5. A War on Ethnicity? The RCMP and Internment

"Has anyone seen my ancestral language?" Italian linguistic suicide and the transmission of the Italian language in Canada, 1935-1947

“…Mazza (1994), in his introductory essay of Duliani's The City Without Women, notes historian Kirkconnel's contestations regarding this issue, concluding that the Canadian government failed in protecting its citizens against foreign influence. In comparison, Whitaker and Kealey (2000) believe that those rounded up for internment did constitute prima facie threats to Canada's national security, despite the constant pleadings of innocence. Liberati (2000) concurs, stating that there were many fascists in Canada who were willing to resort to acts of violence, therefore, they had to make the arrests to ensure there was no internal security threats.…”

“…Liberati (2000 affirms that beginning in 1936, the Canadian government began compiling information about Italian-Canadian communities and translating Italian newspapers across the country for analysis. Further evidence of these acts is put forth by Whitaker and Kealey (2000) who discuss both Canada and the United States' practice of translating Italian language newspapers and magazines. Harney (1978) continues this line of thought by discussing English Canadian Press' denouncement of Mussolini's aggression in East Africa and that by 1938, Italian-Canadians were feeling intense pressure, sensing the ultimatum that was soon to be forced upon them: whether their true allegiances lay with Italy the motherland or Canada the host country, a heavy burden that may have effected the position some took on the role that their ancestral language played in their everyday lives in Canada.…”

“…Immediately following Mussolini's declaration of war in 1940, the government launched an operation that sought control and surveillance over all Italian communities coast to coast. The Defense of Canada Regulations (DOeR) and general atmosphere of wartime hysteria allowed government officials and RCMP to use excessive surveillance and force over all groups it found to be suspicious, without the usual peacetime constraints (Whitaker and Kealey, 2000). The use of such surveillance and force was a deep-seated fear of a fifth column within the United States and Canada, a threat to both nations' national security that would undermine the safety of the state.…”

Mistrusted Strangers at Home: Czechs, Slovaks, and the Canadian "Enemy Aliens" Registration Issue, 1938-1942

“…The Defence of Canada Regulations in effect subverted such guarantees to the "safety of the state first." 22 Although immensely unpopular in ethnic communities whose homelands were portrayed as "fascist" and "communist" (such as Germany, Italy, and the USSR), the majority of Canadians supported Ottawa's wartime measures against perceived (potentially subversive) enemies within their country. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) became the state's central agent in implementing the DOCRs.…”

“…However, when it came to Communism, ideology and ethnicity were not separated. 29 As a result, countless members of ethnic communities such as Ukrainian Canadians were treated as having contributed to a single ideology. However, Canadian federal bureaucrats were divided in their interpretation of the social and political leanings of Canadian Ukrainians.…”