Korkis Times

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vol. 1 Issue 1 Korkis Elmasri, Student Reporter Monday, February 1, 2020

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Injustice Treatment of Japanese-Candians in WWII

BRITISH COLUMBIA - During WWII in decided to leave Canada for Japan, which was
1942, Japanese Canadians were accused of heavily affected by bombing.
aiding Japan which led to them facing
discrimination, being separated from their
homes, and and forcibly brought to
interment camps in British Columbia. 90% of
Japanese Canadians there were detained and
dispossessed because of the War Measures
Act passed by Prime Minister William Lyon
Mackenzie King. The conditions of the camp
were poor: no electricity, overcrowded, many This is a group of Japanese Canadians who
became sick, and they had to do hard labour were internees waiting for the train to go
doing tasks like farm work. to the ships that went to Japan.

Not only were the conditions poor, the After the war, they received 25 dollars and a
internment camps were paid using the ticket to their past residence as an apology
Japanese Candians funds that were taken from the government. The tickets were useless
from them by the government. Homes, farms, to the people who had no homes to return to.
businesses and personal property were sold. In 1988 there was a Japanese campaign that
“I was a 22-year-old Japanese Canadian,” succeeded in abolishing the War Measures
said Tom Tamagi, “a prisoner of my own Act. The treatment of the Japanese Canadians
country of birth. We were confined inside and its after effects are a reminder to all that
the high wire fence of Hastings Park just discrimination should not be tolerated.
like caged animals.” Many of the Japanese
Canadians were born in Canada and all of
them were falsely accused.
In 1946, nearly 4,000 former internees