Defence Of Canada Regulations
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The ''Defence of Canada Regulations'' were a set of
emergency measures An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
implemented under the '' War Measures Act'' on 3 September 1939, a week before Canada's entry into World War II. The extreme security measures permitted by the
regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
included the waiving of '' habeas corpus'' 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 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 World War II, particularly
fascists Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
(like Adrien Arcand) and Communists (including Jacob Penner, Bruce Magnuson and Tom McEwen) as well as opponents of
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
such as Quebec nationalist and Montreal mayor Camillien Houde. 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 The Communist Party of Canada (french: Parti communiste du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's can ...
in 1940 as well as several of its allied organizations such as the Young Communist League, the
League for Peace and Democracy League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * '' The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact foo ...
, the
Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association The Association of United Ukrainian Canadians (AUUC; uk, Товариство Об'єднаних Українських Канадтсив) is a national cultural-educational non-profit organization established for Ukrainians in Canada. With ...
, 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''). FO ...
, the
Russian Workers and Farmers Clubs The Federation of Russian Canadians is a left-leaning cultural organization for Russian immigrants to Canada and their descendants. It is the successor of the Russian Farmer-Worker Clubs which were closed by the government at the beginning of World ...
, the
Polish Peoples Association Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
and the
Croatian Cultural Association Croatian may refer to: *Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * Se ...
, the
Hungarian Workers Clubs Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...
and the
Canadian Ukrainian Youth Federation Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
. Various fascist groups were also banned such as the Canadian National Socialist Unity Party and the Canadian Union of Fascists. 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. M ...
were also interned. A number of prominent Communist Party members were detained until 1942, the year after the Soviet Union joined the Allies. Fascist leaders such as Adrien Arcand and John Ross Taylor were detained for the duration of the war.


Further reading

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