Individual+Freedoms+in+Wartime+-+Should+They+Be+Restricted?

How much freedom should citizens have in a time of war? Should everyone be compelled to support the war effort? Should people be allowed to criticize the government about its actions when they think it's making a mistake, or should they be prevented from speaking out?

Some people have no difficulty answering these questions because they feel that war is a special situation. Others feel that human freedoms must be respected even during a war.

During World War II, individual freedom was definitely restricted. Everyone was subject to censorship, whether they knew it or not. The government had the power to prevent radio and newspapers from reporting news stories that might harm the war effort. In addition, the Canadian government had a powerful weapon in controlling the war effort-the War Measures Act, passed in 1914 during World War I (see Chapter 2). In Newfoundland, the authorities had similar powers. The War Measures Act gave police special powers to arrest and detain anyone they suspected of being disloyal.

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Figure 8-14 J.S. Woodsworth didn't want Canada to join World War II. Should he have been allowed to express his views? Explain. END PHOTO CAPTION.


 * Conscientious Objectors and Pacifists **

The religious groups that were conscientious objectors to World War I (Mennonites, Quakers, Hutterites, and Doukhobors) were also opposed to Canada's participation in World War II. They believed war to be so wrong that Canada shouldn't defend itself even if it was attacked by a hostile power.

Other groups were pacifists. They were prepared to defend Canada against an invader, but believed that a peaceful solution could be found to the world's conflicts. These people were in the minority when war was declared in 1939. J.S. Woodsworth, founder of the CCF party, was the only member of Parliament who opposed Canada's participation. Although the pacifists were committed in their beliefs, their influence on the rest of society was limited.


 * The Conscription Crisis, 1943 **

During World War I the government introduced conscription - the compulsory enlistment of citizens into the armed forces. This issue arose again during World War II. Volunteer rates dropped off by 1943, so the military and government became worried that there wouldn't be enough troops to maintain an effective fighting force.

Prime Minister Mackenzie King preferred not to re-introduce conscription. He had seen how it had divided the nation in 1917. He always said "Conscription if necessary. But not necessarily conscription." He hoped the issue would just fade away. When it didn't, he decided to hold a plebiscite on the subject and ask everyone to accept the result. In a plebiscite, voters are asked a yes or no question. The government may choose to adopt or ignore the result.

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Figure 8-15 An anti-conscription rally in Montreal. Why did Prime Minister Mackenzie King ask the people to decide this issue directly through a plebiscite? END PHOTO CAPTION.

Once again, the country was divided. The people of Quebec didn't support the war to the same extent as the rest of the country. Many Quebec citizens saw the war as a British war, and wanted no part of it - so it wasn't surprising when that province voted against conscription. In the other eight provinces (Newfoundland was not yet a province of Canada), a larger portion of population was of British origin: they voted in favour.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">In the end, the government did introduce conscription, and young men were drafted into the forces. But by the time the conscripts were drafted, trained, and sent to a military unit, the European war was starting to wind down. They were never sent overseas, and were used for protecting Canada directly. So not only were conscripts limited in what they added to the fighting forces, the whole issue stirred up bad feelings within the nation.

__ Questions __ __ 1. If Canada went to war, do you think you'd be a) a conscientious objector, or b) a pacifist? For each one, explain why or why not. __


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Did You Know? **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Some members of the Italian Canadian and German Canadian communities were interned early in the war. Included in their numbers were refugees who had fled Europe. In November 2005 the federal government reached an agreement with the Italian Canadian community recognizing its error. Negotiations are still underway with the German Canadian community.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The Internment of Japanese Canadians **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">As a result of the War Measures Act, many people in Canada and Newfoundland with origins in the Axis nations were interned in camps for much of the war. The largest number of these were Japanese Canadians, most of whom lived in coastal British Columbia.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941. Afterwards, both the Canadian and American governments interned people of Japanese origin living on the West Coast. Many of these people were Canadian citizens, born in Canada, but the government no longer trusted them.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Altogether, 21 000 people of Japanese origin were interned, 17 000 of whom were Canadian citizens. They were placed in camps, with armed guards, in the mountainous interior of British Columbia. They slept dormitory-style in wooden huts where conditions were primitive. They had no flushing toilets or running water. Hideo Kukubo recalled his experiences more than 30 years later:

