Why Did The Canadian Government Apologize To Japanese Canadians In 1988?

If you could live anywhere in Canada, where would you live? Some citizens would say Banff or St.Andrews because they are both very beautiful towns. Mobility rights allow you to live anywhere in Canada that you wish. If Canada didn’t have Mobility Rights, Canada would have a lot more homeless people on the streets and of course, Canadian citizens don’t want that. Canada’s Mobility rights allow Canadian citizens the right to take up residency in any province. In 1941, the Canadian government had been detaining and dispossessing any citizens, in British Columbia, of Japanese descent. They were being interned from the year of 1941 until 1949 many years after the conclusion of the war. During which time their homes and

Secondly, he after effects from the Japanese internment camps changed the views of the Japanese Canadians in regards to minority rights in Canada. This is because they realized that they couldn't just let the discrimination of the Japanese Canadians go and they demanded justice. After the Japanese Canadians were released from internment camps they were lost. Their house and possessions were sold off by the Canadian government without their permission, they had virtually nothing. On top of that the Japanese Canadians were given the choice to either relocate East of the Rockies or deport back to Japan. Soon after the Japanese Canadians had no choice and were forced exiles to Japan began. However things started to turn up in 1947 when the federal cabinets canceled the deportation policy, but the Japanese Canadians still wanted justice. The Japanese Canadians believed that it wasn't fair that they were treated so badly because they were from Japan origin. Even though they were a minority group they were still Canadian citizens and should be treated like Canadians. The Japanese Canadians were determine for

With the start of the war, the government put some time restrictions on Japanese people for being in public, Japanese fishermen were ban from Canadian waters. The government also introduced the War Measure Act in order to remove all people of Japanese origin from coast of British Columbia into internment camps in the interior parts of B.C. (Porter & Uyeyama, 1984). Those who showed even a mild resistance to this policy were sent to Prisoners of War Camps in Petawawa and Anglerin in Ontario (Sugiman, 2004, p. 54). In the internment camps people were forced to live in shacks that were hastily prepared (Sugiman, 2004, p. 54), faced daily hardships (Sugiman, 2004, p. 63), and some Japanese women were subjected to sexual harassment by RCMP guards (Sugiman, 2004, p.64). In addition, while Japanese Canadians were at the internment camps, the federal government sold all their properties such as homes and fishing boats, for less than half of their price (Porter & Uyeyama, 1984). Thus, even though many of these people were neutralized Canadians and Canadian born, the federal government failed to recognize their loyalty to Canada as Canadians, simply because of the way they looked, and treated them as enemy aliens and betrayed them during the

Japanese Canadians during World War 2 were deeply affected, all over the world but, received the harshest punishment in Canada. With families, having to leave their homes, and all their land and get shipped to interment camps, where they were treated poorly and not seen as individuals but seen as japanese, by the colour of their skin. I believe that many ethnic groups all over the world have received a form of discrimination or mistreatment that has abolished some of their heritage and identity. Apologies have been given out but, have have not been giving for the right reasons instead given for the sake of saying we have apologized. The author develops the idea that when a social group or ethnic group have experienced hardships and social scrutiny, this effect them deeply leading, to future hatred and searching for answers.

The apology given in Parliament to Canadians of Japanese descent for sending them to internment camps during World War II.

A perfect example of the dangerous implications can be seen in the Supreme Court Case, Reference Re Person of Japanese Race. Immediately following the deadly attacks on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, Canada declared war on the Empire of Japan and thus became increasingly nervous of Japanese sympathizers living in Canada and especially on the west coast where the possibility for attack was perceived to be greater. In the name of protection of Canadian citizens the War Measures Act and the subsequent National Emergency Transitional Powers Act was enacted and the Governor General adopted three new Orders in Council that were to be taken into effect immediately. They called for the arrest, detainment, deportation, as well as the seizing of property of Japanese individuals including legally landed immigrants and those with full Canadian citizenship in the name of safety to the country of

     During this time of crisis in America, the Japanese people in our country were done a huge injustice. They were stripped their constitutional rights, relocated to a location with poor living conditions, and when America apologized it was just too late. The mental and physical health impacts of this event continues to affect tens of thousands of Japanese

Roger Daniels’ book Prisoners without Trial is another book that describes the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This piece discusses about the background that led up to the internment, the internment itself, and what happened afterwards. The internment and relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II was an injustice prompted by political and racial motivations. The author’s purpose of this volume is to discuss the story in light of the redress and reparation legislation enacted in 1988. Even though Daniels gives first hand accounts of the internment of Japanese Americans in his book, the author is lacking adequate citations and provocative quotations. It’s

