Howard Charles Green and Japanese Canadians

Abstract

During the Second World War Howard Charles Green (Progressive Conservative MP for Vancouver-South) advocated the evacuation, as well as subsequent repatriation of Japanese Canadians and continued to support restrictionist immigration policies well after the war’s completion. In 2007 the Canadian Federal Government named a new tower at 401 Burrard St. in Vancouver for Green, only to rename it following public opposition alleging Green’s “relentless hatred” of Japanese Canadians. This article challenges this characterisation by demonstrating that Green’s peacetime antipathy to Japanese Canadians was soon eclipsed by security concerns. Although these concerns continued after Japan’s defeat, Green’s beliefs did moderate. Labelling Green a racist fails to capture this complexity and change.