Though many Italian-Canadians are “fairly thrilled” by the Prime Minister’s apology for chargeless arrests and internment camps during the Second World War, it’s “unfortunate” the people most impacted didn’t get to hear it, says John Sanvido, president of the Italian Canadian Club of Guelph.
“It’s just unfortunate the people he would be addressing are not around to have heard what he had to say,” he said of Justin Trudeau’s Thursday remarks in the House of Commons. “The people that he’s truly addressing are all passed away.”
During the Second World War, 31,000 Italian-Canadians were deemed “enemy aliens,” with more than 600 taken without charge to internment camps or jail, unable to defend themselves or rebut allegations levied, Trudeau acknowledged in his prepared official apology.
Many were held against their will for months or even years.
“To all those who are affected by this chapter in our history, we are sorry,” Trudeau said, via a French interpreter. “Your families and your communities did not deserve this injustice and despite everything, despite that dark time, you continue to look ahead.”
The 2016 census shows 12,730 Guelph residents identified as having Italian ethnic origins, with 2,205 people whose mother tongue is Italian.
“Given how proud we are as a group, I can assure you that the people who are old enough to remember this stuff happening, even though it may not have happened to them personally, they would definitely be fairly thrilled that an apology was made,” said Sanvido. “This government, they seem to try and apologize for wrongs in the past and, unfortunately for this one, the people that he would be addressing, I can’t imagine that any of them would still be around.”
