On April 14, 1988, busloads of senior Japanese Canadians from across Canada came together in Ottawa to call for the government to resolve the redress issue through a negotiated settlement with the NAJC. As they marched on Parliament Hill, some carried placards with slogans, others carried “Ribbons of Hope” that listed names of Japanese Canadians who were unable to attend but donated so that others could march in their place.
A banquet was held the evening before the rally to welcome the many visitors.
Wasabi Daiko performs. (Photo: Gordon King)
MP David Kilgour speaks in support of NAJC (photo: NAJC)
The redress forum took place in the Confederation Room in the West Block of the Parliament buildings. Hundreds jammed into the room. As members of the National Coalition for Japanese Canadian Redress addressed the large gathering of mostly seniors, it became clear that Japanese Canadians were not alone in the struggle for redress. Speakers representing ethnic communities, civil rights organizations and religious associations urged the government to recognize redress as a human rights issue.
The Honourable Gerry Weiner attended and offered his willingness to reopen talks with the NAJC, but many Japanese Canadians were skeptical of his promise. In front of the podium lay piles of campaign postcards with some 15,000 signatures of Canadians in support of a “just and honourable” settlement.
The Ottawa Rally was the high point of the redress campaign and received powerful media coverage. It was the first time Japanese Canadians exerted their democratic rights en masse to demand “justice in our time”.
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