Trilingual historic plaque is unveiled at Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village (08/18/02)

Trilingual historic plaque is unveiled at Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

by Marko Preston-Horin

CALGARY, Alberta - On Sunday, August 11, the festivities at the annual Ukrainian day celebrations at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village were interrupted to unveil a trilingual memorial plaque commemorating the unjust internment of Ukrainians and others during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920.

The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, located in Alberta, 30 miles from Edmonton, Alberta, is an open-air museum replicating the pioneer experience of Ukrainians in Canada. It houses the original homestead buildings of several pioneer families, including the Slemkos, who just a few years after their homestead had been cleared and the buildings erected, had three family members unjustly interned at concentration camps in western Canada.

Deemed "enemy aliens" at the start of World War I in 1914, more than 8,000 Ukrainian and other East European immigrants were held at 24 concentration camps across Canada and forced to do heavy labor for the profit of the government and various business concerns. Over 80,000 more were forced to report to the police like common criminals and lost the right to vote; some were deported. The operations lasted until 1920 - two years after the war ended.

"Since 1994, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and its supporters have been placing historical markers across Canada at internment sites and other locations to commemorate the victims of this shameful operation," said Borys Sydoruk, UCCLA director of special projects.

Other plaques and statues in Alberta are located at internment sites in Lethbridge, Banff and Jasper national parks, and the Badlands Historical Center in Drumheller. The memorial marker at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Museum is intended to raise public awareness of the injustice and suffering caused by these operations. Similar markers have also been unveiled in Victoria, British Columbia and Dauphin, Manitoba.

The latest unveiling was organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Alberta Provincial Council and the Department of Community Development, government of Alberta. There has been no support to date from the government of Canada, neither to acknowledge the internment operations nor to commemorate its victims.

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has yet to keep his promise, made in 1993 while still leader of the Opposition, to support this initiative. With the recent appointment of Jean Augustine as secretary of state for multiculturalism, the UCCLA has new hope that he finally will. Speaking for the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, its chairman, John B Gregorovich, said:

"Ms. Augustine has said she would personally take up the case for redress to the Ukrainian Canadian community for the wrongs done to us during Canada's first national internment operations, in her capacity as parliamentary secretary to our prime minster. Last April, she wrote to UCCLA's director of research confirming her personal support for a private member's bill, Bill C-331, the Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act."

First tendered by Inky Mark, member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River, Bill C 331 calls for an official recognition of the injustice of the internment operations and an accounting of the confiscated wealth never returned to the internees.

| Home Page |