Dirty Secret #2 (Part 2) - Racism: The Japanese-Canadian Internment Camps

A dark chapter in the history of Canada began in December of 1941, following the attack by Japanese forces on American army and naval facilities at Pearl Harbor.  This attack began a process by both the United States of America and Canada which would have most Canadian and American born citizens of Japanese ancestry detained in internment camps over the next decade.  Previously, both countries had agreed to follow parallel policies with respect to their own Japanese minorities; prior to the Second World War, 23 000 Canadians of Japanese ancestry were located in British Columbia, 80% of which were Canadian nationals.

In January of 1942, the Cabinet decided to enact laws for internment of Japanese-Canadians, the revoking of their fishing licenses, the sale of all Japanese-Canadian owned vessels to non-Japanese citizens, and a decree that all male 'enemy' aliens of military age were to be removed from the coastal defence zone before April 1st, 1942 (in that area the numbers were close to 2,000), as well as the right to detain any resident of Canada without trial on the grounds of national security (sound familiar, G.W?).
Following this decision, Japanese-Canadians in British Columbia were arrested and questioned but knew nothing- and still they were sent to the internment camps.  The government promised them all that they would get their land back when they had come back from the "shelters".  The land was then sold off cheaply at auctions, some of which was already worth millions even in the 1940s.  Many families lost most of their personal belongings as they could only take what they were able to carry in their arms.  Apart from the general bigotry of the whole situation, further adding to the resentment which Japanese-Canadians would feel is the fact that some of the interned citizens had even fought for Canada in the army on the Western front in World War I.
Many Japanese-Canadians and Japanese-Americans who were detained in North America have also verified the fact that they were victims of forced labour- often times making army apparel or things like camouflage nets for the Armed Forces.

One particular politician to make his views clear on the situation was MP Ian Mackenzie, who at his 1944 nomination meeting said the following:
"It is the government's plan to get these people out of British Columbia as fast as possible.  It is my personal intention, as long as I remain in public life, to see they never come back here.  Let our slogan be for British Columbia: 'No Japs from the Rockies to the seas'."


Following the war and defeat of the Japanese Empire, internees (a nice way of saying 'prisoner') were given the choice of deportation or transfer to other parts of Canada.  Many who were relocated to Ontario would write their relatives about how they still faced much discrimination and now found themselves without their homes that had been sold by the government, forced to become bottom-of-the-barrel wage earners.
3,964 Japanese-Canadians were deported back to Japan, where they would most likely still be quite alienated due to the fact that most of these citizens were Canadian born and only of Japanese ancestry- most had never even visited their homeland of Japan.

Public protests eventually caused the repeal of the legislation and a Royal Commission was appointed in 1947 to examine the confiscation of property during the time of interment.  It was only in 1949 that all the restrictions in law were lifted from Japanese-Canadians.

Furthermore, it took almost another 40 years before the Canadian government would give a formal apology and any sort of compensation/reparations for Japanese-Canadians.  Brian Mulroney enacted these measures in 1988.

The parallel actions by both the USA and Canada demonstrate that even as rightful citizens in your country, the government can and will do what they wish to you.  A high majority of Japanese-Canadians and Japanese-Americans that were interned were born in North America and had no ties to Japan other than their ancestry.
For example, imagine this- the Irish Republican Army has people who work in all countries, and one day they decide to blow up a building in Canada.  All of a sudden the government says that anybody who is of Irish ancestry is to be detained, questioned and sent to an internment camp for some hard labour.  Of course they would tell you it's a 'shelter' for your protection because of your ancestry, and that you would be safely returned to your home as soon as is feasible.  They would reassure you, year after year, that it was all for the good of your people and for the country.

The scariest part?  There are interment camps still being built and maintained all over North America.  There are detainment compounds sitting unused across our great continent, that are still being kept in top shape and having maintenance performed.  Why would they need something like that?
I guess you never know when you'll have to 'shelter' a large demographic.