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">I was in that camp for four years. When it got cold the temperature went [way] down... The buildings stood on flat land beside a lake. We lived in huts with no insulation. Even if we had the stove burning the inside of the windows would all be frosted up and white, really white. I had to lie in bed with everything on that I had... At one time there were 720 people there, all men, and a lot of them were old men. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/canadianhistory/camps/internmentl .html, accessed 27 June 2005

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PHOTO CAPTION:

Figure 8-16 <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The community kitchen of a Japanese-Canadian internment camp. Do you think the Canadian government was justified in interning Japanese Canadians during World War II? <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PHOTO CAPTION.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">The federal government sold Japanese-Canadian property (houses, cars, boats, businesses) and used the money to pay for the internment. In many cases, the internees were virtually penniless when they were finally freed. Some of the families were moved to Southern Ontario, where they worked on fruit and vegetable farms. None of the interned people were freed until the war ended in 1945. The Canadian government did not remove travel restrictions and restore other citizens' rights until April 1, 1949.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">As well as interning Japanese Canadians, the federal government offered all people of Japanese origin free passage to Japan. Some of the people who didn't accept this offer were interned. Then the government began a process of forceful shipment to Japan. This was devastating to families, some of whom were broken up in the process. Over 4000 Japanese Canadians were deported in this way to Japan, many of whom had never been there in their lives.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">It now appears that the Canadian government was driven by racist fears. An RCMP report in 1942 stated that the Japanese Canadians did not threaten Canada's security in any way. There were even Japanese Canadians who served in the armed forces. Yet the government continued with its policies in what is now widely considered one of the most shameful events in Canadian history. In 1988 the Canadian government finally apologized to the Japanese-Canadian community and paid monetary compensation.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Profile: Joy Kogawa, born 1935

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">BEGIN PRODUCER'S NOTE: <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Photo: omitted. <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">END PRODUCER'S NOTE.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Joy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935. Along with her family she 'was interned in Slocan, British Columbia, in 1942. The family was later moved to Coaldale, Alberta, where she graduated from high school in 1953. She never forgot the injustices that her family experienced through internment, including the confiscation of their property under the War Measures Act.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">As an adult, Kogawa used her writing to tell this terrible story. Her most famous book is Obason (1981), which examines the injustices that Japanese Canadians experienced during and after World War II. The central character of the story, Naomi, reappears in a children's version of Obason that Kogawa wrote called Naomi's Road (1986).

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">In the following excerpt from Naomi's Road, the young girl Naomi describes her feelings after being moved from her home in Vancouver to an internment camp in Slocan:

//<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">How gray everything is. There's a dead dried bumble-bee on the window sill. Dusty newspapers cover the walls instead of wallpaper. Everything looks gray. I've never seen such a dusty little house... //

//<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Every morning I wake up in a narrow bunk bed near the stove. I wish and wish we could go home. I don't want to be in this house... I want to be in my own room where the picture bird sings above my bed. And the real bird sings in the peach tree outside my bedroom window. But no matter how hard 1 wish, we don't go home. //

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">Joy Kogawa, //Naomi's Road// (Toronto: Stoddart Kids, 1986), pp. 24-25

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 19px;">In the 1980s Kogawa became involved with the movement to win justice for Japanese Canadians. Their work was largely responsible for winning compensation for the survivors of internment and their descendants. Kogawa's writing has earned numerous awards. She has also received the Order of Canada (Canada's highest honour for civilians) for her contributions to this country.

__ Questions __ __ 2. Imagine that you were a Japanese-Canadian teenager during World War II. Write a letter to the government describing your feelings about being sent to an internment camp. __ __ 3. The Canadian government apologized and gave monetary compensation to the families of the interned Japanese Canadians. Do you think these actions were enough to ensure that justice was done? Explain your answer. __ __ 4. Write down your opinion on each of the following questions. Give reasons for each answer. __ __ - How much freedom should citizens have in a time of war? __ __ - Should everyone be compelled to support the war effort? __ __ - Should people be allowed to criticize the government's actions? __