Key Concepts  Pearl Harbour  War Measures Act  Japanese Internment (Canada)  Brian Mulroney (Response on Internment)

Overview  At the start of World War II, approximately 23,000 people of Japanese descent lived in Canada, mostly in British Columbia.  75% held Canadian citizenship and over 13,000 were Japanese-Canadians (they were born in Canada).  Most Japanese-Canadians were hard workers, owned land, and paid taxes.

Pearl Harbour  On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked and destroyed the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  The damage was extensive:  19 naval vessels were damaged or sunk  188 American aircrafts  2,300 soldiers killed  1,109 are wounded

Canada Declares War on Japan  Canada declared war on Japan in December of  On December 25, 1941 at the Battle of Hong Kong, Japan surrenders.  Canadian soldiers paid a heavy price.  Total soldiers sent: 1,975  550 were killed, or died in prison camps  493 wounded  Fears of a Japanese invasion continued to spread along the Pacific Coast.

This fragment comes from one of the shells that a Japanese submarine fired at Estevan Point on Vancouver Island on 20 June 1942,

The Japanese in Canada  The Japanese had always experienced racism in British Columbia.  White people enacted various laws prohibiting Japanese workers from working on provincial projects.  Many Japanese worked in the fishing industry, causing Canadians to express fear that Japanese fishermen were charting the coastline for the Japanese navy.  As a result, 1,200 Japanese fishing boats were confiscated by the Government of Canada.

The Canadian War Measures Act  Bowing to public pressure, the Government of Canada issued the War Time Measures Act on February 24, 1942, forcing Japanese-Canadians and Japanese in Canada into “protective areas” (i.e., internment camps) for “their own safety”.  The act “gave the government sweeping powers to ensure the security, defence, peace, order, and welfare of Canada.”  All property that could not be carried would be taken into “protective custody.” These items effectively became the property of the Canadian government.

Japanese Internment Begins  Families were separated. Men were usually forced into one camp, while women and children entered another camp many kilometers away.  Those unwilling to live in internment camps or relocation centres faced the possibility of deportation to Japan.  The Japanese did not resist the internment.

Japanese Internment Begins  There were ten internment camps in Canada. The camps included:  Three road camps  Two Prisoner of War (POW) camps  Five self- supporting camps scattered throughout Canada  Camp living conditions were poor.  There was no electricity or running water available.

Japanese Internment Camps in Canada

There were similar camps established in the United States.

Conditions of Japanese Internment  Under the pretence of homeland protection, Japanese- Canadians were: (1) Denied their basic rights (2) Issued special clothing (3) Stripped of their personal belongings and property (4) Relocated into camps. (5) Forced into manual labour  As well, Japanese schools were closed, Japanese newspapers were shut down and a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed.  On March 25, 1942, the British Columbia Security Commission forced men into road camps and women and children into “ghost town” detention camps.

Conditions in the Camps  Two families minimum lived together in small areas equipped with two bedrooms and a kitchen.  Hundreds of women and children resided in livestock buildings and slept on straw covered beds.  Conditions were so poor that the Red Cross had to provide aid.

Overview of the Canadian Japanese Internment Camps cw cw

World War II Ends  In 1945, the Canadian government forced the Japanese Canadians to either move back Japan, loosing their Canadian citizenship, or to move to Eastern Canada.  Even though the war was over, it was illegal for Japanese Canadians to return to Vancouver until  Public protest would eventually stop the deportations, but not before 4000 Japanese left the country.

Canada Acknowledges Its Wrong Doings  On September 22, 1988, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney offered a formal apology from Canada to the internees.  The Canadian government also provided compensation. The package included:  (1) $21,000 to all surviving internees.  (2) The re-instatement of Canadian citizenship to those who were deported to Japan.

Brian Mulroney Apologizes CBC News: Apology to Japanese Canadians  orld_war/clips/1621/ orld_war/clips/1621/

Reflecting on the Camps Today - Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre  On July 31, 2010, Parks Canada honoured the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre located in New Denver, B.C.  This centre still features some of the huts and shacks that were used for 1,500 Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War.  This is important because interment camps were a significant part of Canada’s history and is something that should not be forgotten /japanese-internment-camp #ixzz1eUHZUswj