Plaque to be unveiled in Manitoba (11/09/97)

Plaque to be unveiled in Manitoba

BRANDON, Manitoba - A plaque recalling the needless imprisonment of thousands of Ukrainian Canadians and other Europeans during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920 will be unveiled here on Thursday, November 27.

This is the eighth plaque placed by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, working with local community groups and financed entirely through public subscription. Other plaques have been installed at Fort Henry in Kingston, Kapuskasing, Vernon, Nanaimo, Jasper National Park and Banff National Park (at the Castle Mountain, and Cave and Basin sites).

The plaque will be installed on a Memorial Wall located near the Brandon City Hall by the UCCLA, working with the city of Brandon and the Ukrainian Canadian community of Manitoba. A grant-in-aid for the project was provided by the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Canadian Foundation. The original Brandon internment camp was located in the Brandon Agricultural Exhibition Building, which no longer exists. It operated between November 27, 1914-July 29, 1916.

Commenting on this unveiling, the UCCLA's director of special projects, Borys Sydoruk, said: "We have been very fortunate to have enjoyed the support of both the Department of National Defense and the city of Brandon in our efforts to commemorate this unhappy episode in Canadian history. By placing a plaque in Brandon we hope to remind all Canadians of the tragedy that befell these Ukrainians and other Europeans during the first world war, hopefully to make sure that nothing similar ever happens to any other Canadian ethnic, religious or racial minority.

"By unveiling our plaque on the very same date on which the first internees were brought to Brandon, we will also be reminding all of those present of just how difficult an experience this was for these unfortunate men. Although they were completely innocent of any wrongdoing, they became the victims of a state that defined them, unjustly, as enemy aliens and forced them to abandon their families, friends and communities in the dead of winter, to be interned at Brandon."

The public is invited to the unveiling ceremony. For more information call (403) 251-5594.

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