Lost Liberties – The War Measures Act

Lost Liberties – The War Measures Act, a travelling exhibition from the Canadian Museum of History that invites visitors to reflect on the difficult balance between national security and individual liberties in times of crisis.

The exhibition explores the fears, racism and crises that drove the suspension of civil liberties in Canada during the First World War, the Second World War, and the 1970 October Crisis. In each crisis the federal government applied the War Measures Act, which had serious impacts on the civil liberties of many individuals, groups and communities in Canada.

Lost Liberties examines, notably, the internment of Canadians of Ukrainian origin and other nationalities during the First World War, the internment of Italian Canadians and the internment and forced relocation of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, and the arrest of hundreds of people in Quebec during the 1970 October Crisis.

A travelling exhibition developed by the Canadian Museum of History and generously supported by a grant from the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.