Page "Japanese Canadian internment" Paragraph 5

On February 24, 1942, an order-in-council passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gave the federal government the power to intern all " persons of Japanese racial origin.

" A " protected " wide strip up the Pacific coast was created, and men of Japanese origin between the ages of 18 and 45 were removed and taken to road camps in the British Columbia interior or sugar beet projects on the Prairies, such as Taber, Alberta.

Despite the 100-mile quarantine, a few Japanese Canadian men remained in McGillivray Falls, which was just outside the quarantine zone ; however, they were employed at a logging operation at Devine ( near D ' Arcy in the Gates Valley ), which was in fact inside the quarantine zone but without road access to the Coast.

Japanese Canadians interned in Lillooet Country found employment within farms, stores, and the railway.

Tashme, on Highway 3 just east of Hope, was notorious for the camp's harsh conditions and existed just outside the protected area.

Other internment camps, including Slocan, were in the Kootenay Country in southeastern British Columbia.

Leadership positions within the camps were only offered to the Nisei, or Canadian-born citizens of Japanese origin, however excluding the Issei, the older generation born in Japan.