-
Throughout the span of a few years, many women and some men appeared before the Manitoba Legislative Assembly presenting their demands to give women the ability to vote. One suffragist, Nellie McClung, claimed that women have brains, feelings, and deserve to be able to play a part in their community by voting. The Lieutenant Governor then granted women the right to vote in provincial elections, as well as the right to run as a candidate.
-
In the past, women weren't considered good decision makers or working-class citizens. However, the lowered male population during WWI gave women an opportunity to show their potential and ability in the workplace and other aspects of life that weren't offered to them before. Getting the vote meant women could finally have an input on their leaders, and women getting the vote in Manitoba started a chain reaction across other provinces eventually getting every woman the right to vote provincially.
-
After being denied access to enlistment stations in BC, Japanese Canadians that wanted to fight in WWI learned Alberta CEF battalions were willing to accept Japanese Canadian soldiers. 171 Japanese Canadians volunteered to travel from BC to Alberta and 160 of them arrived. 222 Japanese Canadians enlisted in total.
-
The battalion of Japanese Canadian soldiers fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Battle for Hill 70, and other major fights. Of the 222 Japanese Canadian troops, 54 lost their lives and 13 were awarded medals for their bravery. Japanese Canadians enlisted hoping they'd earn more rights. However, the war concluded and discrimination continued. It would be much longer before Japanese Canadians were given more rights and respect, even for the veterans of WWI.
-
After an organized campaign in August 1921 lead by the Asiatic Exclusion League, a group with the goal of preventing anybody of Asian descent from immigrating to Canada, the Parliament of Canada passed an act that restricted Immigration of Chinese people, and even British people with Chinese descent.
-
Prior to the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act there was a different act that imposed head taxes on Chinese immigrants. Depending on the time-frame immigrants had to pay anywhere from $50 to $500. The only ones who were exempt from this act were Chinese immigrants that were only temporarily staying in Canada. When the new act was introduced it abolished the tax and restricted all Chinese immigration to just students, diplomats, merchants, and those granted by the Minister of Immigration.
-
The Persons Case was a major change for Canadian Women. This new declaration meant women could be members of the senate, and wouldn't be denied rights based on misinterpretation of the BNA act or other laws. Even though women had the right to vote, there was still more rights women would fight for, and more progress would come with women in the house of commons and at this point, in the senate too.
-
Activists in Alberta proposed the first female judge in Canada, Emily Murphy for a senate position. The Canadian government argued that the 1867 British North American Act referred to one of the requirements as "persons" and considering the views at that time, they interpreted persons as only including men. The activists then turned to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London England, who declared that "persons" included women, and that women could be in the senate.
-
The ship MS Saint Louis carried 937 Jewish refugees from Europe to North America to seek asylum from the corruption towards Jews in Germany. However, once they reached their destination of Cuba, Cuba refused to let them dock. 29 passengers could leave. The rest headed north after stalling at the harbor for 5 days only to be rejected by both Canada and USA, the latter using the excuse that there were already many people waiting to enter the country.
-
Anti-Semitism was prominent in Canada before the MS St. Louis blunder. After all, it's the reason to Canada's denial of Jewish Immigration. Unfortunately, after the Jews returned to Europe many of the countries were taken by Nazi power and Jews once again had to face discrimination(and death) from Germany. This event didn't change Anti-Semitism in Canada, and for a while it slowly decreased from explicit hate to implicit, subtle hate in the form of job denial and lesser respect than others.
-
The Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet with bomber planes in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, USA. This attack intended to destroy US defense and morale, but it also destroyed the minimal trust Canadians had in Japanese Canadians.
-
The Pearl Harbor attack sprouted even more hostility towards the Japanese Canadian minority than ever before. The discrimination existed before WWII, but now it was even more violent. The Federal Cabinet went against the arguments of Canada's senior military and RCMP officers that Japanese-Canadians posed no threat, and used the War Measures Act as an excuse to remove Japanese Canadians from the Pacific coast and within 160km of it. Over 20,000 Japanese Canadians were removed from their homes.
-
Palmer, Howard, and Leo Driedger. “Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 4 Mar. 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/prejudice-and-discrimination#:~:text=Prejudice refers to an unsubstantiated,in society because of prejudice. Sunahara, Ann. “Japanese Canadians.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 27 Sep. 2019, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/japanese-canadians#:~:text=The%202016%20census%20reported%20121%2C485,to%20work%20in%20certain%20industries.
-
Dick, Lyle. “Masumi Mitsui.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 21 Jan. 2019, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/masumi-mitsui. Chan, Arlene. “Chinese Immigration Act.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 7 Mar. 2017, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chinese-immigration-act. Chan, Arlene. “Chinese Head Tax in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 3 Jun. 2020, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chinese-head-tax-in-canada.
-
“Asiatic Exclusion League.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Exclusion_League. Yarhi, Eli. “MS St. Louis.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 26 Apr. 2019, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ms-st-louis. Marshall, Tabitha, and David A. “Persons Case.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 6 Nov. 2020, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/persons-case.
-
Government of Canada, Status of Women Canada. “100th Anniversary of Women's First Right to Vote in Canada.” 100th Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote in Canada, 17 Jan. 2018, cfc-swc.gc.ca/commemoration/cent/index-en.html.
