The ''Defence of Canada Regulations'' were a set of emergency measures implemented under the ''

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures de guerre; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could t ...

'' on 3 September 1939, a week before Canada's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The extreme security measures permitted by the regulations included the waiving of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'' and the right to trial, internment, bans on certain political and cultural groups, restrictions of free speech including the banning of certain publications, and the confiscation of property. Section 21 of the Regulations allowed the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

to detain without charge anyone who might act "in any manner prejudicial to the public safety or the safety of the state."''Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics and History
/ref> The Regulations were used to intern opponents of

, particularly fascists (like

Adrien Arcand Adrien Arcand (October 3, 1899 – August 1, 1967) was a Canadian journalist who promoted a series of fascist political activities between 1929 and his death in 1967. During his political career, he proclaimed himself the Canadian Führer. He wa ...

) and

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

(including

Jacob Penner Jacob Penner (August 12, 1880 – August 28, 1965) was a popular international socialist politician in Canada. A founder of the Social Democratic Party of Canada and the Communist Party of Canada, Penner was elected to the Winnipeg city counci ...

Bruce Magnuson Bruce Adolf H. Magnuson (February 21, 1909 – June 24, 1995) was a Canadian trade unionist and Communist leader. Magnuson was born in the Swedish province of Värmland and grew up on his parents' farm. He immigrated to Canada in the spring of 1 ...

and Tom McEwen) as well as opponents of conscription such as

Quebec nationalist Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

and Montreal mayor

Camillien Houde Camillien Houde (August 13, 1889 – September 11, 1958) was a Quebec politician, a Member of Parliament, and a four-time mayor of Montreal – one of the few Canadian politicians to have served at all three levels of government. Political c ...

. It was under the regulations that Japanese Canadians were interned and their property confiscated for the duration of the war. German Canadians were required to register with the state and some German and Italian Canadians were detained. The Regulations were also used to ban the Communist Party of Canada in 1940 as well as several of its allied organizations such as the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

, the League for Peace and Democracy, the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association, the

Finnish Organization of Canada Finnish Organization of Canada (FOC, fi, Kanadan Suomalainen Järjestö) is a Finnish Canadian cultural organization. It was established in 1911 as the Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada (''Kanadan Suomalainen Sosialistinen Järjestö''). FOC ...

, the Russian Workers and Farmers Clubs, the Polish Peoples Association and the Croatian Cultural Association, the Hungarian Workers Clubs and the Canadian Ukrainian Youth Federation. Various fascist groups were also banned such as the

Canadian National Socialist Unity Party The National Unity Party of Canada (NUPC), PUNC was a Canadian far-right political party which based its ideology on Adolf Hitler's Nazism and Benito Mussolini's fascism. It was founded as the (PNSC) by Nazi sympathizer Adrien Arcand on Febr ...

and the

Canadian Union of Fascists The Canadian Fascist Party was a fascist political party based in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in the 1930s. The formative core of the party was a splinter group from the Canadian Nationalist Party that found the principles of corpor ...

. Non-communist labour leaders like

Charles Millard Charles Hibbert (Charlie) Millard (August 25, 1896 – November 24, 1978) was a Canadian trade union activist and politician. Early life He was born in St. Thomas, Ontario, the son of a railroad repairman, and first trained as a carpenter. Mi ...

were also interned. A number of prominent Communist Party members were detained until 1942, the year after the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

joined the Allies. Fascist leaders such as

and

John Ross Taylor John Ross Taylor (1913 – November 6, 1994) was a Canadian fascist political activist and party leader prominent in white nationalist circles. Early life and family Born into a well-known Toronto, Ontario family, the son of lawyer Oscar Taylor ...

were detained for the duration of the war.

References

External links

Human Rights in Canada - Defence of Canada Regulations

They Fought for Labour—Now Interned!
(Political pamphlet about interned labour leaders, including an extensive list of names) at

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and i ...

Library Canadian federal legislation Emergency laws Legal history of Canada 1939 in Canadian law {{Canada-hist-stub

Further reading

References

External links