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The Hudson Bay Company was a trading company. It traded pelts with the Indigenous people. The company did not treat Indigenous people fairly. It sold their land to the government when it was not theirs to sell, it would raise prices to the indigenous people and put them in debt so they had to rely on the company. And when the government got the land from the company, they pushed all the Indigenous people in the reserves with only 5 dollars per year as compensation.
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Canada got rid of slavery faster than the U.S so, many black slaves immigrated to Canada in 1763-1865 to run away from it. Though they got rid of slavery, black people were not seen as equals in Canada. No one would hire them, they were banned from certain neighborhoods and couldn't go to the same buildings as white people. They faced racism and prejudice every day.
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John A MacDonald created Residential schools to civilize the "savages". The schools striped the kids of their culture. They would beat and sexually abuse the children. The children rarely got visits with their parents and when they did they couldn't communicate because the schools wouldn't teach them the same language. The residential schools were horrendous and scared so many children; the schools would strip them of their culture and dignity. The last residential school closed in 1996.
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The Chinese immigrated to Canada to help build the railway. They worked in harsh conditions and weren't given the proper materials. After the railway, they stayed in Canada and worked hard to make a living. Due to this many people were mad that the Chinese worked hard for cheap. They faced acts of racism and were only allowed to live in Chinatown. People got so mad that the government raised immigration prices from $50 to $500. Many Chinese families were torn apart.
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The Japanese came in the 1900's and were immediately met with Anti-Asian protests. They were not welcomed and were not treated as equals, they faced a lot of backlashes. The Canadian government limited the number of immigrants that were allowed, in 1907 there were 400 Japanese and in 1928 it decreased to 150.
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In 1923 the government instituted the "Chinese Exclusion Act". This Act didn't allow the Chinese to; vote, they had to register even if they were born here, they couldn't fight for better conditions and they were not seen as equals. This act was dismissed in 1965.
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When Canada entered the war in 1939 they did not draft any Japanese-Canadians. In 1941 things took a turn for the worst when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, after that, every Japanese (no matter where they lived) were seen as enemies. The Japanese-Canadians faced severe backlash after that. They were fired from their jobs and were required to be fingerprinted. In 1942-1943 they had their property taken away and Japanese-Canadian men were sent to camps that had even harsher conditions.
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After WW2 ended in 1945, Canada did not welcome the Japanese-Canadians back, instead, they sent them all back to Japan. The Japanese- Canadians didn't have anything left for them in Japan. Only later in the years were they welcomed again. And even further down the lines (1988) did they get a formal apology from Mulroney.
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It was a little over 100 years ago that Black people started to get their rights. They were allowed to vote and were treated more equally than before. Now, in modern times, there is still a fight to stop racism but it has improved a lot and in Canada, there is less of it than in other parts of the world. Today there are many inspiring Black people (actors, athletes, CEO) in the world and though racism is still around we should do our best to fight it.
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On June 11, 2008 a formal apology was given to the Indigenous people.
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Mayor Peter Kelly apologies when they bulldozed a black community in the 1960's
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Only in 2018 did Gregor Robertson apologies for the injustice that the Chinese Canadians had to endure.
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Japanese-Canadians:
Legion Magazine. Japanese Canadian Internment. YouTube. December 7, 2016
Hopper, Tristin. Rare views of Japanese-Canadian internment: 19 images remembering one of Canada's darkest hours. NATIONAL POST. December 14, 2016
Robinson, Greg. Internment of Japanese Canadians. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Edited: September 17, 2020 -
Chinese-Canadians: Digital Archives - Chinese immigrants not welcome after railway completed.
Digital Archives - The personal impact of racism
Growing Up Chinese Canadian: A Century of Stories -
Indigenous: "The Secret Life of Canada"(S1: The Secret Life of Statues, S2: Bay Blanket, S1: Shout Out to Fred Sasakamoose)
CBC, "The controversy around John A. MacDonald’s complicated legacy"
Martin Defalco & Willie Dunn, "The Other Side of the Ledger: An Indian View of the Hudson's Bay Company"
CBC News: National "Stolen Children | Residential School survivors speak out" YouTube. -
James W. St.G. Walker. "Black Canadians". Canadian encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/black-canadians
