Japanese Canadian internment refers to confinement of Japanese Canadians

Japanese Canadians

Japanese Canadians are Canadians of Japanese ancestry, and are mostly concentrated on the west coast, and central Canada, especially in and around Vancouver and Toronto. In 2006, there were 98,900 .- Generations :...

 in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 during World War II. The internment began in December 1941, following the attack by carrier-borne forces of Imperial Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 on American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 naval and army facilities at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

. The Canadian federal government gave the internment order based on speculation of sabotage and espionage, although the RCMP and defence department lacked proof. Many interned children were brought up in these camps, including David Suzuki

David Suzuki

David Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...

, Joy Kogawa

Joy Kogawa

Joy Nozomi Kogawa, CM, OBC is a Canadian poet and novelist of Japanese descent.-Life:Born Joy Nozomi Nakayama in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was sent with her family to the internment camp for Japanese Canadians at Slocan during World War II...

, and Roy Miki

Roy Miki

Roy Akira Miki, CM, FRSC is a Canadian poet and scholar.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to second generation Japanese-Canadian parents, he attended the University of Manitoba, the University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University, where he is currently a professor emeritus. He lives in...

.