Our Programs
“Investing in community healing is ultimately a hopeful act, looking to the future of our community as much as acknowledging and commemorating our past. There is much work to be done, yet we remain deeply resilient and proud of our history and culture.”
– Susanne Tabata
Japanese Canadian Legacies is the implementation of BC Redress. The six legacy pillars reflect the will of the Japanese Canadian community, as expressed through extensive BC Redress community consultations held through 2019 and 2020.
At its core, this is about justice for more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were forcibly uprooted, interned, dispossessed and displaced, approximately 6,600 of whom are still with us today. For most survivors, a full and formal BC Government acknowledgement and accounting of what was taken, and what was lost, combined with a permanent monument to the Japanese Canadian experience, are essential elements for community healing. To ensure their experience is never again repeated, most survivors also wish to see strengthened education and public awareness, including through mandatory curriculum, maintenance and restoration of historical places, and stronger anti-racism initiatives in BC.
And while Japanese Canadians survivors think of others when asked about legacy initiatives, it is foundational to justice that remaining survivors are able to live out their lives in dignity and wellness. Health and wellness funding is therefore an equally essential pillar of BC Redress, alongside significant investment in mental health programming and outreach, to support the hard work of addressing first-hand intergenerational trauma.
By supporting physical and cultural spaces, community-strengthening education, and programming focused on intergenerational dialogue, learning and healing, these legacy initiatives can help enable cultural continuation and help to secure a legacy of a strong and vibrant Japanese Canadian culture and community, now and for future generations.
– Susanne Tabata
The Six Legacy Pillars
Community & Culture
Seniors Health & Wellness
Heritage Preservation
Monument
Education
Anti-racism
