Japanese Internment (jan 14, 1942 – apr 1, 1949)

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When Japanese troops attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, the United States officially joined World War II. Because of Canada's relationship with the United States, Canada entered the global war scene as their ally. The traumatizing attack on Pearl Harbor left citizens, victims, and Canadians searching for someone to blame. Although Japanese Canadians were not directly associated with the attackers, they faced discrimination, oppression, and racism. The government invoked the War Measures Act against them, claiming they were a threat to Canada, and stripped them of their rights. Despite the Act being reserved for times of threat, Canada used it against its own citizens. In early 1942, approximately 21,000 Japanese Canadians were removed from their homes in British Columbia and detained under the Act due to fear of Japanese invasions. They were held until the end of World War II, with around 12,000 put into internment camps where they worked hard labour jobs and lived in poor conditions. Lena Hayakawa and her family were among the victims of internment. She tells her story of being taken away with her family to sugar beet farms in Dufrost, Manitoba. Approximately 4,000 Japanese Canadians were expatriated back to Japan, with the government funding their internment by selling their possessions and properties. Japanese internment ended on April 1, 1949, but left Japanese Canadians disappointed and traumatized.

On September 22, 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney formally apologized on behalf of the government for the abuse, oppression, and discriminatory behaviour that interned Japanese Canadians faced. The internment is still talked about today to remind people that Canada, due to discrimination, showed no mercy in imprisoning its own people.

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