Japanese Canadians
However, not all Canadians believed that Japanese Canadians posed a threat to national security, including select senior officials of the RCMP, Royal Canadian Navy, and Department of Labour and Fisheries. Notable individuals on the side of the Japanese Canadians included Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside, Assistant Under-Secretary at External Affairs during the internment of Japanese Canadians. Anne Sunahara argues that Keenleyside was a sympathetic administrator who advocated strongly against the removal of Japanese Canadians from the BC coast. He unsuccessfully tried to remind other government officials of the distinction between Japanese foreign nationals and Canadian citizens in regards to personal and civil rights.