IS THE CANADIAN LEGACY OF EQUALITY A LIE?
The experiences of enemy aliens and Japanese Canadians.
Canada is known worldwide for being a multicultural society in which everyone is accepted regardless of their background. We pride ourselves in living cohesively and cooperatively while maintaining a diverse mosaic of cultures and traditions. But were these multicultural views always characteristic of Canada? If so, how come thousands of innocent Canadians were labelled “enemy aliens” during WWI and sent to harsh labour camps? How come loyal Japanese-Canadians were stripped of their possessions and interned during WWII? Are we really as accepting a society as we pride ourselves to be?
GERMAN CANADIANS AND ENEMY ALIENS
During WWI, support for the war effort and the open hatred of anything German resulted in the discrimination and exclusion of German Canadians. Many Canadians felt that the reluctance of German Canadians to fight against their former homeland was a betrayal of Canada. Therefore, the rights of many Germans were violated. The public pressured the government to fire German and Austrian immigrants holding government jobs and teaching in the German language in Canadian schools and universities was stopped. People even opposed symphony orchestras playing the music of German composers like Beethoven. Anti-German mobs marched through the streets in several Canadian cities and in Calgary, soldiers and civilians looted the city’s German community. Despite the fact that these German Canadian citizens were innocent and loyal Canadians, the rest of Canada judged, criticized, and discriminated against them. Where was the Canadian attitude of acceptance, understanding and good will in this time? How could Canadians have let others’ heritage blind them into acts of violence?
Regrettably, other acts of prejudice were committed by Canadians during WWI. Recent immigrants who had come from countries at war with Canada and who had not yet received their citizenship were classified as “enemy aliens”. As a result of the extreme wartime paranoia of the Canadian public, these people were forced to carry identification papers and report to the police on a regular basis. The majority of these people were simply Ukrainians who had emigrated from Austria-Hungary in order to escape the economic exploitation and political oppression of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, due to rising public pressure, the government sent almost 9000 enemy aliens to internment camps in April 1915. At the camps, internees had to do difficult physical labour including clearing forests, draining land and building roads. The “enemy aliens” were kept in the camps for six years and their possessions (which had been seized) were never returned to them. As a result, the civil rights of thousands of Canadians were violated; the injustice committed against them was inexcusable. How can we consider Canada such an open, tolerant nation with such a history of discrimination?
JAPANESE-CANADIAN INTERNMENT CAMPS
Unfortunately, a similar situation occurred again in WWII. Wartime suspicions coupled with the success of the Japanese army and the surprise attacks on US and British fleets in 1941 led to increasing hostilities toward Japanese Canadians. Other Canadians began to see them as enemies and spies working against Canada. Even before the war, Japanese Canadians had endured anti-Asian rioting, the denial to voting and teaching rights, restrictions in job choices, and the treatment as second-class citizens. Therefore, the attitude toward them during the war was even more catastrophic. Once again, mounting public pressure resulted in the government taking action against perceived “enemy aliens”. At first, only male Japanese nationals (who didn’t have Canadian citizenships) were put in internment camps. However, all people of Japanese descent were soon interned under the War Measures Act due to rising anti-Japanese sentiments. Oftentimes, families were separated as men were sent to work on the Trans-Canada highway. Furthermore, conditions were terrible in the camps and the property of the interned Japanese Canadians was sold without consulting them. Even after the end of the war, the mistreatment continued. The federal government passed a law that resulted in the deportation of almost 4000 Japanese Canadians back to Japan (where many had never actually been before). In addition, Japanese Canadians had to report to the RCMP if they went more than 80km away from home in the years after the war. All of these injustices were carried out despite the fact that the RCMP had been observing Japanese Canadians in Vancouver since 1938 and had concluded that they were loyal to Canada. Therefore, pointless discrimination had once again taken place in Canada. So after all this, how can we call our nation tolerant and promote it as the place for a better life? Especially when such harsh, inequitable actions have taken place in our history? And how can we criticize other nations for not embracing all cultures when Canada itself did not do so in the past?
“STRANGE HOW THESE PROTESTERS ARE MUCH MORE VEHEMENT AGAINST THE CANADIAN-BORN JAPANESE THAN THEY ARE AGAINST GERMAN-BORN GERMANS, WHO MIGHT HAVE A REAL LOYALTY TO THEIR LAND OF BIRTH, AS WE HAVE FOR CANADA. I GUESS IT IS JUST BECAUSE WE LOOK DIFFERENT. ANYWAY, IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO RACIAL ANTAGONISM, WHICH THE DEMOCRACIES ARE FIGHTING AGAINST.” — Muriel Kitagawa, (29 Jap), letter to brother
WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
Well, considering that Canada prides itself on being multicultural, accepting and unprejudiced, these events are quite detrimental to the validity of our international identity and integrity. They violate all that is “Canadian”. They even remind me overwhelmingly of the events that took place in Nazi Germany during WWII. They are part of a past that Canada has tried to hide and forget rather than own up to. These unnecessary actions resulted in the breaking apart of families and the loss of livelihoods which were never again recovered. Over the years, numerous other similar acts of discrimination and injustice have taken place. Segregation of Black Canadians, prejudice toward visible minorities, mistreatment of Native Peoples, societal and legal restrictions imposed upon Jewish people and other minorities, and hostilities toward immigrants have all occurred in Canadian history. All of these things are significant because they represent the Canadian society of the past and the hardships that Canadians had to go through in order to establish the just society that exists today. I think it’s essential for the Canadians of today to recognize and appreciate all the things that our ancestors did to improve our futures. What’s important is that injustices like those of the past never occur in Canada again. Unfortunately, history tends to repeat itself in various ways and I find it doubtful that acts of discrimination will not recur. The question is; when and who will be the next victims?
Works Cited:
Michuki, W. “Multiculturalism In Canada: Does It Really Exist?” (Cult)ure Magazine. N.p., 30 Sept. 2007. Web. <http://www.culturemagazine.ca/culture/multiculturalism_in_canada_does_it_really_exist_.html>.
Alghabra, Omar. “Has Multiculturalism in Canada Lost Its Way? | Omar Alghabra.” The Huffington Post. N.p., 15 Aug. 2013. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/omar-alghabra/canada-multiculturalism_b_3761869.html>.
“Census Shows Canada Truly Multicultural.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 22 Jan. 2003. Web. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/census-shows-canada-truly-multicultural-1.410378>.
WILLIAMS, JESSICA. “Calgary Journal Online.” Unravelling the Canadian Stereotype. N.p., 06 Oct. 2009. Web. <http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/infocus/36-infocus/575-unravelling-the-canadian-stereotype>.
Written: Thursday, January 2nd, 2014
