The Pros And Cons Of Japanese Internment Camps

To be stripped of freedom for the sake of accommodating those who are prejudiced against one’s heritage remains an unjustifiable action. Although oppression remains a sensitive issue in society, one must not silence the history of its existence as humanity must learn from its mistakes. Such silencing was experienced by the Japanese citizens of Canada as their freedoms were replaced with discrimination. Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941 ¹, the Canadian government systematically removed over 21 000 Japanese Canadians from their businesses and homes and forced them into internment camps from 1941-1949 ². Thus, the methodical location of Japanese Canadians into internment camps during World War II was unjustified. Through a thorough investigation of the threat these citizens posed, the

Firstly, national security abides as an invalid explanation despite being Canada’s main rationale.

The Japanese Canadians did not pose any threat to Canadian security. This remains true despite the suspected threat of the citizens and the original suspicion being made by the British Columbian politicians who brought the topic in office for discussion. Directly quoted from Major General Ken Stuart: "From the army point of view, I cannot see that Japanese Canadians constitute the slightest menace to national security."³ The general’s statement thus proves that senior military officers do not view the citizens as a threat which then in turn, invalidates the government’s concern of national security. Furthermore, following Pearl Harbour, racist organizations accused the Japanese Canadians of being loyal to Japan ⁴, however, there remains no recorded evidence of any Japanese Canadian saboteurs in Canada’s history. On August 5th 1942, an undisclosed letter was written by RCMP