Canadian identity is like a large gray area, neither black or white, light or dark but somewhere in the middle. The problem arises when Canadian identity doesn’t include the both black and white past, and just the white. Canadian citizens and anyone willing to listen needs to know about Canada’s wrongdoings so we can learn from our past and help the victims of these tragic incidents. By choosing to only display and educate people about Canada’s achievements and merits we are disrespecting and invalidating those hurt by the Canadian government and lending a hand in creating an ignorant population. Past events such as compulsory sterilization, Japanese internment camps and residential schools showcases the mistreatment of minorities based off
…show more content…
Despite many provinces adopting their own version of compulsory sterilization, Alberta and British Columbia were the two to take it to new heights. Alberta passed the Sexual Sterilization act in 1928, and initially the act only allowed sterilizations where consent was given by the subject or the legal guardian but in 1937 they adjusted the act so consent wasn’t needed if the subject was deemed mentally defective. Nearly 3,000 people were affected by this act and a large percentage were aboriginal women and women that were poor, young and unmarried. This act violated these 3,000 peoples’ human rights and also carried characteristics of genocide. This event goes to show the dangers of supremacy. When majority of the people believe that minorities are inferior, it gives them this sense of corruptive power, where they think they can mold society to their liking. Canadian history is filled with events blistering with supremacy and all of them began with the majority fearing being inferior and powerless so instead they decide to make others feel that way before it can bestow upon …show more content…
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Canadian citizens were deemed as ‘enemy aliens’ under the War Measures Act. This act aided the government in stripping the Japanese Canadian’s personal rights. Starting from 1941 Japanese fishing boats were confiscated as a defense measure and males between the ages 18-45 were taken to camps inland of British Columbia. Families were torn apart as the men were separated from the women and children. Most of the time the women and children were sent to sugar-beet farms in the interior and lived in extremely unsanitary environments such as barns and stables with little to no privacy as multiples families were bunched together in one building. Since there weren’t enough buildings to cram everyone into, many had to live in small shacks made from damp, green wood that provided no shelter from the harsh winters. After the war was over the Japanese didn’t know what to do. They had no home to return to as all their property and money was confiscated and auctioned off. The government strongly advised the internees to return to Japan, a country that was decimated by two atomic bombs. The Japanese Canadian citizens were torn, they could either return to japan which was engulfed in famine and radiation or they could move east and take on the same type of jobs they were doing in the internment camps which also meant they will have to deal with extreme forms of
Despite many provinces adopting their own version of compulsory sterilization, Alberta and British Columbia were the two to take it to new heights. Alberta passed the Sexual Sterilization act in 1928, and initially the act only allowed sterilizations where consent was given by the subject or the legal guardian but in 1937 they adjusted the act so consent wasn’t needed if the subject was deemed mentally defective. Nearly 3,000 people were affected by this act and a large percentage were aboriginal women and women that were poor, young and unmarried. This act violated these 3,000 peoples’ human rights and also carried characteristics of genocide. This event goes to show the dangers of supremacy. When majority of the people believe that minorities are inferior, it gives them this sense of corruptive power, where they think they can mold society to their liking. Canadian history is filled with events blistering with supremacy and all of them began with the majority fearing being inferior and powerless so instead they decide to make others feel that way before it can bestow upon …show more content…
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Canadian citizens were deemed as ‘enemy aliens’ under the War Measures Act. This act aided the government in stripping the Japanese Canadian’s personal rights. Starting from 1941 Japanese fishing boats were confiscated as a defense measure and males between the ages 18-45 were taken to camps inland of British Columbia. Families were torn apart as the men were separated from the women and children. Most of the time the women and children were sent to sugar-beet farms in the interior and lived in extremely unsanitary environments such as barns and stables with little to no privacy as multiples families were bunched together in one building. Since there weren’t enough buildings to cram everyone into, many had to live in small shacks made from damp, green wood that provided no shelter from the harsh winters. After the war was over the Japanese didn’t know what to do. They had no home to return to as all their property and money was confiscated and auctioned off. The government strongly advised the internees to return to Japan, a country that was decimated by two atomic bombs. The Japanese Canadian citizens were torn, they could either return to japan which was engulfed in famine and radiation or they could move east and take on the same type of jobs they were doing in the internment camps which also meant they will have to deal with extreme forms of