BC Redress
The six BC Redress pillars below reflect the will of the Japanese Canadian community, as expressed through extensive community consultations held through 2019 and 2020.
At its core, BC Redress is about justice for nearly 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were forcibly uprooted, interned, dispossessed and dispersed, approximately 6600 of whom are still with us today. For most survivors, a full and formal BC Government acknowledgement and accounting of what was taken, and what was lost, combined with a permanent monument to the Japanese Canadian experience, are essential elements for community healing. To ensure their experience is never again repeated, most survivors also wish to see strengthened education and public awareness, including through mandatory curriculum, maintenance and restoration of historical places, and stronger anti-racism initiatives in BC. In a time of elevated racism, these initiatives are more urgent and important than ever.
And while Japanese Canadians survivors think of others when asked about BC Redress initiatives, it is foundational to justice that remaining survivors are able to live out their lives in dignity and wellness. Health and wellness funding is therefore an equally essential pillar of BC Redress, including provision of culturally-competent care and housing options, especially in instances of hardship, alongside significant investment in mental health programming and outreach, to support the hard work of addressing first-hand and intergenerational trauma.
Investing in community healing is ultimately a hopeful act, and BC Redress is about looking to the future of our community, as much as it is about acknowledging and commemorating our past. The loss of Japanese Canadian identity that occurred as a result of historic government actions has continued into the current day, and there is much work to be done. But our community remains deeply resilient and proud of our history and culture, and BC Redress is an opportunity to rebuild Japanese Canadian community infrastructure.
By investing in physical and cultural spaces, community-strengthening education, and programming focused on intergenerational dialogue, learning and healing, BC Redress can help enable cultural continuation and help to secure a legacy of a strong and vibrant Japanese Canadian culture and community, now and for future generations.
The Six Pillars
On May 5, 2021, the BC Government announced an initial $2 million contribution toward the Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund, as an initial gesture of seriousness and commitment to reaching a full BC Redress package with Japanese Canadians. These initial funds are supporting the identification of Japanese Canadian survivors, providing a needs assessment, and will begin distributing grants to Japanese Canadian service delivery organizations.
The Japanese Canadian Survivors Health and Wellness Fund will look at related issues including intergenerational trauma and mental and physical health, with programs, activities, and services that will directly benefit the health and wellness of Japanese Canadian survivors. READ MORE
In order that our experience is never again repeated, our community places strong emphasis on strengthening BC’s curriculum surrounding the internment, dispossession & forced uprooting of Japanese Canadians. This pillar focuses on embedding Japanese Canadian history as mandatory BC curriculum, providing increased, further developing and providing better access to teaching tools, and providing ‘field school’ grants to teachers to enable first-hand learning of Japanese Canadian history, all with an eye to strengthening anti-racism education in BC & creating more conscientious, pluralistic citizens–a critical priority in a time of heightened racism. READ MORE
The Japanese Canadian community, including Japanese Canadians across Canada, has expressed a deep desire for a physical place where we can return to reflect on the places, identities and livelihoods that were taken. A monument is an essential element of British Columbia’s full accounting and acknowledgement of what was taken, and what was lost, and must contain the names of the nearly 22,000 Japanese Canadians who faced internment, dispossession & forced uprooting. READ MORE
Community building, cultural preservation, and the continuation of Japanese Canadian identity from one generation to the next, together form an essential pillar of BC Redress. Following the deep loss of identity that occurred as a result of the forced uprooting, internment, dispossession and dispersal of Japanese Canadians, rebuilding community and culture requires investments in physical, social, and institutional infrastructure to ensure the sustainable restoration of the Japanese Canadian community within BC and Canada. READ MORE
An essential pillar of BC Redress, and of learning from the past, is to mark and preserve the historical sites of Japanese Canadian internment. But it is equally important to our community, and to healing together, preserve the stories and acknowledge the places where the Japanese Canadian community lived and loved and called home prior to uprooting, the places where we flourished and raised our families and built our businesses. We will not have another opportunity to understand, engage with, and preserve our living heritage for the benefit of current & future generations of Japanese Canadians, and of all Canadians. READ MORE
Deep grounding in anti-racism work is an historic thread that still links the Japanese Canadian community to the injustices suffered 70 years ago. It also aligns closely with the priorities of this BC government. As first-hand survivors of institutionalized racist policy, our survivors most want to ensure it never again occurs, including by ensuring a strong anti-racism component is included in the BC Redress package. The essential element of BC Redress is a comprehensive and meaningful acknowledgement of the BC Government’s lead role in the uprooting, internment, and dispossession of Japanese-Canadians from 1942-1949. READ MORE