Human Rights A Day

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney apologizes to Japanese Canadians. During World War II, the Canadian government moved Japanese Canadians away from the west coast, confiscated their land without compensation and held thousands as prisoners in internment camps. Even before the war ended, Japanese Canadians urged their government to right this horrible wrong. After years of negotiations and compromise, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney issued a “formal and sincere apology” on September 22, 1988. On behalf of the Canadian government, he told Japanese Canadians he was sorry for their treatment during the second world war. The apology was issued along with a settlement of a $291 million compensation fund designed to pay each of the estimated 12,000 survivors of the internment camps $21,000, tax-free. Included in the entire compensation package was money to rebuild the infrastructure of destroyed communities and $24 million to fund a Canadian Race Relations Foundation. As well, pardons were offered to persons convicted und