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The Censor & The Journalist: A 12-part series from The Vancouver Sun

By vancouver1942

  • War service denied for Japanese Canadians

    SourceA Special Committee of the Cabinet War Committee recommends that Japanese Canadians not be allowed to volunteer for the armed services on the grounds that there is strong public opinion against them.
  • Period: to

    Compulsory registration

    SourceCompulsory registration of all Japanese Canadians over 16 years is carried out by the RCMP.

  • Pearl Harbour bombed, war in the Pacific begins

    SourceJapan attacks Pearl Harbor. Canada declares war on Japan. Under the War Measures Act, Order in Council P.C. 9591, all Japanese nationals and those naturalized after 1922 are required to register with the Registrar of Enemy Aliens.

  • Fishing boats impounded on B.C. coast

    Source1,200 fishing boats are impounded and put under the control of the Japanese Fishing Vessel Disposal Committee. Japanese language newspapers and schools closed. Insurance policies are cancelled.

  • Japanese registration ordered

    SourceP.C. 9760 is passed requiring mandatory registration of all persons of Japanese origin, regardless of citizenship, with Registrar of Enemy Aliens.

  • Protected area designated

    SourceP.C. 365 designated an area 100 miles inland from the west coast as a "protected area".

  • "Enemy aliens" told to report

    SourceAll male "enemy aliens" between the ages of 18-45 are forced to leave the protected coastal area before April 1. Most are sent to work on road camps in the Rockies.

  • Federal cabinet orders evacuation

    P.C. 1486 empowers the Minister of Justice to control the movements of all persons of Japanese origin in the protected area.

  • Order issued to leave the coast; curfew begins

    SourceNotice is issued by the Minister of Justice ordering all persons of "the Japanese race" to leave the coast. Cars, cameras and radios confiscated. Dusk-to-dawn curfew is imposed.

  • Security organization created to supervise evacuation

    SourceB.C. Security Commission is established to plan, supervise and direct the expulsion of Japanese Canadians.

  • Property confiscated as "protective measure"

    SourceP.C. 1665 Property and belongings are entrusted to the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property as a "protective measure only".

  • Derelict Defense #1

    SourceFirst article in The Vancover Sun's Derelict Defense series by Alan Morley is published. This series is the subject of a 12-part historical investgiation published in The Sun starting March 10, 2012.
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    The Derelict Defense Series

    Part One: Weakness

  • Derelist Defence #2

    SourceSecond article in The Vancover Sun's Derelict Defense series by Alan Morley is published. This series is the subject of a 12-part historical investgiation published in The Sun starting March 10, 2012.

  • Derelict Defence reaction

    At an impromptu gathering In Ottawa, senior civil servants and politicians discuss their concerns about The Vancouver Sun's Derelict Defense series. The minister of national defence is angry and confused at the criticism. Charges against the newspaper are already being discussed.

  • Evacuation of Japanese Canadians begins

    Canadians of Japanese heritage begin arriving in Vancouver after being evacuated from their homes on the B.C. coast. In the afternoon, Takeo Nakano of Woodfibre, leaves his wife and 8-year-old daughter to board a ferry to the city with other men deemed "enemy aliens."

  • Censors suppress Sun article

    Censors forbid The Vancouver Sun from publishing the fourth article in its controversial Derelict Defense series. No further articles will be printed. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Part+Eight+heavy+hand+censors/6315893/story.html

  • Derelict Defense #3

    Source410/story.html
    Third in series of articles in The Vancouver Sun.

  • United command on Canada's coasts

    Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King notes in his diary that he made "an announcement in the House regarding unity of command on our coasts.” This is one of the key recommendations made by The Vancouver Sun in its Derelict Defense series.

  • Those of Japanese ancestry sent to Interior

    SourceB.C. Security Commission initiates a program of assigning men to road camps and women and children to ghost-town detention camps.

  • Japanese Canadian farms authorized for sale

    SourceP.C. 5523 - The Director of Soldier Settlement is given authority to purchase or lease farms owned by Japanese Canadians. He subsequently buys 572 farms without consulting the owners.

  • 22,000 persons of Japanese origin now uprooted

    Source22,000 persons of whom 75% are Canadian citizens (60% Canadian born, 15% naturalized) have been uprooted forcibly from the coast.