Historiography
The question whether internment camps and evacuation of Japanese Canadians during World War Two still remains today. Racism during World War Two for Japanese Canadians was nothing new to them. The racism prior to World War Two in Canada towards the Japanese Canadians “had defined their communities since the first immigrants arrived in the 1870’s”. As immigrants in Canada, Japanese Canadians were always discriminated against and were never treated right. They were never given their equal human rights as citizens in Canada.
When the war started, treatment of Japanese Canadians in the nation turned for the worse. Many Canadians grew fear thinking that Japanese Canadians would secretly work with Japan and try to destroy Canada. Over the span of a few months, the idea of internment came into place. Although the decision to use internment camps on Japanese Canadians did not come quickly, it was based on Ian Mackenzie's ideas and views. “Their main source of information was Ian Mackenzie, who lied about the demands of public opinion in B.C.” It is sad to know that the government was able to make the harsh decision on what to do with the innocent Japanese Canadians based on Ian Mackenzie’s false report of the Conference on Japanese Problems which had taken place on January 8, 1942.
“After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the War Measures Act labelled all Japanese Canadians as “enemy aliens” Drastic measures were taken because to the government, it deemed to be the only way to resolve any fear in Canada. “These actions were legalized by a series of orders-in-council made under the War Measures Act.1 On 14 January 1942, the federal government of Canada passed Order-in-Council PC 365, calling for the removal of male Japanese nationals 18 to 45 years of age from a designated "protected area" 100 miles from the BC coast. These men were then deposited in road camps in the Jasper area of the province of Alberta. Three weeks later, Order-in-Council PC 1486 was passed, expanding the power of the minister of Justice to remove "all persons of Japanese origin" The governments role and policy was the main reason behind the interment camps and the harsh treatments towards the Japanese. They thought that controlling the Japanese Canadians would help to protect the nation.
“Japanese Canadians were uprooted form their homes, deprived of property, possessions, dignity and civil rights, including the rights to work, to travel freely, to vote and, in the case of those who were subsequently `deported' to Japan, to their status as Canadians. In other words, some 27,000 people were subjected to conditions of apartheid”. The Japanese Canadians had nothing, stripped from their human rights and dignity. They felt as if they were nothing, worthless and were discriminated against. They were all labelled as enemies, man, woman and child, and all treated as a problem and threat that needed to be resolved in British Columbia.
British Columbia is the closest province to Japan, resulting in a high Japanese immigrant population. Many jobs, especially jobs relating to fishing, the Japanese Canadians were doing. "The fact that there are a large number of Japanese fishermen operating in British Columbia waters ... and having a thorough and practical knowledge of the coast, is in itself a matter of some concern to the naval authorities." The fact that the Japanese Canadians worked on the coast line of the pacific ocean fishing it raised high concern and worry. Many people living in British Columbia felt and believed that the Japanese Canadians would work they work with Japan and help them in the war.
No body wanted enemies living in their own nation so “In August 1941, naval officers commanding on the coast asked Ottawa for authority to round up the fishing boats in the event of war.” Naval authorities wanted the government to do something to control the Japanese Canadians before anything bad could happen. People in British Columbia were living in constant fear and something needed to be done to comfort them and to ensure that they were safe. At first Ottawa was against this, but by October, “orders were issued for seizure only of boats "owned and operated by Japanese nationals."” It is evident here that as the war progressed, Canadians became more aware and scared of the potential dangers that Japanese Canadians could cause in Canada. The more the fear built up in Canadians on home ground, the more restrictions and policies were placed on the Japanese. This was the start to the discrimination and the negative grouping of Japanese in Canada.
However, not all Canadians believed that the Japanese Canadians posed a threat to national security.“The Japanese Canadians never posed a significant threat to national security. Senior officials in the RCMP, Royal Canadian Navy, Department of Labour and Fisheries, and other government agencies, had made it clear during the Conference on Japanese Matters that from their point of view the Japanese did not “constitute the slightest menace to national security.”” This proves that many high powered groups in Canada during the time of World War Two did not see the Japanese Canadians as a threat to their nation and that no drastic measures were needed to provide security to them. Japanese to some seemed like a major concern while others did not. “The government’s decision to evacuate and intern Japanese Canadians during World War II was an unnecessary and racially motivated course of action. It was the fruition of racial animosity that had been harbored against Asians in British Columbia since their arrival in the late nineteenth century.” Due to the racial discrimination before the Japanese dropped the bomb on Pearl Harbor, this lead the government to come to a harsh decision of evacuating and sending Japanese Canadians to internment camps.
Interment camps had both positive and negative effects on Canada as a whole. The decision for internment camps negatively impacted the Japanese Canadian society. “Japanese Canadian society was to be permanently altered by this decision. Entire communities were broken up, social ties were lost, institutions that had held Japanese Canadian society together were destroyed and had to be rebuilt.” The decision the follow through with internment camps caused huge racial discrimination, damage to property, the loss of the Japanese community and also emotional and physical pain for those interned. As much as the Canadian government wanted to protect their country, doing this caused damage that would take lots of money and years to repair.
Read more about this topic: Japanese Canadian Internment