Settlement Day - September 22, 1988

Mr. Speaker, nearly half a century ago, in the crisis of wartime, the Government of Canada wrongfully incarcerated, seized the property, and disenfranchised thousands of citizens of Japanese ancestry.We cannot change the past.But we must, as a nation, have the courage to face up to these historical facts.

The issue of Japanese-Canadian redress is one which I raised in the House of Commons more than four years ago with the Prime Minister of the day when I was Leader of the Opposition.I said then in this House:

There is a world of difference between regret and a formal apology. Canadians of Japanese origin had their rights trampled upon. The reputation of this country was besmirched.

Since then, Mr. Speaker, the present Government has sought a settlement with the Japanese-Canadian community to put things right between then and their country; to put things right with the surviving member of the Japanese-Canadian wartime community of 22,000 persons; to put things right with their children, and ours, so they can walk together in this country, burdened neither by the wrongs nor the grievances of previous generations.

It is fitting that representatives of the National Association of Japanese Canadians are present in the visitors’ gallery on this solemn occasion because today I have the honour to announce, on behalf of the Government of Canada, that a comprehensive redress settlement has been reached with the National Association of Japanese Canadians on behalf of their community.

Perhaps the most important element of this redress it the official acknowledgement of the wrongs of the 1940s.But redress must go beyond words and laws – important as they are our present understanding and our future actions.The Minister of Stare for Multiculturalism and Citizenship (Mr. Weiner) will be announcing the details of the settlement, and I pay special tribute today to his skill and resolve in this matter, and to the Secretary of State (Mr. Bouchard) who immediately after his swearing in as a Minister of the Crown, made the resolution of this important moral issue a matter of the highest priority for him and his colleagues. In a special way, I readily acknowledge the strong moral leadership on this particular question and, indeed, others, that has long been provided by the Honourable Member for Vancouver South (Mr. Fraser), the very distinguished Speaker of the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, I think all Members of the House know that no amount of money can right the wrong, undo the harm, and heal the wounds.But it is symbolic of our determination to address this issue, not only in the moral sense but also in a tangible way.In that spirit, we will accept application for the granting of Canadian citizenship to eligible persons of Japanese ancestry who were expelled from Canada or had their citizenship revoked during these years. We will also accept requests for the clearing of names of eligible persons of Japanese ancestry who were convicted of violations under the War Measures Act – thankfully now gone from our texts of law in Canada – and the National Emergency Transitional Powers Act.

As well, in commemoration of all who suffered these injustices, we will establish a Canadian Race Relations Foundation to foster racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, not only was the treatment inflicted on Japanese Canadians during the War both morally and legally unjustified, it went against the very nature of country, of Canada.We are a pluralistic society. We each respect the language, opinions, and religious convictions of our neighbor.We celebrated our linguistic duality in our cultural diversity. We know that strength of our country lies in the collective energies of its regions.We are tolerant people who live in freedom in a land of abundance. That is the Canada of our ancestors.That is the Canada our ancestors worked to build. That is the kind of country we want to leave our children, the Canada of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the new Official Languages Act and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.A Canada that at all times and in all circumstances works hard to eliminate racial discrimination at home and abroad.

A Canada, Mr. Speaker, that is able to face up to the mistakes of the past, and so become better prepared to face the challenges of the future.

I am tabling at this time the specific terms of the Government’s historic agreement with the National Association of Japanese Canadians.I will meet later this morning with the President of the National Association of Japanese Canadians and some of his colleagues who are with him today to formalize this special agreement.

Most of us in our own lives have had occasions to regret certain things we have done. Error is an ingredient of humanity, so too is apology and forgiveness.We all have learned from personal experience that as inadequate as apologies are they are the only way we can cleanse the past so that we may, as best we can, in good conscience face the future.

I know that I speak for Members on all sides of the House today in offering to Japanese Canadians the formal and sincere apology of this Parliament for those past injustices against them, against their families, and against their heritage, and our solemn commitment and undertaking to Canadians of every origin that such violations will never again in this country be countenanced or repeated.

• Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (House of Commons, September 22, 1988).