Memorial plaque to be unveiled at Petawawa internment site (10/08/00)

Memorial plaque to be unveiled at Petawawa internment site

KINGSTON, Ontario - A trilingual memorial plaque recalling the use of the Petawawa Militia Camp during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920 will be unveiled at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa on Saturday, October 14, during a ceremony set to begin at 10:50 a.m.

Organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, in cooperation with the Ontario Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and CFB Petawawa, this commemorative service is intended to remind Canadians about a relatively little known episode in their nation's history.

Between 1914 and 1920 thousands of Ukrainians and other Europeans, many of them lured to Canada with promises of freedom and free land, were needlessly imprisoned as "enemy aliens" in 24 concentration camps across the country where they were often forced to do heavy labor under trying conditions.

The militia camp at Petawawa was put into service for this purpose, housing hundreds of these so-called "enemy aliens" from December 10, 1914, to May 8, 1916.

Commenting on the forthcoming unveiling, UCCLA's director of research, Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, noted: "This is the 15th plaque that UCCLA and its supporters have placed since we began our efforts to recall this unfortunate episode in Canadian history. Although we have yet to secure an acknowledgement of this injustice and the restitution of that portion of the internees' confiscated wealth that remains in government coffers to this day, we are confident that what happened to these victims of prejudice and ignorance will not now be forgotten."

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