Japanese Internment: A Canadian Responsibility

‘Unfortunately, Japanese Canadians suffered unrelenting racism for another few decades while the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC) lobbied for redress. It wasn’t until 1988 when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and NAJC President Art Miki signed the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement, which acknowledged the wrong-doing of the government and the mistreatment of Japanese Canadians, and offered compensation of $21 000 to each individual affected. In this case, the government did take responsibility for its unethical conduct, even though technically it was not illegal since the War Measures Act allowed governments to take such measures during times of war. To ensure that the government will always respect the fundamental rights of an individual, the Emergencies Act was created to replace the War Measures Act. However, “Critics fear that in upholding the Emergencies Act the federal government can use certain provisions of the Constitution ("Peace, Order and Good Government") and the Charter (s.33) to override fundamental Charter Rights”, meaning that this change will not prevent this dark period in Canadian history from happening again.’