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World War II and the
War Measures Act |
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1941 Jan. 7
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A Special Committee of the Cabinet War Committee recommends
that Japanese Canadians not be allowed to volunteer for the armed services
on the grounds that there is strong public opinion against them. |
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Compulsory registration of all Japanese Canadians
over 16 years is carried out by the RCMP. |
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Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Canada declares war
on Japan. Under the War Measures Act, Order in Council P.C. 9591, all Japanese
nationals and those naturalized after 1922 are required to register with
the Registrar of Enemy Aliens. |
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1,200 fishing boats are impounded and put under
the control of the Japanese Fishing Vessel Disposal Committee. Japanese
language newspapers and schools closed. Insurance policies are cancelled. |
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Dec. 16
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P.C. 9760 is passed requiring mandatory registration of all
persons of Japanese origin, regardless of citizenship, with Registrar of
Enemy Aliens. |
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P.C. 365 designated an area 100 miles inland
from the west coast as a "protected area". |
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All male "enemy aliens" between the
ages of 18-45 are forced to leave the protected coastal area before April
1. Most are sent to work on road camps in the Rockies. Some are sent to
Angler. |
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Feb. 24
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P.C. 1486 empowers the Minister of Justice to control the
movements of all persons of Japanese origin in the protected area. |
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Notice is issued by the Minister of Justice ordering
all persons of "the Japanese race" to leave the coast. Cars, cameras
and radios confiscated. Dusk-to-dawn curfew is imposed. |
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B.C. Security Commission is established to plan,
supervise and direct the expulsion of Japanese Canadians.
P.C. 1665 Property and belongings are entrusted to the Custodian of Enemy
Alien Property as a "protective measure only". |
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First arrival at Vancouver's Hastings Park holding
center. All Japanese Canadian mail is censored from this date. |
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B.C. Security Commission initiates a program
of assigning men to road camps and women and children to ghost town detention
camps. |
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June 29
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P.C. 5523 - The Director of Soldier Settlement is given authority
to purchase or lease farms owned by Japanese Canadians. He subsequently
buys 572 farms without consulting the owners. |
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Oct.
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22,000 persons of whom 75% are Canadian citizens (60% Canadian
born, 15% naturalized) have been uprooted forcibly from the coast. |
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Order in Council grants the Custodian of Enemy
Alien Property the right to dispose of Japanese Canadian properties in his
care without the owners' consent. |
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Prime Minister King states it is desirable that
Japanese Canadians are dispersed across Canada.
Applications for "voluntary repatriation" to Japan are sought
by the Canadian government. Those who do not must move east of the Rockies
to prove their loyalty to Canada. "Repatriation" for many means
exile to a country they have never seen before. |
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150 second generation Japanese Canadians (nisei)
are accepted into the Canadian Intelligence Corps after pressure from the
British government. |
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Japan surrenders. Atom bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.
All internment camps, except New Denver are ordered closed and settlements
of shacks bulldozed. B.C. Security Commission office in New Denver closes
in 1957. |
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