Winnipeg, Man.
AH ^dependent weekly organ published a� � �e|dlnm of ; expression ambng the people of J�panes* origin in Canada
. Editor
Station Editor
I Talbftt Avtnu*
Kmy Oy�m� : 40c per Month
By George T* Tamaki, B.A., LLJL, LLM<
I&OO fd**tjrWontni : irrAdviTice
wiNXHM:0,~MAN, XOVKMBKft 17, 1945 .'
WITrt TkB END of the war with Japan, there has re-appealed with Increased intensity in certain sections* o( the British, Columbia press and public vocifer- '
of peace, tire courts jnay scrutinize any executive measure in order .to ascertain whether it may properly be called a war measure exerciseable by the Gov-.
II 15 Would-Legalize Wholesale Deportation
ous demands for~"repatriation"' of- v ernor-in-Council or even in certain j)mons of Japgnoao racial origin, constitutional matters by the Par-This movement on thc.part of B.C. liament at Ottawa. '
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Opposition'is growing lo-cjause 3,. subsection (g).Jn, the ational Emergency Powers Kill which will give the goy-nment authority, through order-iri-councils, to deport awl
revoke nationality. ' ~
The- insertion of-this" clause is clearly an attempt hy^the rvernment to legalize the wholesale deportation of Japanese inadians and Japanese nationals (particularly those who gned documents requesting repatriation to Japan) without 'ovidirig any safeguards to those.who wish to 'oppose the-)portation orders. ^ * .
It is pointc'd out in an article on this page that, existing ws as well as the proposed Canadian Citizenships Act pro-de ample, provisions for the deportation and revocation of-itionality on grounds of disloyalty as proven by a properly instituted tribunal.
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It comes as a surprise, therefore', to those- not full.
'quainted with the Japanese question, that the government -iould propose to override existing laws and to seek most
�bitrary and unwarranted control over the fundamental' � ghts of Canadian citizens; "
The government, hovvever, has good reasons for seeking.... \is authority; Through; deportation iand revocation of na-onality of large luimbers, it may hope to find its way out ' a dilemma concerning the disposition of 24,000 persons _' Japanese race in Canada.
British Columbia;:which has constantly urged /there-
roval of its Japanese population, still has over 14,000. The
pwards of .8,000 who were moved out .-'.ofBritishL Columbi
:arinot be regarded as permanently resettled. The federal
Dvcrnm/ent has made agreements with local authorities inv-1
^^nkhig^o i^n\oyeithe evacuees -after the wra.�\Vhei'eit>-is
reposed to move them, nobody seems to know. Edmonton
as ca 1 led t h e � f ede r a 1 go v e rn m en t's atten tio n t o th i s agree -
tent'.'- Letlibridge too has reminded the government of an
greenient whereby evacuees are barred from seek ing em-
loyment in thai city; To further complicate .the picture*
arious centres in British Columbia � Kelowna, Vernon,
anijoops; etc.-�i\re demanding the removal of the evacuees
i 'accordance with agreements with the Department of
abor that the evacuees would be removed after the war.
Restrictions on. the ecqn
theViinwiltingiiess of local authpnfids:ineasteni centres > accept theso people as permanent resettle r$ liave been np^brtant factors retarding tlie carrying out of the reloca-ojv progranu. Now the situation is. being further compli-by added probleins of job scarcity and hou$ing.diffU To push the .'relocation .program in the s face : of resent uncerU\UVcon_diiions an i it he fi-eedomji and rigjijs of evacuees |n^ ierde^r^hic;nt;of^^ irthei^ecpnonvic ^ prdsju i;^ on those siiill reniaiining in :Hritis)i
'ihaUall'})er^ iddejily beeiiVcut oil" tbe:lp^al
noted ^tlu ''-on^
inoVity forces in il>ritish^ >nii�^rcal!j.p^
arson of ;-; -Japanese,- o'r igiiiv Most act iye/ arhdrig thenv is i ; "tlie j^
o
_ba^ .a niember^ of piirliaiitetvt ;\vlioso ^TiiCial bigotVy in most ises antedated; -IJoavl - llai'bdr; / ^ : ; ^ .
