometown. After completing his schooling at Barrie Collegiate Institute, Bird left for Toronto, where he attended University of Toronto and then began his legal studies at Osgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the bar in 1893 and began to practice that same year with the Toronto-based law firm Edgar & Malone. Bird intended to prove that the Komagata Marus passengers should be allowed to land in Canada as British subjects, but this was a significant challenge. The premier of British Columbia, Sir Richard McBride openly opposed allowing the passengers onto Canadian soil, as did the mayor of Vancouver, Truman Smith Baxter, and several other members of the provincial legislature. McBride even went as far to say: "To admit Orientals in large numbers would mean in the end the extinction of the white peoples and we have always in mind the necessity of keeping this a white man's country." Though he worked tirelessly, the Board of Inquiry was very slow-moving. In a letter from Bird to Malcolm R.J. Reid, Chairman of the Board of Inquiry, Bird criticizes the conduct of the Board, calling the ordeal "a scandal", going on to say "Everything is being done by your Board to prevent any test case coming to the court."

Following Bird's letter to Reid, the Board of Inquiry allowed for one test case to be presented. Bird launched a defence in the case of Munshi Singh, one of the passengers of the Komagata Maru. Bird failed, perhaps largely because of his own argument. He aimed to examine a misuse of the term "race" in order to expose the absurdity of Canadian immigration laws, and put agents of the state on the defensive. Although effective at addressing the claims made by white racists and exclusionists, Bird was unable to sway the Board with his argument. He suggested there "is no such thing as an Asiatic race!" and that the term "race" is in fact "incapable of any understanding." In the end, the Board sided with a cultural, rather than racial differences, and the Komagata Maru was forced to return to India.

The Komagata Maru case was later turned over the Bird's partner, MacNeill after Bird was threatened by a local citizen for his involvement in the case. Bird and his wife chose to travel out of town to avoid the potential danger.

Related information

Notably, Bird's wife, Caroline Mary Irwin was born to James and Elizabeth (née Boyd) Irwin. The Boyd family, specifically Mossom Boyd, left a lasting legacy on Bobcaygeon; he developed a very successful lumber empire, and became known as the lumber king of Trent.

Bird's sister Elizabeth married future Chief Justice of Canada Lyman Duff in 1898.