Exactly one year and one day after I suggested the idea of a podcast, I will meet the 'crew' this afternoon. The crew is my term for the people who will work with me on the podcast. I'm a volunteer, they are all paid summer students or interns. I am 73 while they are all much younger, most in their 20s. Regardless, I think we'll be able to get this project through to completion.
The podcast's source is the seniors who live in the home where I do my volunteer work. It's a Japanese home, mainly though not exclusively, with many very senior seniors. One is 106 and there is a group of people who are all over 100 years old. The home's population is made up of some who were born in Japan and others who have been in Canada for generations. I am only second generation Canadian, all of my grandparents were born in the United Kingdom. The woman who I will meet early this afternoon is fourth generation Canadian. When she told be about that, I was shocked! I did not know that Japanese labourers were here in Canada around 1850, building roads and railway lines.
In a conversation with a resident, I learned about the evacuation here in Canada, after Pearl Harbor in 1941. It is a sad and embarrassing memory for some of the residents. Uprooted from their homes on the West Coast, they were forced to move back to Japan or to the interior of Canada. Men were put into work camps. I think whole families were also put into camps, just as they were in the States.
I hope the podcast gives Canadians details of this shameful part of our history.
Thanks for reading.
Brian Mahoney
June 19, 2025