The British Columbia Security Commission, headquartered in Vancouver, was created to remove all Japanese persons from a strategic “protected zone” within 100 miles of the west coast of British Columbia. The Commission was established by Order-In-Council PC 1665, March 4, 1942 and operated under the authority of the federal Department of Labour. When the forced removal was completed on October 31, 1942, the BCSC was dissolved by Order-In-Council PC 946 and it’s responsibilities reverted to the federal Minister of Labour and, under the Minister, the Department of Labour, Japanese Division and the Commissioner of Japanese Placement, in Ottawa, with a field office in Vancouver.
The duties of the BCSC were:
- To plan, supervise and direct the evacuation from British Columbia “protected zone” of all persons of the Japanese race, and to place those persons in 6 internment camps in the interior of British Columbia, or to self supporting communities also in British Columbia, or to fill employment opportunities where essential industries had urgent labour shortages including farms east of the Rockies, mainly in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
- To provide for the housing, feeding, care and protection of such persons insofar as might be necessary including providing adequate maintenance for the unemployables, aged and infirm, and ensuring an elementary level Canadian education for the children.
- To control all movement of the Japanese and to make orders respecting their conduct, activities and discipline, as required.
While the immediate objectives were to remove and relocate Japanese persons in internment camps or east of the Rockies, once the relocation to camps was completed, the tasks of ongoing operations and administration became paramount. A camp supervisor was appointed for each camp. His position was that of Mayor and business manager for the camp, with responsibilities for camp construction and maintenance, employment, welfare, medical, education, policing, local services, supervision of services such as general store, bakery, butcher shop, etc., and relocation.
Tashme, like each of the six internment communities, was administered by a Supervisor and Assistant Supervisor responsible to the Head Office of the Commission in Vancouver. Tashme also had operating managers at the local level who cooperated with Town Supervisor but were directly responsible to their department chiefs in Vancouver.
Tashme, because of its location, was unique among the camps in that it was completely self sufficient, which meant that it’s administration and operations were totally organized and managed by the Commission. One result was that there were many employment opportunities for the Japanese and only the most important positions were filled by Caucasians employed by the Commission.
The camp supervisor was also responsible for establishing and maintaining an administrative and operations relationship with the local Japanese committee consisting of locally elected Japanese leaders who adopted responsibilities for local issues among the Japanese residents.
The assistant supervisor oversaw the outside work which included the logging operations, sawmill, and the physical maintenance of the camp. A chief clerk was in charge of the office which included the accountant, the welfare or maintenance officer, and office clerk. Other non Japanese staff supervised the general store, warehouse, butcher shop/meat market, and the post office.
BCSC was established by Order-In-Council PC 1665, March 4, 1942, with Mr Austin Taylor as chair. It operated under the authority of the Federal Minister of Labour, Hon Humphrey Mitchell. With completion of the evacuation on October 31, 1942, and dissolution of BCSC by Order-In-Council PC 946 February 5, 1943, BCSC’s responsibilities reverted to the Minister of Labour and Mr George Collins was designated chief executive officer with the title Commissioner of Japanese Placement, headquartered in Vancouver.
From Report on Administration of Japanese Affairs in Canada 1942-1944 August 1944 p8
In March 1942, the Dominion Government established the BC Security Commission, with headquarters in Vancouver, to administer and maintain the Tashme internment camp, as well as the well being of all of the Japanese Canadians in British Columbia during the war years. In the camp was a Supervisor who reported to the Commissioner at headquarters in Vancouver, responsible to carry out the policies of the Commission. A Placement officer, along with the Welfare agent, was responsible for maintenance cases (relief) and social welfare problems. He managed the permits for those moving east and managed the arrangements for those being repatriated to Japan in May and August 1946. Other men of the Commission were in charge of community affairs such as the general store, warehouse, woods, farm, and of parts of the office work.
From Tashme: A Japanese Relocation Centre, 1942-1946 W.J. Awmack
In each camp the inmates looked for leadership to the men who had been responsible for building that camp. At Tashme, located fourteen miles west of Hope, B.C., the leadership came from the remnants of Etsuji Morii’s “national group,” as the RCMP called them. Following the decline of Morii’s influence in March 1942 and his departure for the self-supporting community at Minto City, the leadership of this group fell to Shieotaka Sasaki and Frank S. Shiraichi. Along with Rev. Yoshio Ono, an Anglican minister, they co-ordinated the work force for Tashme.
The improvements negotiated by the Japanese committees did not come easily. While most camp superintendents – notably Walter Hartley at Slocan City and later Tashme, and Henry P. Lougheed at Kaslo and later New Denver – made considerable effort to improve the camps, others were not so enthusiastic. E.L. “Len” Boultbee, general manager of Interior housing in 1942 and 1943, opposed improvements to the camps on the grounds that improvements made it more difficult to get Japanese Canadians to move out of B.C. as the government wished. “Every move we make to improve these facilities,” Boultbee complained in 1943 to George Collins, the commissioner of Japanese placement, “makes it just that much tougher on the Supervisor in getting these families moved elsewhere…. I feel that we should not provide further facilities but make them get along with what they have.”
From The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War Ann Gomer Sunahara Chapter 4
Hope, being located within the 100-mile protected area, was “off-limits” to us. There always was an RCMP officer on guard at the camp gate to check all incoming and outgoing traffic.
From Teaching in Canadian Exile Moritsugu and Ghost Town Teachers Historical Society, p. 189.
Tashme Camp Supervisor Report May 1945