TorontoNAJC July Update

SAVE-THE-DATE – Thursday, November 7, 2019 – 6:30 PM

University of Toronto, Alumni Hall 400, 121 St. Joseph Street (corner Queen’s Park), Toronto

Do you want to know how Japanese Canadians shaped the Canadian Constitution? Dr. Eric M. Adams, who recently delivered the lecture “Constitutional Wrongs: The Internment, Dispossession and Exile of Japanese Canadians” at Oxford University will explain. Dr. Eric M. Adams is a Professor of Law at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Law, and is currently an Academic Visitor at the Faculty of Law and St. Hugh’s College at Oxford University. The recipient of several awards for his research and teaching, Professor Adams publishes in the fields of constitutional law, legal history, and human rights.

Tickets Free for 2019 Toronto NAJC Members but you must RESERVE on our events page.

Tickets for non-members can be purchased ONLINE

Toronto B.C. Redress Consultations

The Toronto NAJC appreciates and thanks those who took the time to attend our two in-person consultations and our volunteer facilitators and recorders and notably Justice Maryka Omatsu who is Co-Chair of the NAJC B.C. Redress Steering Committee along with Art Miki. The question addressed was “What should the Government of British Columbia do to redress its history of racial discrimination and unjust actions that devastated the Japanese Canadian community?” These recommendations emerged as the consensus of participants

attending consultations #1 and #2.

Consultation #1 – April 28, 2019

A TRUE APOLOGY & FUNDS

• Very public expression of responsibility.
• Emphasis not just on the internment camps but removal of Japanese Canadians from B.C. (Those outside B.C. well positioned to speak to this)
• Apologize for intergenerational trauma.

EDUCATION & CURRICULUM REFORM

• Link Japanese Canadian history in BC with current issues of racial discrimination including immigration policies and attitudes.
• Should be cross-cultural, cross-racial with an emphasis on the experience of Indigenous peoples.
• While general public awareness needed, specific target groups mentioned were youth (high school), politicians.
• Use of digital and online media very important in engaging youth and future generations.
• Establish the significance of injustices to Japanese Canadians as never-again moment in Canadian history, in a similar way – though not to compare – with the holocaust.

FACILITY-MUSEUM

• Multi-purpose, multi-use.
• Projects, exhibits, research should be packaged to travel cross-country and contribute to content at the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg.  
• Important to have funds to hire professional staff and archivists.

COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

• Overarching theme of reconciliation with cross-cultural and bi-racial outreach an essential component.
• Continue work on historical marker projects and revitalization of significant Powell street landmarks.

Consultation #2 – June 9, 2019

EDUCATION AND INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF JC HISTORY

• Revisit and revise school curriculum with JC history mandatory. Follow-up with teacher workshops.
• Emphasize the fact that the BC government totally abdicated their responsibility to education its young citizens.
• Acknowledge contribution of Issei to BC’s development
• Scholarships for young JCs in the name of JC Leaders.
• Japanese language Immersion schools.
• Anti-racism education with links to marginalized communities now.

FACILITY/BUILDING/MONUMENT IN POWELL STREET NEIGHBOURHOOD

• Programs could include; mental health workshops (trauma related), reconciliation activities and programs for marginalized women in the surrounding community.
• Recognition of communities, organizations and church groups that supported JCs through resettlement.
• Anti-racism and multi-cultural activities.

MEANINGFUL APOLOGY ACCOMPANIED BY FUNDING

• Apology should demonstrate empathy and understanding of how it felt to experience the trauma experienced by the community.
• Address the effects of property loss on the quality of life for our seniors.
• Funds should benefit the community, as well as other marginalized groups.
• Apology to be memorialized with a monument.

Check www.torontonajc.ca or www.najc.ca for updates and registration for more details and schedule of online consultations.

Panel Discussion Celebrating the 70^th Anniversary of Freedom Day for Japanese Canadians was presented by the Ministry of Attorney General, Justice Canada and the City of Toronto Legal Department on May 31^st to to commemorate Asian Heritage Month. Titled, History, Human Rights and Healing, the session was led byKelly Matsumoto, City of Toronto – Legal Services moderated. Justice Michael Doi, Superior Court of Justice and Brian Fukuzawa, Counsel for the Ministry of Labor were panelists.  This was an in-house event for staff members of the three sponsoring organizations, but Toronto NAJC Board members, Mika Fukuma, Janet Sakauye, Ron Shimizu and Michelle Walters were invited as guest observers.

The session began with the video “Swimming Upstream – Injustices Revealed” produced by Judge Maryka Omatsu. Justice Doi briefly outlined the legal history of Japanese Canadians with a summary of the key legal cases brought forward by JCs and their results. He also spoke of his family experiences during the internment period. Brian Fukuzawa focused mainly on his family’s experiences during WW2 and the post-war resettlement period.  These personal accounts effectively conveyed the human impact of forcible evacuation, unjust imprisonment, confiscation and loss of property and expulsion from B.C.  

The employees of sponsoring organizations listened intently as many were totally unaware of the JC experience and some were dumbfounded that it could happen in Canada!   In closing, Ontario Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Michel Helie, underscored the importance of remembering these injustices in order that they never occur again.

Setsuko Thurlow receives Honourary Doctorate by University of Toronto  

Mrs. Thurlow’s extraordinary life and accomplishments were honoured at a June 4th Convocation. The Toronto NAJC congratulates Mrs. Thurlow on this most deserving honor and is proud to have supported her nomination and be present for the ceremony.

Born in Hiroshima in 1932, Setsuko Thurlow (née Nakamura), was 1.8 kilometers from the hypocenter of the August 6, 1945, atomic bomb hit on Hiroshima which killed more than 140,000 people. Eight of her family members and 351 of her schoolmates and teachers died in the attack

Mrs. Thurlow has dedicated her life to the abolition of nuclear weapons. She has worked tirelessly for the abolishment of nuclear weapons not only in Canada but throughout the world.  Global recognition for her efforts are reflected in the many awards and honors she has received including; the Order of Canada; Commendations by the Japanese Government; Arms Control Person of the Year by the Arms Control Ass’n of Washington, D.C.; Ahmadiyya Muslim Prize for the Advancement of Peace of London U.K.; Peace Ambassador by the University for Peace, San Jose, Costa Rica; Hiroshima Peace Ambassador and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Lynchburg in Virginia and University of Waterloo in Ontario.  In 2017 she was chosen by International Campaign for the Abolishment of Nuclear Weapons to accept the Nobel Peace Prize on its behalf in Oslo Norway. 

Mrs. Thurlow has lived in Toronto since 1962 and her work as social worker has contributed to the development of the Toronto JC and larger Toronto community. She served as Associate Director of the North Eastern Area of the YWCA; Coordinator of the Parent Education Program at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and Social Worker for the Toronto Board of Education.  She responded to social welfare problems being experienced by Japanese newcomers to Toronto by founding the Japanese Family Services of Metro Toronto, the forerunner to the current Japanese Social Services [JSS] agency.