The federal Justice Minister is ruling out compensation of individual descendants as part of a government apology expected this month for Italian-Canadians mistreated during the Second World War.
David Lametti says families intent on the apology have not asked for such compensation, but there have been requests to invest in education to ensure the issue is better studied and taught, and some requests for commemorative measures such as statues and stamps.
“We’ll consider all of that,” the Minister said in an interview. “But I can say the families have not requested compensation. This is not what they want. They want an apology.”
Trudeau to issue formal apology for treatment of Italian-Canadians during Second World War
The “families” refers to an informal community of children and grandchildren of those affected by the wartime policy.
At issue is the internment of just more than 600 Italian-Canadians and about 31,000 Italians designated as enemy aliens.
“Lives and careers, businesses and reputations were interrupted and ruined. Not a single person was ever charged with any crime. Italian-Canadians have lived with these memories, and closure is deserved,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office last month announcing the apology.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said the apology would come in May, and Mr. Lametti said that’s the intention, but added, “We’re working on the date, but everything in a minority Parliament is subject to negotiation.”
Montreal lawyer Ralph Mastromonaco recently called for some form of compensation to the Italian-Canadian community over the 600 internees in a column in the Montreal Gazette, saying such action is fair.
“There is absolutely no reason for the Italian-Canadian community to be treated any differently than the Japanese-Canadian community,” he said, referring to the internment of 22,000 Japanese-Canadians. In 1988, Canada formally apologized and offered $300-million in compensation to those who were interned.
Engineering some compensation for Italian families of internees would be challenging, but is worth the effort, said Mr. Mastromonaco, whose parents came to Canada after the Second World War and so were not directly affected by the policy.
“We’re talking about 600 people, a much smaller scale than the Japanese-Canadian situation,” he said. “I can assure you that no hospital will go unbuilt and no road unpaved by compensating and doing the right thing for Italian Canadians.”
But Joyce Pillarella, an oral historian and teacher from Montreal who has connected with between 150 and 200 descendants of internees – the “families” Mr. Lametti refers to – disagreed. Ms. Pillarella said there are no longer direct survivors of the internment.
“For the families, it’s not about money. This is about coming clean and saying, ’Listen our families were good Canadian citizens. We’ve never done anything against Canada,’ ” said Ms. Pillarella, the granddaughter of a internees. “There’s a validation in that and a sense of moral justice, and that’s what the families want.”
NDP spokesperson Mélanie Richer said the party supports the apology, and she also noted the NDP previously supported a 2009 private member’s bill by then-Liberal-member Massimo Pacetti that called for compensation. Mr. Pacetti is no longer an MP.
Annamie Paul of the Green Party also said, in a statement, that she supports the apology as an important step.
Former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney apologized, in 1990, for the internment at a meeting of the National Congress of Italian-Canadians, denouncing the treatment as “deeply offensive to the simple notion of respect for human dignity and the presumption of innocence.”
But Ms. Pillarella said she was hoping for something more official and formal than the “banquet hall” apology provided by Mr. Mulroney. “It’s not written anywhere as an official apology,” she said.
Mr. Lametti said his parents came from Italy after the war so weren’t directly affected by the internment.
“I have felt that responsibility to help correct, formally, this situation and help families get closure.”
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Ian Bailey