FOR THE RECORD: Remarks by MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj (04/03/05)

FOR THE RECORD: Remarks by MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj

Following is the text of remarks by Borys Wrzesnewskyj, member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Center (Liberal Party of Canada) delivered on March 24 in the House of Commons during the debate on Bill C-331, the Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act.

Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to speak to Bill C-331, a Private Member's Bill that seeks to recognize the injustices that were done to persons of Ukrainian descent at the time of the first world war. Let me begin by congratulating the member for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette [Inky Mark] for the work he has done to bring the issue of the internment of Ukrainian Canadians to this House. The bill underscores the need to publicly commemorate this tragic event through public education initiatives so as to lead to an atonement.

I love Canada and believe that Canada is unique internationally; the Canada that I've known for the last number of decades has been a shining example of multiculturalism. We do not just tolerate our differences, we celebrate the people and cultures that make up our national mosaic. However, I mentioned that today I rose with a heavy heart, it is because I also know that to make our Canada an even greater country, we must have the courage to acknowledge the dark episodes in our country's past. While some would have preferred to sweep the tragic episode of the internment operations from 1914 to 1920 into the dustbin of history, the Ukrainian Canadian community remembers and through public acknowledgement by the government it seeks to bring closure to a painful episode in our common history.

We should congratulate the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association in their determination to make sure that there is a proper acknowledgement.

In the decades following Canada's confederation, thousands of Ukrainians were encouraged to leave their homeland and embark on an arduous journey that took them to some of the most remote parts of western Canada. These settlers faced very harsh living conditions under isolated circumstances with little in the way of support, yet their desire for freedom and a better future for their children and grandchildren sustained them during their very difficult pioneering years. Out of the wilderness of Canada's West they carved out golden wheat fields as far as the eyes could see. Yet, despite having built Canada's West and despite having been a counterbalance to the expansionist intents of settlers from the United States, Ukrainian Canadians experienced prejudice and racism in their new homeland.

With the outbreak of World War I, this prejudice and racism was fanned into xenophobia culminating with the implementation of the War Measures Act as a result of an Order in Council by the Canadian government. 8,579 so-called "enemy aliens" of which over 5,000 were Ukrainians who had emigrated to Canada from the Austro-Hungarian Empire were interned. These internees, which in many cases included women and children, were not only disenfranchised, but their homes and homesteads were taken away from them; they were sent to processing centers for internment and then sent to workcamps to live behind barbed wire. In addition to this internment, some 80,000 Canadian citizens, of which the vast majority were Ukrainians, were obliged to register as "enemy aliens" and then required to report to local authorities on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, the internees were used as "forced laborers" to develop our national infrastructure. They were used to build Banff National Park, the logging industry in Northern Ontario and Quebec, the steel mills in Ontario and Nova Scotia, and the mines in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. This infrastructure development program benefited Canadian corporations to such a degree that even after the end of World War I, for two more years, the Canadian government carried on the internment and the forced labor.

From 1914 to 1920 a breaking of the trust between the government and its own citizens took place in Canada, it was called internment. Politicians and leading Canadians took an active role in its justification by feeding the dark side of human nature: fear of different cultures, prejudice and xenophobia. In this tragic case the victims were pioneers who were encouraged to leave their homeland to help build Canada. It's an example of the terrible human cost paid when xenophobia and racism are fueled by international threats and are unchecked by legislation. Today, notwithstanding the existence of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, processes such as denaturalization and deportation show the vulnerability of individual rights when government succumbs to ignorance and fear.

Mr. Speaker, as the grandson and son of Ukrainian immigrants, I have a particular appreciation for the significance of the member's bill. I view this bill as part of the process to ensure that this historical wrong is righted through an honorable acknowledgement. After 85 years, it's high time that the internment operation against the Ukrainian Canadian community be properly addressed by the installment and maintenance of 24 memorial plaques at 24 internment camps across Canada and by the establishment of a permanent museum at the site of the internment camp in Banff National Park. This museum should provide educational information on the operation of the internment camps across Canada and the role of Ukrainian Canadians as one of western Canada's founding peoples. As well, the minister responsible for Canada Post should engage the corporation to issue a set of stamps to commemorate the contribution of Ukrainian Canadians in building this great country.

Finally, resources should be set aside to establish educational projects, and such projects should be agreed to by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the government of Canada.

I believe that there now is the will in this House for a reconciliation to which this bill speaks. I am optimistic and look forward to the day when the government of Canada and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress begin the negotiation process so that present and future generations of Canadians will be afforded the opportunity to learn from this tragic episode of our history.

May a more complete knowledge of our past help this and future generations in our collective enterprise of building an even stronger multicultural Canada, a celebratory mosaic of peoples which the rest of the world will look to as an example of what a society can achieve.

It is and always was my firm belief that a few friendly amendments to the wording of Bill C-331 would ensure that this long overdue legislation can and will be supported unanimously by all parties and all members of the House. I certainly look forward to working hard to achieve this goal with the Ukrainian Canadian community and the bill's author, whom I'd like to congratulate once again on his determination in bringing this bill forward. Mr. Speaker, colleagues, the time for a reconciliation has arrived.

Thank you.

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