At the Diocesan Council meeting in November there was a moving presentation by members of the JC-VCC Japanese-Canadian - Vancouver Consultative Council (associated with Holy Cross Anglican Church). This group included Father John Shozawa, Ms Joy Kogawa (recipient of the Governor General Award for Literature) and Greg Tatchell.

Father John introduced the members attending and Greg Tatchell led a brief presentation.

Following the Council meeting Bishop Michael met in early December with members of this group to work out the next steps. As a result of this meeting Bishop Michael appointed a small working group to support the JC-VCC group. The support group will look at the testimonies and other evidence surrounding the actions of the Federal Government and the Anglican Church, before, during and after the Second World War.

This group includes Father John Shozawa, Greg Tatchell, Melanie Wallace (Anglican Archives) and the Archdeacon of Fraser, Stephen Rowe.

At the January Council meeting Bishop Michael reported the establishment of this working group to suggest ‘next steps’ as we move to respond to the events that took place during this period, especially the Japanese Anglican Community in the Lower Mainland, but also affecting up to 22,000 Japanese people throughout Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley.