hi everyone the pacific national exhibition has just announced
that they're going to be back for the 2021 season and i'm excited about that
but today i wanted to explore the history of the park and take a look back at the time during world
war ii that these buildings behind me were used as a japanese internment camp let's go explore
hastings park is the city of vancouver's second largest park it was designated in
1889 for the use recreation and enjoyment of the public horse racing events began there in 1892
and the happy land amusement park opened in 1926
but things changed when canada declared war on japan in december of 1941
fearing an invasion the canadian government tightened control in the japanese community
by impounding almost 1200 fishing boats and shutting down japanese newspapers
and schools despite the fact that over 60 percent of japanese canadians were born in canada and 14
were also naturalized citizens in february 1942 prime minister william lyon mackenzie king issued
a series of orders to evacuate all persons of japanese origin to protective areas large
exhibition halls at hastings park had been used for military purposes during the first world war
and so the department of defense selected hastings park as a temporary holding camp for japanese
canadians while more permanent internment camps were being built in the bc interior
at that time many japanese canadians were forcibly removed from their homes with only
24 hours notice and escorted by the rcmp to hastings park
they were only allowed to carry one or two suitcases
each but many people lost all their belongings
and families were separated with no indication of when they would be able to see each other again
the exhibition spaces including the livestock buildings were quickly
repurposed as dormitories for men boys as well as women and children
men's and women's mess halls were kept separate and spaces
were created for medical services religious services and education
the grounds at hastings were also used to collect and store vehicles impounded from
japanese canadians several of the buildings used during the internment still remain today
roller land was originally the pure foods building but in 1942 that
building was used to house boys ranging from 13 to 18 years old
part of the building was also used for showers washrooms and toilet facilities
and later due to overcrowding the building was also used for women as well
the forum building was built in 1933 as a worker's relief project
but in 1942 hundreds of bunk beds for men and boys over the age of 18 filled the forum
exhibition hall records show that at one time over 1200 people were living in this confined space
japanese canadian women children and babies were housed in the livestock buildings
washroom facilities were very crude with waste flowing through open troughs
those housed in this building recall that the whole place smelled of manure and maggots
the conditions at hastings park were primitive and unsanitary
when recalling the conditions on site many people remember the deplorable smell
as well as the noise boredom and terrible food that was served the memory of those interned at
the camp helped tell the story hastings park was a holding pen for human beings expropriated in the
first weeks of march it had been converted from an animal to a human shelter in only seven days
when we got to hastings park it was dirty there was animal poop and bugs birds flew
around inside and pooed on our beds there was no toilet so we used the animal drinking trough
we were confined within the high wire fence of hastings park just like caged
animals all the doors were locked so you couldn't go out and get fresh air
with thousands of people crowded together in dusty harsh conditions diseases like mumps
measles and chickenpox quickly spread throughout the building
using discarded equipment and furniture a 180 bed general hospital and a smaller 60 bed hospital
for tuberculosis patients were quickly set up in a poultry barn over 8 000 japanese canadians passed
through this camp with over 3 800 people housed at the facilities during the peak of population
finally by september of 1942 the numbers began to dwindle as the japanese canadians were sent
by train to housing projects or other work projects across canada some were sent to
road camps in bc and ontario sugar beet projects in southern alberta and manitoba
or to towns with purpose-built camps in the remote mountains of the central bc
the largest of these camps was called tashme near hope british columbia
the hastings park holding camp was officially closed at the end of september 1942 although 105
tuberculosis patients stayed until march 1942 when the sanatorium in new denver was finally completed
the internment of japanese canadians caused many families to be uprooted and have to start over
with almost nothing in 1943 the canadian government assured japanese canadians that
their property would be held in trust and would be returned to them once they resettled elsewhere in
canada but that promise went largely unfilled and any property was generally sold once confiscated
in 1946 community members were given the option to either move east of the rockies
or to return to japan many years later in 1988 the
government of canada made a formal apology and acknowledged these wartime injustices
a memorial plaque has been erected in the momiji gardens near hastings park
every year thousands of people populate the fairgrounds but while they enjoy
their food and entertainment there aren't many reminders of the park's dark wartime history
other than a few small plaques placed by the remaining buildings thanks for remembering