Jasper plaque to recall internment (10/06/96)

Jasper plaque to recall internment

JASPER, Alberta - In memory of the Ukrainian Canadians who were needlessly imprisoned there during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920, a trilingual bronze plaque will be unveiled here in Jasper National Park on Saturday, October 12, at 1:30 p.m.

From February 8, 1916, to August 21, 1916, Ukrainian and other East European prisoners were housed in the Dominion Parks Building and used for various heavy construction, road-building and clearing projects around Jasper National Park. Several thousand Ukrainian Canadians were interned, disenfranchised and otherwise mistreated during this relatively unknown episode in Canadian history. Many lost valuables and property; some of that wealth has never been returned, remaining to this day in the federal treasury.

Beginning in August 1994 at Fort Henry, near Kingston, Ontario, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA), a non-profit, independent, educational group mandated by the Ukrainian Canadian community to negotiate a Ukrainian Canadian restitution settlement with the government of Canada, has been placing historical markers at the internment sites. Plaques and statues now stand at Kapuskasing, Cave and Basin, and Castle Mountain in Banff National Park in Alberta, with plans for other markers in Winnipeg, at Spirit Lake in Quebec and several British Columbia sites. These projects are all being carried out without any financial support from any government agency.