Chinese and Ukrainian communities unite to honor Canadian MP Inky Mark

TORONTO - Two hundred Chinese and Ukrainian Canadians gathered on June 14 in Toronto to honor Inky Mark, member of Parliament for the Manitoba riding of Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, for his dedication to righting historical injustices.

Mr. Mark has tabled two private member's bills - Bill C 331, the Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act, and Bill C 333, the Chinese Canadian Recognition and Restitution Act - which would secure acknowledgement and symbolic redress for these two communities for the injustices they experienced during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920 and as a result of the discriminatory Head Tax levied against Chinese immigrants to Canada.

There are over 2 million Canadians of Chinese and Ukrainian heritage. This is the first time they have cooperated on such an event, co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the National Congress of Chinese Canadians.

Mr. Mark was presented with a bronze medallion, inscribed with the simple phrase "For Justice," and bearing a bas relief image of Ukrainian internees behind Canadian barbed wire at Castle Mountain, in Banff, Alberta. On the reverse the phrase is repeated in English, French, Ukrainian and Chinese. The plaque is also dedicated to the memory of Mike Melnyk, an internee from Mr. Mark's home province of Manitoba. Mr. Melnyk was held in the Brandon concentration camp.

In accepting this distinction Mr. Mark said: " I accept this honor on behalf of all those Ukrainians who were needlessly imprisoned as enemy aliens during Canada's first national internment operations. I accept on behalf of all those Chinese who suffered racism as a result of the discriminatory Head Tax, including my own father and grandfather."

"As Canadians we are collectively remembering what happened in this country's past, to help ensure that no other ethnic, religious or racial minority ever has to suffer what our communities did," he continued. "I am confident that in the next Parliament we will finally resolve these issues, as we now have the political support of the majority of those seeking election to the House of Commons."

Though unable to attend the Toronto event honoring Mr. Mark, the leader of the Official Opposition and of the Conservative Party of Canada, Stephen Harper, reconfirmed his party's support for resolving historic injustices, particularly those experienced by both the Ukrainian and Chinese Canadian communities.

In a letter dated June 11 Mr. Harper, member of Parliament, stated that he was "delighted" to learn that Mr. Mark was being "recognized for his tireless work on behalf of the Ukrainian Canadian and Chinese Canadian communities."

Mr. Harper went on to add: "Please be assured that the Conservative Party of Canada will continue to work to resolve the outstanding redress issues of the Ukrainian Canadian and Chinese Canadian communities."

Commenting, the director of research for the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, said: "Thanks to the work of Inky Mark, we now have confirmation from the Bloc Quebecois, the NDP, many members of the Green Party of Canada, and, most importantly, the Conservative Party of Canada, that the issue of resolving the wrongs done to Ukrainian and Chinese Canadians will finally be resolved during the sitting of the next House of Commons. There have even been a few Liberal Party of Canada candidates who have, on principle, supported Mr. Mark's initiatives - men who are not forgetting the 1993 promise made by the Honorable Jean Chretien, who personally promised his support and that of his Party for redress to the Ukrainian Canadian community. Nearly a decade has passed without that Liberal Party pledge being honored. That Mr. Harper has now made his party's commitment clear is very welcome, particularly as it comes just days before a federal election."

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 20, 2004, No. 25, Vol. LXXII

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