UCCLA unveils plaque recalling internment on Mount Revelstoke (10/29/00)

UCCLA unveils plaque recalling internment on Mount Revelstoke

by Roman W. Zakaluzny

REVELSTOKE, British Columbia - It was a cold, wet and foggy day in Mount Revelstoke National Park, British Columbia when the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association unveiled its latest memorial to Canada's first national internment operations on September 9.

About 25 people made the 13-kilometer trek up Mount Revelstoke to see the official unveiling of an interpretive panel, which detailed the circumstances of one of 24 concentration camps erected during and following the First World War. These camps were set-up to intern Canadians of Eastern European descent, peasants invited to Canada to settle the West. Most of the prisoners were Ukrainians from Austro-Hungarian occupied Ukraine. But the roll call included ex-patriates of other innocent Eastern European nations as well, such as Poland and Czecho-Slovakia.

Present were members of the local Ukrainian community, citizens of Revelstoke, representatives of the UCCLA and Parks Canada, as well as local politicians, both federal and provincial. Somewhere in the trees near the panel, onlookers were told, was the site of the Revelstoke Camp, which existed from September 6, 1915, to October 22, 1916, before being moved to Yoho National Park in its entirety. To the interned, the move must have been a godsend.

Mount Revelstoke National Park, despite its majestic beauty, is not a forgiving environment. The terrain is so steep, the ground so rocky and the weather so unpredictable and unrelenting, that the people present rushed for their heated vehicles following the one-hour ceremony. It was tough to imagine the prisoners spending a year there, minus the luxury of central heating.

One of the organizers of the unveiling was Andrea Malysh, UCCLA member for Vernon, British Columbia. Ms. Malysh also emceed the hourlong memorial, which started with the singing of "O Canada," and included a short prayer session and addresses from the various dignitaries present.

After thanking Parks Canada for their cooperation in erecting the panel and the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko for their financial assistance, the UCCLA repeated its request that Prime Minister Jean Chrétien honor his promise made while in opposition to "secure the redress of Ukrainian Canadians' claims arising from their internment and loss of freedoms during the first world war."

"Seven years have now passed. The prime minister has not kept his promise," I said, speaking on behalf of the UCCLA Calgary Branch. "Various ministers responsible for the multiculturalism portfolio have avoided explaining why. All we are told is that the government is only interested in 'forward-looking projects' that combat racism."

Most speakers at the assembly accented the importance of remembering past mistakes, particularly the internment operations of 1914-1920, in order to avoid repeating them. Speaking at the event was Jim Abbott, member of Parliament for Kootenay-Columbia. Mr. Abbott mentioned that the weather - approaching zero degrees with rain - was fitting. He could not imagine the cold felt by park prisoners when the season changed to winter.

"As cold and as damp as it is today, I think this is the best way to commemorate this atrocity," said Mr. Abbott.

Jim Doyle, member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, himself a new Canadian from overseas, congratulated the attendees for braving the cold and stressed the importance of such memorials. "It's important to remember," he said.

Also speaking at the event was Parks Canada representative Pamela Doyle, who thanked the UCCLA for their initiative, and Robert Herchak, past president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, British Columbia.

Mr. Herchak praised the Japanese Canadian community for securing a redress for their wrongful internment during World War II, and wondered aloud why the Canadian government could not do the same for Canada's first internment camp victims.

Prayer services and a consecration of the site were led by the Rev. Stefan Basarab and Deacon Paul Malysh, both of Vernon's Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The unveiling concluded with Ukraine's national anthem, and then warm coffee and doughnuts supplied by Parks Canada. Unfortunately for the Ukrainian internees, they were not granted the same kind of generosity at the end of their days of incarceration.

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