The core of the Japanese experience in Canada lies in the shameful and almost undemocratic suspension of human rights that the Canadian government committed during World War II. As a result, thousands of Japanese were uprooted to be imprisoned in internment camps miles away from their homes. While only a small percentage of the Japanese living in Canada were actually nationals of Japan, those who were Canadian born were, without any concrete evidence, continuously being associated with a country that was nothing but foreign to them. Branded as “enemy aliens”, the Japanese Canadians soon came to the realization that their beloved nation harboured so much hate and anti-Asian sentiments that Canada was becoming just as foreign to them as

Economically, those who failed to prove they are Canadian lose their jobs because it is a security risk according to the War Measures Act. Moreover, they did not just lose their jobs, but also their homes and self-ran businesses. All of their homes and businesses are destroyed before they are sent to the internment camps. The government of Canada took all of the belongings of the Japanese and Italians whilst sending them to camps. In 1946, the government of Canada institutes the Japanese Property Claims Commission. This commission allows the Japanese to speak out their thoughts of being treated unfairly. Nor was it until 1988 when the government gave $20k as an apology to each living survivor. As a result, after all the hard effort the Japanese and Italians put into own homes and shops, the privilege of living and working where they want is taken away due to being forced to live in internment

When the government first started to distrust the Japanese people in Canada, measures were put in place which marked the first steps of interment. “Almost 22,000 of the approximately 24,000 people of Japanese descent living in Canada were removed from their homes and distributed to various locations across Canada. Seventy-five percent were Canadian citizens.” (“World War II & Internment”, n.d.) This is the result of the government creating a ‘protected zone’ [160 km from B.C. coast] which forced all Japanese descendants out of that area. Many of these people moved were innocent first-generation Canadians, still, they were treated as enemies and moved away. The Japanese being moved sparked debate about whether or not internment was justifiable. “Canadian military officials and the RCMP felt that the Japanese Canadian population posed no threat and opposed taking any punitive action against them.” (McRae, 2017) While most politicians and most white Canadians saw the Japanese in Canada as threats, some saw it as putting innocent and harmless Canadians in internment camps. Looking back, those who believed the Japanese people in Canada were innocent were correct. “Their actions were monitored; their rights suspended. Yet no hearings or trials were ever held and no charges of treason were ever laid” (“Facts & Figures”, 2011) The politicians and white

During the Internment of Japanese Canadians, people were treated differently in society due to their ethnic background. Firstly, it is shown/demonstarted by the actions of Prime Minister William Lyon along with, Mackenzie King who had ordered to detain/take away people's young and innocent lives from their homes and take them to Hastings Park. Leaving, the Japanese Canadians clueless , with no explanation to what is being happened. As a result of that , the governments used the “War Measure Act” to be allowed to remove them from their “own property,farms, business” (Marsh, 2012)and also forced “more than 8,000” (Marsh, 2012) Japanese Canadians through Hastings Park “where women and children were housed in the Livestock Buildings”. On the

Japanese Canadians were expected to live in really bad conditions. Two families were put into small huts which contained only one kitchen and two bedrooms. There had to live without electricity or clean water till 1943.The reason for the japanese internment was because there was speculation that Japanese Canadians were involved in sabotage and or where a threat to Canada because they were from japan, when in reality most of the japanese Canadians never even step foot in japan. Also the canadian government had no real proof against the Japanese Canadians, but that did get in the way of Japanese Internment. Canada not only took away some of the rights but also the tried to force people away from their culture.

The Psychological impacts put upon the Japanese-Canadians, weren’t just the horrible experiences, or the separation of family and friends. Rather the impact due to the discrimination of the Japanese-Canadians by the government and the rest of society had a deeper impact. The hatred of the Japanese-Canadians by the Government and the people had an Enormous impact on the people’s well being, and the way they viewed themselves. The government after the relocation sold most of the properties and confiscated possessions of the Japanese-Canadians. They also took out all of the Japanese Newspapers, restricted Telephone and mail Services, thus Preventing Communication. Furthermore, the media was full of “Anti-Japanese-Canadian Rhetoric.” Finally the Greatest hatred against came from not the media, nor the government, but the people around them. Sent to remote and deserted areas, or work/concentration camps,

At the time most Canadians approved the relocation of the Japanese. Today it is recognized as one of the worst violations of human rights in the history of the country. They lost their possessions and their livelihood. This was done to preserve national security which was never at risk. Most Canadians approved the relocation of Japanese. They lost everything. They were never a threat to national security. Today this is known as one of the worst violations of Human Rights. Japanese Canadians persisted in seeking compensation for all they had suffered. In 1988 the government of Canada finally agreed. It admitted that the treatment of Japanese Canadians during and after World War II was unjust and violates principles of human rights as they are understood today. It apologized and agreed to pay $21 000 to every evacuee who was still living as well as other money to the Japanese Canadian community as a whole. Japanese Canadians kept trying to get compensation. In 1988 the government apologized and paid $21 000 to living evacuees and gave money to the Japanese