Italian Canadian internment was the removal and internment of

Italian Canadians Italian Canadians ( it, italo-canadesi, french: italo-canadiens) comprise Canadians who have full or partial Italian heritage and Italians who migrated from Italy or reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census of Canada, 1,546,390 Canadians ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

following Italy's June 10, 1940, declaration of war against the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Through the ''

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures de guerre; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that co ...

'', the government of Canadian Prime Minister

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

gave itself the power to suspend ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'', revoke rights, seize property and arrest those who were deemed a threat to the safety of Canada—labelling 31,000

as "

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...

s". Between 1940 and 1943, between 600 and 700 Italian Canadian men were arrested and sent to

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s as potentially dangerous "enemy aliens" with alleged

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

connections. In the decades that followed, political apologies were made for the internment of Italian Canadians.

Enemy aliens

Italian-Canadian men at an internment camp

On June 10, 1940, following Italy's declaration of war against the United Kingdom, all

organizations in Canada were deemed illegal through the ''

''. They included the ''Casa D'Italia'' consulate on Beverley Street, the fascist newspaper ''Il Bolletino'' and the ''Dopolavoro'' (after work) social club. ''Casa D'Italia'' was seized by the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property and sold to the

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...

. According to ''Enemies Within: Italian and Other Internees in Canada and Abroad'', edited by historians Franca Iacovetta, Roberto Perin and Angelo Principe, an estimated 3,500 Italian Canadians were known to have been members of local fascist groups. Newspaper accounts of the day, such as the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...

'', stated that the "enemy alien" status was immediately placed on non-resident Italians older than 16 years of age, and on Italian Canadians who became British subjects after September 1929—about 31,000 Italian Canadians. The category later expanded to include nationals of belligerent states naturalized after 1922. Those affected by the ''

'' and Defense of Canada Regulations (DOCR) were forced to register with the RCMP and report to them on a monthly basis. Between 1940 and 1943, between 600 and 700 Italian Canadian men were arrested and sent to

s as potentially dangerous "

s" with alleged

connections. While many Italian Canadians had initially supported fascism and

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

's regime for its role in enhancing Italy's presence on the world stage, most Italians in Canada did not harbour any ill will against Canada and few remained committed followers of the fascist ideology. Most of the Italian Canadian men were interned at

Camp Petawawa Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army. Garrison facts The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Otta ...

(Camp 33) in

Petawawa, Ontario Petawawa is a town located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. Situated in the Ottawa Valley, with a population of 18,160 (2021 Census), Petawawa is the most populous municipality in Renfrew County. Geography The town lies on the west ...

, as well as camps in

Minto, New Brunswick Minto (2016 pop. 2,305) is a Canadian village straddling the border of Sunbury County and Queens County, New Brunswick. It is located on the north shore of Grand Lake, approximately 50 kilometres northeast of Fredericton. Its population meets ...

and Kananaskis, Alberta, for several years. A notable internee was

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

's notorious bootlegger

Rocco Perri Rocco Perri (; born Rocco Perre; December 30, 1887 – disappeared April 23, 1944) was an Italian-born organized crime figure in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was one of the most prominent Prohibition-era crime figures in Canada, and was some ...

Legacy

In 1990, prime minister

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political ...

apologized for the war internment of Italian Canadians to a Toronto meeting of the

National Congress of Italian Canadians The National Congress of Italian Canadians is an umbrella organization that represents Italian Canadian organizations in Canada. It was founded in 1974 as a successor to the Federation of Italian Canadian Associations. The congress has a federated s ...

: "On behalf of the government and the people of Canada, I offer a full and unqualified apology for the wrongs done to our fellow Canadians of Italian origin during World War II." In May 2009,

Massimo Pacetti Massimo Pacetti (born August 22, 1962) is a Canadian politician from Quebec, Canada. Pacetti was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a 2002 by-election and continued as the Member of Parliament for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel si ...

introduced bill C-302, an "Act to recognize the

injustice Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situation, or to a larger status quo. In Western philosophy and jurisprudence, injustice is very commonly—but ...

that was done to persons of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

origin through their "

" designation and internment during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and to provide for

restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...

and promote education on Italian Canadian history orth $2.5 million, which was passed by the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

on April 28, 2010.

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation that functions as the primary Postal administration, postal operator in Canada ...

was also to issue a

commemorative postage stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike def ...

commemorating the internment of Italian Canadian citizens, however, Bill C-302 did not pass through the necessary stages to become law. In 2013, as a part of the permanent exhibitio
Italian Canadians as Enemy Aliens: Memories of World War II
at the Columbus Centre in Toronto, funded b
Villa Charities Inc
an
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
artis
Harley Valentine created a monument
recognizing the internments calle
"Riflessi: Italian Canadian Internment Memorial"
The main statue is composed of several profiles—a (grand)father, internee, pregnant mother, and child—that combine to form a single figure in mirror polished stainless steel. In September 2018, the RCMP planted a tree on the grounds of the Canadian Police College in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

as a show of regret for their involvement with the internment of Italian Canadians. On May 27, 2021, prime minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

formally apologized for the war internment of Italian Canadians, at the House of Commons.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Barbed Wire and Mandolins''
a

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

documentary on the Italian-Canadian internment
''Tracing the forgotten history of Italian-Canadian internment camps''
article on the same topic.
Antonio
a

documentary by

Tony Ianzelo Tony Ianzelo (born June 13, 1935) is a Canadian documentary director and cinematographer. Career Ianzelo was born in Toronto, Ontario, and attended Toronto's Ryerson Institute of Technology. His career at the National Film Board of Canada was ...

, about his own father's experiences during and after internment.
''Italian Canadians as Enemy Aliens: Memories of World War II''

"Villa Charities Inc.""Citizenship and Immigration Canada"
funding sponsors of the "Riflessi" monument
"Harley Valentine's"
artist renderings of the Riflessi monument Canadian World War II crimes Canada in World War II Military history of Canada during World War II Canadian people of Italian descent Internments in Canada Canada–Italy relations Anti-Italian sentiment Italian diaspora in Canada

Enemy aliens

Legacy

See also

References

External links