Commemorative plaque is unveiled at site of Mara Lake internment camp (07/07/02)

Commemorative plaque is unveiled at site of Mara Lake internment camp

by Marko Preston-Horin

VANCOUVER - During Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920, thousands of Ukrainians and other Europeans were needlessly imprisoned as "enemy aliens" in Canadian concentration camps. Seven out of the 24 internment camps established following passage of The War Measures Act were located in British Columbia, including the Monashee-Mara Lake camps, operated between June 2, 1915 and July 29, 1917.

As a result of the efforts of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, supported by the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, the District of Sicamous and the Ukrainian Canadian community of British Columbia, a trilingual historical marker was unveiled at the original site of the camp, Two Mile, near Sicamous, British Columbia, on Saturday, June 8.

Over 70 people attended to show their sympathy for the victims of this unhappy episode in Canada's history. Opening remarks were by UCCLA's local representative, Andrea Malysh, who began and ended with a reference to the promise made in June 1993 by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, in support of redress for Ukrainian Canadians who were subjected to internment and loss of freedoms during the first world war.

Among others speaking at the event were Mayor Fred Busch of Sicamous, who noted: "This plaque will remind Canadians about past injustices and urge them not to let them happen again."

Susan Anderson, parliamentary assistant for Member of Parliament Darrel Stinson (Okanagan - Shuswap) presented the UCCLA's representative, Ms. Malysh, with a House of Commons Certificate of Recognition, "to express my sadness for the unjust internment (1914-1920) of Ukrainian Canadians and to recognize their many contributions to Canada." Jay Schlosar, executive assistant to member of the Legislative Assembly George Abbott, (Shuswap), the provincial minister of multiculturism, expressed the deepest sympathy and sadness of the premier of British Columbia about a chapter of history that "left a scar on our province."

Other dignitaries attending included Gena Crowston, representing Betty Hinton, MP (Kamloops); Rhona Martin, Columbia Shuswap Regional District; Maureen Kalynchuk for Teresa Hebert, trustee for School District No. 83; and Gordon Mackie, Sicamous and District Museum and Historical Society.

Kari Moore, the UCCLA's representative in Victoria, brought greetings from the Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and read her poem, "Internment."

The Rev. Stefan Basarab from St. Josephat's Ukrainian Catholic Church of Vernon, the Very Rev. Pawlo Berezniak and Subdeacon Paul Malysh of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Assumption of St. Mary in Vernon consecrated the monument. Subdeacon Malysh also led in the singing of both the Canadian and Ukrainian national anthems.

A reception was held after the ceremonies at The Red Barn in Sicamous, hosted by the Sicamous and District Museum and Historical Society, where photographs from the Mara Lake camps were displayed for viewing. The local Ukrainian community also displayed Ukrainian artifacts and books.

The plaque in Mara Lake was the 18th placed by the UCCLA to date. Another historical marker is to be unveiled at the Badlands Historical Centre in Drumheller, Alberta, on August 5.

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