In order to save money, Mackenzie King's administration in Ottawa got the Japanese to pay for their new homes.
Japanese-Canadians paid for their cabins in the camps in BC. I would like to emphasize this point because it differs from the Japanese American experience where the American government paid for their internment.
"The Japanese had to pay for their stay at these horrid camps. While under the Geneva Convention prisoners of war (POW) didn't have to pay for their camps. In comparison to what the American Government paid for their internment camps, Canada paid a quarter of what than the USA did." — http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/canadianhistory/camps/internment1.html
On my mother's side of the family, most of the family was interned in New Denver, except for her married eldest sister and brother.
My father's family was originally interned in Lillooet, BC. After the war, they sold their cabin, which they paid for, and moved to Vernon. No one would sell them land except for a World War 1 veteran on the BX road leading to Silver Star.
As for myself, I try to look at the past objectively.
Considering the freedoms we've won over the past 60 years, the Japanese-Canadians should never forget the injustice of internment.
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