At the ^moment, a 'heayen^eitt oi^>drtuni0' tev '"dJipoH'.-a' r�e group of o\ acuev^ has; l^n provided the government $ a result of tho repatriation rej^tratiorts. plose 'to ;'" ?n$ons have signed divumVnt^ requesting repat riat ion, f them^ioing ^S uiiwillingly, ^ r^uf^.: Now tlioy:;ire cnnc^
jvious liea^n.s. t helgovernnioiit will not. biv eager to give leir cases a -fair reconsideration , " :
he 'difTicuU: posit ion
in which the
deportation of a lai-ge Action in Canada, "
or not that attempt s it wifl be resisted bv the
�overhnk�nt n*h<fc:
K> CHrCt" ttti?' COItt-
of the peopK? of
depend? on how and decent
racialists was anticipated, ^but what was less expected was that, apparently, Ottawa should also fall ^v1cfim'~fo~~(he"plague which"germinated in the minds Of the B.C. race-baiters,, whose admitted aim is to persecute'other racial minorities after dealing with the Japanese. -, ' U/HA'T H A S~ CANADIAN LAW
* * to say 'about all this?
The situation may be^" briefly summarized. Jyong centuries of struggle against arbitral*)' executive power in England, and indeed iu Canada, have established the fundamental rule of democratic government that no government or'government official may do airy-thing without the express or implied sanction of (he legislatures � for our present purpose, tho Parliament at Ottawa.
FOR EXAMPLE, the will of ^ t he people' as expressed through an Act of Parliment expressly decrees that, all persons of Japanese race shall 'be. �forthwith, banished from Canada, there., is little, that can be done in law (o combat such a universal expression of ihhu- .
inanity. The will of Parliament is
supreme in this_.respect. But there
is no such Act. Then, it may be
quite niiturally- asked, under .what
authority were the Japanese up--�-ro ot ed: f r6 m t he r AV e st Coast ~ a::nd
uuder- what authbrity does the
government.propose, if necessary,
to banish them now from the
whole of Canada? There was no
Act of Parliament enabling anyone to order the Japanese from
the Coast, and / it is extremely
doubtful that art .Act exiling all . persons of.Japanese racial origin
from Canadai would carry Pa.rli'a--'-;'
inoiit. . . ' ,
The answer is that Parliament
has, tiiroiigh the War Measures .
Act., giycn to the Executive govern ment w ide" powers to cope >v i th :..'/�� ar.^: iiiviision or insurrectibn, to
takc.-:\vhat measures tliat^jnay' \\e /(leomcd; necessary. In oilier words
by r^hsojrof a rwiror apprehended
war.vinyasiou ^r insurrection/ Par- -/HanvcntJias delegated;wide.powers^ :io i\io^ oxeeutive/governnietitv the; - E<iitorf The New^Canadianj"" ' ;
GbyerhoV-ift-Cp\iucii:; H was: //of 'I note /that: in /the editorial 'of
cpiirse, iJiirter this power that Jhe the Xpvember 10: issue, you hare iexcciuive !iit^ iniyported io remove drawn aUejition ;to -a/number/of
: po i>-on s of - j'a pa n eso race fro in t li e : - Nisei grou ps across' t h e/ conn try
-1JLC: Cpiisstr to restrict:their;move- ..suggestjiig ;tliaj : sqm(j /voice pf ; monts.vti>/seirilieir property, /and opinion^<>r? protest ought -to be ;�'40- cui-b thCMr civiV rights. It is:1o hiade/^/to/ the; .government Hbojut :--l*e floieri,^horrrcv^ry- fhal^llh%^:ir";^iil^^slibsecflib^ .Measure^ Act is "mpreiy a teiriporv. / From >uvh an editpriaj F .'^ath'e/r = riry nioasiire designed (oexpediate^M^
. tho pro?ocutihg of the war./pr to jnalion as/ to what each; city is
iconibat an; invasion 6ritisu
tiqh, .and JEhat the provl?ion� of nafely^or unforUtnaiejyv/all of the
rho .\c;t ;andI in.easures taken under;
it .becprne- in^fTective when '/he ... jioejl for -ihem disappeafs. The
when -the. neetl for governrrietit by
- Onier-in-Council a# coiftrasted/to
Gofornment through Parliamont,
ily ^nd .with, ttije, dwiarAiiofi ..ot f� Ihere may be ^UTIT mat-
T MUSTrBE^feMPHASIZKD', of that H great 'many or-regulations have bean passed by the Governor-in-Cou'ncil. daring tlie.,Jate war, and' that the Japanese question .has teen only one of a number of measures takeri> the total of which cover at least a dozen volumes: Of' the many other measures�to mention only three� are the prices and wages control ofders, and � the selective s c r v i c'e regulations. There has been a great deal of protest against this "Government by Order-iii-Council, and' on (\\e leturn of peace, the Goverhmeiit was faced with the prospect of possible legal action to contest the validity of many of its wartime orders�notably the three above-mentioned measures. In order to circumvent any such legal action, the Government has asked ; Parliament, in the form/of, a proposed National Emergency Powers Act,: to extend the Executive Government's wartime emergency powers for one year to cope with postwar problems.
