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This oral history is from an interview conducted by the Oral History cluster of the Landscapes of Injustice project.
Well, this is not fair.Mind you, I didn’t want to go to war. But on the other hand, one had to offer what one had. I said,
I can drive a car. I can drive a truck. I can work in an office. I can do these things.But they wouldn’t have any of that. They said,
No, you stay in the universities.And that was a policy of the
Painting the Clouds with Sunshine.
What? Oh these things are just dance orchestras. All supported by people who want you to use their toothpaste.
Well you have to sign it.
Well, I don’t have to sign it! Anyway, if I don’t have to sign it, I don’t have to obey it.And I said,
You’re right quite out of date.And I knew that it would not stand up, finally.
But why not?
Why do you think not?There’s nothing constitutionally that would prevent them from doing this, racial discrimination. There was nothing in the Canadian constitution. In fact
Of course we’re separated by the Pacific Ocean,but look what the Japanese had been doing and how fast they’d been doing it. In fact they’d been doing it since 1931 when they invaded
You know, it’s not a surprise, you shouldn’t be surprised, because a lot of the people who were in Norway were descended from those who were in operation at the time of the Hanseatic League.You remember from your history perhaps, the Hanseatic Free Cities. Trade cities. They had such in Norway, and through Northern Europe, and that they had never lost their German affiliations. I find that hard to be-lieve, because the Hanseatic League was fought in the 16th century. However, there was this allegiance, and they betrayed their country, and Norway surrendered. Probably had to anyway, but mind you, the British felt that because of the North Sea and the rest of it, German conquest was not really going to be that successful, but it was. And Chamberlain then had to resign, be-cause he had not been sufficiently vigorous in pursuing the war and pursuing Hitler. And so, with that in mind, the question arose here,
How many of these people who are at large and are in positions of some knowledge of the shoreline by virtue of their fishing, that kind of thing. And by virtue of wireless as they could have communications, are they trustworthy? Is this go-ing to be another Norway?Um. And, so, very little time was lost in coming to the conclusion that we could not take that risk. And the result was, as you probably know, and I don’t have to tell you, that they were driven from their houses, and herded into camp, encampments at the exhibition grounds here in
Property, property, you’re just interested in property.
It couldn’t happen here!I said that to my father and I got a thorough scolding. Couldn’t happen here, couldn’t happen here. And indeed, I like to think that — I don’t like to think — but I think that we were right in being very concerned. Because here we were in a sparsely settled virtual colony, of 600,000, I believe, that is the case. And we had
Well, hardly so, the greatbut indeed they came and occupied some of the islands just off the coast. Oh wow, I don’t think I knew that.United States couldn’t be overcome by the virtue of a Japanese attack inAlaska ,
Look at that. That’s going to be your defence when the Japs come.
You know, they are very free!I was only 14, and I wondered what he was blithering about.
Oh,he said,
We were sailing down the Rhine, drinking beer.I mean, how facile can you get? A number of them, younger people, didn’t think that their elders were justified in being as terrified as they obviously were. They hadn’t been through the First World War. And if they had, they might have changed their tune. So mother and father were accepting. Dad was always very critical of the Liberal government in
Well, look at the British, they took over India. And they took over this and that, and the next thing, maybe it’s the Japanese turn.And this created an eruption
You know, you can hardly blame them in view of the fact that it was the Europeans who broke up theAnd that was their business and that was their doorstep, and they could have stopped Hitler at a certain time in 1934. They could have, they didn’t. And you know you can hardly blame them.League .
Don’t talk nonsense to me,was the response!
My history professor is very boring, and therefore . . .And yet I had the lectures from that professor, and I didn’t find it boring. So it depends on your personal inclination. But also, too, in how it is done. I’ve heard people describe their professors in learn-ing, in high school, teachers, and in university, and they were susceptible, and would respect and take an interest. I had several teachers in high school who were commendable in that re-gard. They were very good. I remember them very clearly. And this in particular, with respect to Canadian history, in the junior high school. The history started out from Jacques Cartier, and went right through, right through to the Oregon territories, and the Oregon disputes, and the creation of
Oh, don’t trouble me with dates. I’m not interested in dates.But after all, dates are a measuring yard stick of what is happening. Now, in the future, in the past. The dates. Providing that you don’t just bury them in dates, you can say
Well, this is an interesting date, because this is when Abraham Lin-coln — just a few days ago in fact, Monday — was slain by Wilkes Booth.That’s just a simplis-tic example, but you know, it can be interesting. I, you asked me the question before, how about my grandchildren, are they interested in this? I have to say, not a bit, as far as I can tell. In fact, I think they, they are well schooled, but I think that I bore them. And I was told so, by one of them.
This is how jazz came to the forefront, and they were doing the Charleston, and all that kind of thing. And what were the movies like?I just was telling you. You were! Well, it’s a point! You’re totally right, it paints a broader picture of what life was like, which makes you more in-terested in what was happening. What were the automobiles like? Where could you drive in