British Columbia internment camp is commemorated

FERNIE, British Columbia - Victims of Canada's first national internment operations were remembered on Saturday, October 1, at a solemn ceremony with the unveiling of a trilingual commemorative plaque, in Fernie, British Columbia.

From June 9, 1915, until October 21, 1918, hundreds of Ukrainians and other East Europeans were interned in several camps in British Columbia, including two in the interior of British Columbia, at Fernie and Morrissey.

For the last 19 years, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) has worked to place commemorative plaques at all 24 such camps in Canada.

"We are grateful that Prime Minister Paul Martin acknowledged this dark chapter in Canadian history and the Agreement in Principle our community signed with the government in Regina on August 24, certainly should help us hallow the memory of the internees and so may just ensure that no other ethnic, religious or racial minority ever has to suffer what Ukrainian Canadians did during that period of international and domestic crisis," said Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, director of research for the association.

"However, we have yet to receive any money from the $2.5 million promised from the Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education Fund, meaning that we continue to fund projects like this one at our own cost. There is a growing sense of dissatisfaction within our community over this delay. People are asking us why they have to donate to pay for plaques when Ottawa has promised funds for such commemorative projects."

About 250 local residents and guests from across the country were joined by Inky Mark, member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, and Jim Abbot, MP for East Kootenay at the unveiling ceremony.

Also attending were Andrew Hladyshevsky, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, Paul Grod, vice-president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and Anne Sadelain of Descendents of Ukrainian Canadian Internee Victims Association, all of whom laid wreaths at the monument and at the nearby Morrissey internee cemetery.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 23, 2005, No. 43, Vol. LXXIII

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