' . Thus the Government proposes to .continue to rule by Order-in-Council in spite of the end of the . war. This in itself of course is not an unusual or censurable jn^asure. .The Labor/Government-of Great Britain has just been given such emergency powers to extend for five years, arid it was anticipated that to a great extent a free hand ought to be given to the executive government in order to deal with the postwar problem? of reconstruction; .
JJOWKVEB, WITH RESPECT to /* _ Jhe (iii,estio/u of /-/lieportation^. and pGrsons of Japanese- race in Canada; there is the- ganger .that this Act may be used to work injustices .without the matter" receiving, the considered attention, of Parliament^ It?isreportiedtb�t: /aniiong- the ^elds^ofvactivity -in which the/ Goydi;.iiiiieiit proposps tb
govern by order-ln-conncll under authority of the proposed Act aie matters of entry Into Canada, exclusion and deportation, and revocation of nationality. Th�' result (hen h htat the OoT^rnment by ordef-ln-council may - attempt to^ over-ride the provision* of the present Immigration' Act, the Nat--uraHzatfon Act, and 'the m?wly proposed Canadian - Citizenship Bill. ' , '
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Canadians, , in contrast to' their American cousins/are a notorious-ly poUti.cally compMacent people; ' but if the above facts were gen-erall> known to then^, it is doubtful whether 'parliament would be allowed to pass � this proposed Emergency Powers Aqt without some safeguard of-thejr rights. The Immigration Aet, as well as the Naturalization -Act contain ample, provisions' dealing with deportation and revocation of na--tionality on grounds of disloyalty as proven by a .properly constituted tribunal. If the Government seeks to use the proposed National Emergency Powers Act to circumvent tho provisions of the Immigration Act and the Naturali/.atioii /Act, it would -be taking a step precedent in Canadian constitutional law. ,
TT OUGHT TO BE NOTED too that by this proposed Act legal �machinery will be set up for deal: ing in the same manner, with any person In Canada under the color or emergency action � ' whether such persons be suspected (but not necessarily proven), Communists', Nazis, or Ihdigents. Although �� it is probably not politically .ex-.pedient, it is not, jnconceivablo
"."�that the new power of the executive may bo attempted to be used, in case of widespread unemployment. to denaturalize or deport
'�naturalized and other persons in Canada .'who are forced to seek �relief from the Government.
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ll AT .CAN WE GO? It is not suggested here that the wrho]e. of the proposed" National P]nver-gency PoworV Act is to be 'cPiK do m tied"; It is admitted tha.t certain powers should be given to the Kxeoutivok Government to cope with post-war problems.. However, >vitlrregar(V to these/measures, H is well that certain safeguards be
/;, v (Continued oiv. Page/ ^)/^
''/. til 6f:^i.ondbri " ;nbjt./bhly; jforwarded1 interdependen'tly a strong petitioti / to. tile federal govern men t on bur/ V beiialf. but : also published iii/tlic iJondon - Frc^ Press the/ facts "re> pa i din? iiniie<?essary racial pre-judice Jrfo its /making/ i : - ; "-
LcTri don .^Niseis '
centres do -^noi publish their activities In The^New Canadian. The truth..of the matter, is many are 4oi�H?-:- far." mon? -- rtan tre Imagine/- The Ixmdon N"i?�i Is one of them. To the' best of my knowledge..-.the .Nisei? here fcave accomplished ^oiwWerablv i;i
and also in year*-ahead.
io
as for fare of
which oot >f ihe w*r.
ike care and wel-
with crowp
the^ i?*q� that Jie
'~
to Vnlrrtteu Mr.
of ike dot*. . Th�T
'-:sent-/a /telegrahv also; petifioiis (o. all the tion .leaders- in the House: liskinj: for fair play. Sererai replies ha yr-bfen received to the effect thai they .will d.oJheir utmost about a ^Christian-solution^ '.:-"�"// '��/."- " / / ": " ,, Might it n�ofb�. true that other' centred -: are ^ df>in^ the Isamo although .^re hear so little from them? Of course it would W inn-. po**�br�? for Mr. ^Edito^ to drop
fin on scattered groups now an<! TfteB to find oot for hiBiseh whal rhej are doia&, *o why laot lei-, loir his good to�nwl and let fcrr. what we a'rp op to.
? TO say. it fc?n't tktr beach tfat
b not jo�t majorrty
bot majority with Attk*.
�ccflltfoil to �� tbat
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