The Second World War and Canada

‘The First Nations Peoples of Canada have faced many challenges in history, and while the Second World War may have been a turning point in Canada’s attitude toward human rights policies affecting them, it was not the beginning of truly positive (or even negative) changes. Some famous war heroes that came out of the Second World War were, in fact First Nation Peoples; Thomas George Prince, for example. This, however, does not mean that World War Two was a major turning point in Canada’s attitude, as recognized by the fact that any real changes in human rights policies affecting First Nations Peoples did not come about until years after the war had ended (with the phasing out of residential schools), and these changes were mainly instigated by different sources. In addition, some famous war heroes of the First World War were First Nations Peoples, rather disproving World War Two as a major turning point save that, in the Second World War, First Nations men were able to enlist without issue.’