Italian-Canadian Internment
Canada and Italy were at war during WWII, and therefore many Italian-Canadians were deemed enemy aliens. Unlike Germans that were interned though, only Italian civilians were interned. Like Germans, many Italians were interned under the suspicion of fascist sympathy and activity.
The number of Italian-Canadians held in custody is significantly smaller than the number of Germans and Japanese that were interned. Nevertheless, Italian-Canadians were still deemed enemy aliens and monitored by the state. Around 31,000 Italian-Canadians were officially designated as enemy aliens by the government of Canada and were required to report to the authorities once a month. In comparison to the thousands who were registered enemy aliens, but not held in custody, only around 600 Italian-Canadian men were suspected as fascist sympathizers and held in internment camps. Italian-Canadians were held in three camps, in Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick.
A CHARCOAL SKETCH OF LORENZO VENDITTI BY GUIDO CASINI. THIS WAS CREATED IN 1941 WHILE BOTH MEN WERE INTERNED IN PETAWAWA. IMAGE FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, ORIGINALLY FROM ITALIANCANADIANWW2.CA.
The ability of the Canadian authorities, including the RCMP, to conduct thorough investigations on the risk enemy aliens posed to Canada was seriously lacking. For example, in many cases the RCMP did not have people who could translate foreign language material upon which investigations were based. Ultimately this meant that decisions to intern people, including Italian-Canadians, were based solely on their ethnic background. These often arbitrary decisions were often used to address fears of the mainstream Canadian public, rather than based on substantial evidence of fascist sympathies or activities, or risks to Canadians or the war effort.
Throughout the war, Canada interned various populations of people who were considered a risk to Canadian national security. People who came from belligerent enemy countries were deemed enemy aliens. However, this designation was also given to people with backgrounds in foreign countries who had actually been born in Canada. Internment was not unique to this conflict and was achieved through the suspension of civil rights during the invocation of the War Measures Act. During the First World War, Canada interned many groups of people including Austro-Hungarians, Germans, Ukrainians, and Turks. Ukrainian-Canadians remained interned until 1920. During the Second World War, the War Measures Act was enacted again and Canada interned Germans, Japanese, Italians, Jews, and Mennonites. Sometimes this included women and children. All the people interned were deemed to pose a threat to Canadian national security, either through their connection to an enemy country or their objections to the conflict. Many Jews fleeing Europe were interned upon their arrival in Canada. Many Canadian Mennonites were also interned due to their conscientious objections to the war.