UCCLA activists meet at retreat (11/28/99)

UCCLA activists meet at retreat

CANMORE, Alberta - Ukrainian Canadian community activists from across the country converged on Canmore, Alberta (just outside Banff National Park) on November 13-14 to participate in the second annual retreat of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Organized by Borys Sydoruk, UCCLA's director of special projects, the meeting brought together UCCLA members and representatives of three of the provincial councils of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress for discussions ranging from the continuing campaign to secure restitution for the imprisonment of Ukrainians and other Europeans as "enemy aliens" during Canada's first national internment operations to a discussion of how the community must continue to protest Ottawa's policy of denaturalizing and deporting Canadians against whom there is no credible evidence of war crimes.

Participants also discussed the need for the development of a permanent, federally funded and inclusive Genocide Museum in Ottawa and expressed serious dismay over the failure of MP Sarkis Assadourian's bill (C-224) to be deemed votable by members of the House of Commons.

The UCCLA also unveiled its annual Christmas card, featuring photographs of Ukrainian Canadian internees coupled with seasonal greetings. Thousands of these cards, aimed at all MPs and senators, are also widely mailed out to other interested persons and supporters across Canada.

A wreath-laying ceremony was organized at the site of the Castle Mountain internment camp, near the internee statue and plaque unveiled by the UCCLA that has since become a place of pilgrimage for many members of the community and visitors to the national park.

The UCCLA's plans in the coming year include the installation of additional plaques at several sites, possibly including Niagara Falls, Montreal, Halifax and Petawawa; a national memorial plaquing effort at Ukrainian churches across the country, dissemination of "Roll Call," a comprehensive listing of over 4,000 internees' names; further development of the UCCLA website; and legal initiatives aimed at securing a resolution of the acknowledgment and restitution campaign.

The UCCLA will also be releasing a revised and updated version of the booklet, "A Time for Atonement," which provides basic information about the internment operations for use in public awareness efforts involving schools, the media and politicians.

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