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Indian Act of 1876
The Canadian government passed an act to take control of the lives of Indigenous people in order to assimilate them. It controlled their education, land, resources, and status- for example, children had to go to residential schools to get rid of their culture, where they were abused (CHAP. 18). -
Komagata Maru
Komagata Maru, a ship full of Indian passengers, was refused admittance to the country. Due to Canada’s Continous Passage Act, immigrants could only enter if they made a nonstop journey to Canada. Although they were technically British subjects, the Indian passengers were treated as criminals, and some were even killed. -
War Measures Act
This act labelled Ukrainian-Canadians as “enemy aliens” since they were from Austro-Hungarian provinces. 5000 of them were imprisoned, and 80 000 of them had to check in with the police frequently and had identity cards. The ones who were imprisoned were sent to internment camps, where they did hard labour. -
No.2 Construction Battalion
Black Canadians were typically rejected at recruiting stations in WW1, even though they had fought in wars prior to that. The No.2 Construction Battalion would be the only Black Battalion in Canada, which consisted of White officers leading Black Canadians to do manual labour, such as logging, trench digging, milling and shipping. -
Wartime Elections Act
Prime Minister Robert Borden passed the Wartime Elections Act. This was the first time women could vote in Canada, although the vote was only extended to nurses and women who were related to or married to a soldier serving in WW1 (The War-time). He knew that they would want conscription. -
The St. Louis Affair
907 Jewish refugees left Nazi Germany on the ship MS St. Louis. They could not enter Canada, although Canadians asked the government to allow them to. The Director of Immigration Branch, Frederick Blair, said that there was a limit to how many refugees a country can take (MS). -
Japanese Internment
Prime Minister Mackenzie King uses the War Measures Act to move Japanese Canadians to the middle of BC, where they would be sent to internment camps. All their property was also sold without permission (Geniche). This was after the attack at Pearl Harbour- where Canada declares war with Japan.
