The Internment of the Japanese

by Brooke Ashby

On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese made a surprise military strike on the United States at Pearl Harbor. This attack caused fear in Canada. On January 1942, the Canadian Federal Government released an internment order of all Japanese people or people of Japanese Origin. This was solely based on the fear of a sabotage or espionage, with no proof to justify it.

 Prime Minister Mackenzie King made the decision to intern the Japanese. When others may have had an actual fear of a sabotage, his decision was based mostly on racism towards the Japanese. In 1945 the Prime Minister stated, “It is the government’s plan to get these people out of B.C. 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.” Prime Minister Mackenzie King was in no doubt racist, and his racism played a big part in the internment.

The Japanese were sent off to the camps, away from their homes and forced to leave all their possessions behind, which were later all auctioned off by the Custodian of Aliens. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the living conditions at the camp were awful. Some lived in barnyards and stables, others were forced to share a small cabin with ten other families. Canada had no proof that there were Japanese plans of a sabotage, therefore they were not justified in sending the Japanese to internment camps, the least they could have done would have been to supple them with proper conditions to live in.

In August 1945, the allies dropped the worlds first atomic bomb. The bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, a Japanese city, killing thousands. 5 days later the allies dropped another bomb, this time in the Japanese city Nagasaki. The following day the Japanese surrendered. In 1949 all the Japanese were given back their rights, and were able to live freely in Canada once again.

  Many years later in 1988, The Prime Minister Brian Mulroney gave a formal apology. He also announced that a compensation package would be sent to all the people affected by this event. This package included twenty-one thousand dollars, and the re-instatement of Canadian citizenship to all those who were deported to Japan.

(This primary source shows the apology of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and can show things have become better today among Canada and the Japanese.)

Because of Brian Mulroney’s apology, things have become better and more peaceful in Canada today. There is no longer any confrontation between the Japanese and Canada. People are not as racist as they were in that time, they have become more accepting and understanding. This event in a way has helped Canada become a better place today.