The traveling exhibit Broken Promises is currently on display at the Bradley Museum located at 1620 Orr Rd. in Mississauga. The free, all-ages, exhibit remembers the challenges faced by Japanese Canadians during World War 2.
Broken Promises, a collaboration with the Nikkei National Museum and The Royal BC Museum, serves to educate the public about the 22,000 Japanese Canadians relocated and incarcerated from 1942 to 1949 in Canada.
In 1939 the use of the War Measures Act was exploited to deliberately target Canadians of Japanese descent. This gave the Canadian government the power to ignore civil liberties and to create laws without the approval of Parliament.
Of the people forced to relocate, anything that could not be carried was seized by the government, and detainees were often met with brutal treatment and unsafe conditions.
About 90 percent of the Japanese population in Canada was sent to internment camps, interior housing, or work and POW camps.
The conditions of these locations were poor, crowded, and typically without electricity or running water.
The Canadian Encyclopedia includes a quote from Tom Tamagi. He was a 22-year-old Japaense Canadian. He is quoted as saying, “I was a prisoner of my own country of birth. We were confined inside the high wire fence of Hastings Park just like caged animals.”
Concerns over national security in the past have been used to target minorities like the Japanese during World War 2.
Today the world is watching as the war in Ukraine rages on, the conflict in Gaza escalates and Western Allies bomb the Houthis in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world.
“It’s honestly scary, with everything going on in the world right now I feel like things are only to get worse.” Says Shayne Raby, a Canadian citizen.
Terry Watada, whose family was dispossessed in Canada during the World War 2 spoke to the BBC.
“I think it reminds people that democracy is fragile and that it can change in a heartbeat. I think that’s useful and should be a reminder. People have to be very cautious,” said Watada as reported by BBC.
The Broken Promises exhibit, serving as a reminder of the atrocities committed by Canadians to Canadians will run daily until April 20, 2024 from 10am – 4pm.