Politicians in British Columbia campaigned to have all people of Japanese descent sent to internment camps by means of forced removal from their homes. MP Ian Mackenzie played a major role in this debate, as he held racist beliefs against the Japanese and was the head of many politicians who had the same views. Despite the fact that during a meeting held by the Department of External Affairs, the RCMP and leading military representatives from the Department of National Defense agreed that Japanese-Canadians did not pose a threat to Canada, Mackenzie continued to push his anti-Japanese views in Ottawa. Major General R. O. Alexander also held racist views about Japanese-Canadians, despite numerous reports by military officials stating that they were not a risk.
Even Prime Minister King did not believe that Japanese-Canadians were a risk to Canada's national security. Nevertheless, Prime Minister King did not follow the advice of senior civil servants and top military authorities, because he saw that internment would help his party's popularity in British Columbia and help him gain more support of his policies on conscription. Due to his indifference on the consequences he was committing on the Japanese-Canadians, internment eventually took place. Internment camps have had a devastating effect on the lives of thousands of Japanese-Canadians. Today, Japanese-Canadians look back on the event as a great injustice for Japanese-Canadians.
Even Prime Minister King did not believe that Japanese-Canadians were a risk to Canada's national security. Nevertheless, Prime Minister King did not follow the advice of senior civil servants and top military authorities, because he saw that internment would help his party's popularity in British Columbia and help him gain more support of his policies on conscription. Due to his indifference on the consequences he was committing on the Japanese-Canadians, internment eventually took place. Internment camps have had a devastating effect on the lives of thousands of Japanese-Canadians. Today, Japanese-Canadians look back on the event as a great injustice for Japanese-Canadians.
"Born in Canada, brought up on big-band jazz, Fred Astaire and the novels of Henry Rider Haggard, I had perceived myself to be as Canadian as the beaver. I hated rice. I had committed no crime. I was never charged, tried or convicted of anything. Yet I was fingerprinted and interned." - Ken Adachi, 1983
Photograph 18 - 24. Japanese internment camps.
In early 1942, the Canadian government ordered Japanese-Canadian families to pack up their homes and leave their belongings in the care of the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property. Akira's family was amongst the thousands of families forced to evacuate the coast of British Columbia and head east to internment camps. Akira, who was not an adult yet, was allowed to pack a maximum of 75 pounds, where his parents were allowed 150 pounds of belongings. They mainly packed the bare essentials: cooking pots, rice bowls, chopsticks, bedding, cloths, and some food. Akira hid the keepsakes such as photo albums, letters, and mementos within the walls and in trunks buried underground.
Steveston, which was once a flourishing community of Japanese culture, was now a ghost town.
In early 1942, the Canadian government ordered Japanese-Canadian families to pack up their homes and leave their belongings in the care of the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property. Akira's family was amongst the thousands of families forced to evacuate the coast of British Columbia and head east to internment camps. Akira, who was not an adult yet, was allowed to pack a maximum of 75 pounds, where his parents were allowed 150 pounds of belongings. They mainly packed the bare essentials: cooking pots, rice bowls, chopsticks, bedding, cloths, and some food. Akira hid the keepsakes such as photo albums, letters, and mementos within the walls and in trunks buried underground.
Steveston, which was once a flourishing community of Japanese culture, was now a ghost town.
"Hastings Park was the epitome of discomfort and humiliation."
As Japanese-Canadians were evacuated from the coastal villages of British Columbia, 8000 Japanese-Canadians arrive at Hastings Park, one of the first internment camps set up in British Columbia. Many Japanese-Canadians described Hastings Park as the epitome of discomfort and humiliation. The conditions in internment camps were unpleasant, harsh, and unsanitary. Hundreds of bunk beds were set up, three feet apart in barns that originally held livestock. The inmates slept on mattresses filled with straw from the barn, had three blankets, and a pillow. Due to the overcrowding of these camps along with inadequate facilities, many inmates thought that they were treated like the animals that once occupied the very spaces they were living in. Akira tried to spend as much time as he could sitting outside to escape the smell of inside the camps. He disliked the food, which was very different to the rice based meals to which most of the inmates were accustomed to. Eventually the men of the internment camps staged food strikes for authorities to make improvements. More social services were organized, such as sewing room facilities and health facilities.
Common Complaints of Internment Camps
Internment camps proved to be a great waste of resources -- resources which could have went to support the war effort in the first place.
Road Camp and Forced Labour
By March 1942, all male Japanese-Canadians eighteen or older would be sent to road camps, separated from their families and sent off to remote locations to perform forced labour. Any resistance meant that they would be sent to prisoner-of-war camps in Ontario, leaving their families behind in British Columbia. By the end of 1942, 699 Japanese-Canadian men were incarcerated in POW camps in Ontario.
Common Complaints of Internment Camps
- Awful smell due to the years of use of the barns by cattle and other livestock, animal urine, and manure.
- Lack of privacy due to overcrowding.
- The floors were swarming with maggots.
- Food was plain, cold, and unhealthy. One could expect sandwiches with two slices of bologna for lunch, and poorly prepared stew for dinner.
- Outbreaks of dysentery were common, due to food contamination.
- There was an adequate number of toilet facilities as well as showers for women.
Internment camps proved to be a great waste of resources -- resources which could have went to support the war effort in the first place.
Road Camp and Forced Labour
By March 1942, all male Japanese-Canadians eighteen or older would be sent to road camps, separated from their families and sent off to remote locations to perform forced labour. Any resistance meant that they would be sent to prisoner-of-war camps in Ontario, leaving their families behind in British Columbia. By the end of 1942, 699 Japanese-Canadian men were incarcerated in POW camps in Ontario.