Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has received a special award from the Japanese government for his work to redress the internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War.
Mulroney, who was to be given the Order of the Rising Sun during a ceremony in Ottawa on Monday, said that he was greatly honoured, since the internment is such a dark spot in Canada's past.
"This was one of the great travesties that occurred, certainly in modern Canadian history," Mulroney told CTV Power Play Monday.
The former prime minister recalled the day in 1988 when he issued the government's apology; a day he said was one of the most emotional of his tenure.
"I looked up, and you could see all these elderly Japanese, who had been victimized … themselves, in tears in the Gallery," he said, referring to his speech in Ottawa.
Mulroney felt that the emotions were due to feelings of pride, that finally, after decades, the country had finally apologized to its own citizens.
The internments occurred in British Columbia after the attack on Pearl Harbour, and the government seized property, sold it off and separated families in 1941.
"All of this happened on Canadian soil to Canadian citizens, and nothing was done about it," Mulroney said.
Ottawa stated that "military necessity" justified the actions, and officials used the War Measures Act to ensure it was done. The interments affected more than 21,000 people.
