My Baachan, Taki Nakamura, passed away in 1980, at the age of 91. She lived through many episodes of Japanese Canadian history, but not Redress.

After tricky negotiations and more than a little controversy within the Japanese Canadian community, the National Association of Japanese Canadians reached an agreement with the Canadian government, signed on September 22, 1988.

This agreement acknowledged the injustices during World War II with an official apology in the House of Commons, individual compensation to survivors of $21,000 each, and the establishment of a Race Relations Board. My parents each received compensation and took our family on a vacation to England.

I don’t know what my Baachan would have said about that. As I have said, I never really knew her that well, but she always seemed to be a quiet, upbeat sort of person and certainly never passed on any bitterness about the past, for which I am grateful.