Governments and Responsibility

‘Problems caused in the past by the government, must be commemorated by today’s government, to show that the government is able to take full responsibility of those past problems. The dignity of Japanese Canadians was threatened in the past, but today is embraced a number of ways in Canada. In the past, Japanese Canadians were interned and denied personal freedoms – all because they were of Japanese descent. This treatment was the simple act of discrimination towards Japanese Canadians. “In May 2002, the government of Canada signed an official declaration… [that] designate[s] May as Asian Heritage Month.”  This declaration was an important acquisition because it proved the importance of Japanese Canadians as well as Asian ‘minorities’ in Canada’s history. “In 1971, Canada was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. By doing so, Canada affirmed the value and dignity of all Canadian citizens regardless of their racial or ethnic origins, their language, or their religious affiliation.”  Compared to the racial past the government of Canada has had, the government has been able to grow to a large multicultural nation which celebrates the dignity of everyone.