Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
The Impact of WW2 on Rights and Freedoms
•After WW2, the world focused attention on the issue of civil and human rights. It was evident that the rights of citizens needed to be protected.
–The war had demonstrated how the power and abuse of the state cold limit and withdraw individual rights (what one can do) and freedoms (acts that are free of coercion and constraints);
–The war demonstrated that the state could allow, and even encourage, atrocities to be committed against particular groups of people.
.
Canada’s Response: The Bill of Rights
•Our law is based on British common law, which is not written.
•After WW2, many Canadians believed that legal rights should be written down and formally made law.
•The Bill of Rights was the first attempt by the Canadian government to codify rights and freedoms in Canada. It was introduced by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1960, and it recognized:
–The rights of individuals to life, liberty, personal security, and enjoyment of property;
–Freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and association;
–Freedom of the press;
–The right to counsel and the right to a fair hearing.
Canada stopped immigrating to Canada in 1930s. Canadians became preoccupied with the economy in the 1930s and this was reflected in immigration policy. In March 1931, all non-farmer immigrants were banned unless they were Britons or Americans with enough
money to support themselves until they found jobs.
World War II (1939-1945)
Among the small number of people who did come to Canada were highly educated refugees, civilian enemy aliens, who were transported from Great Britain to Canada in 1940.
Japanese Canadians were treated unjustly and were kept inside internment camps. In addition, their right to “Habeas Corpus” had been dismissed. “Habeas Corpus” was the right to be brought before a judge and receiving a trial only after physical evidence had been presented. During WWII, many racist politicians such as Tom Reid, a Liberal Member of Parliament and Ian Mackenzie, a BC provincial politician suggested that perhaps Japanese Canadians supported Japan and hence were potential or real spies for Japan and so posed a threat to Canada. Many people were convinced to believe so. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the invasion of Hong Kong escalated the fear the Canadians had for the Japanese Canadians.
In June of 1940, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King declared war on Mussolini’s Fascist government. Days later the Canadian Minister of Justice signed an order that resulted in labeling thousands of Italian-Canadians as enemy aliens. During this time, 31,000 were were fingerprinted, photographed and ordered to report monthly to the police. Approximately 600+ Italian-Canadian men were interned at camps in rural areas for years, most never even charged with a crime. There was hostility fro the citizens, ethnic slurs and Italian businesses were boycotted. In addition, many men and women lost their jobs. Thousands of Italian-Canadian families were denied relief across Ontario, and forbidden to speak Italian and congregate in groups larger than five.
An enemy alien is a citizen of an enemy country which is in a state of conflict with the land he or she is located
Most of the German internees were members of German-sponsored organizations or leaders of the Nazi Party in Canada. Hundreds of German Canadian were accused of spying and deemed disloyal. Between 1939 and 1945 the Canadian government arrested and interned 837 German Canadian farmers, and workers.