Canadian WW1 internment operations marked by new Calgarian Ukrainian monument
CTV
A memorial exhibit marking a dark part of Canada’s First World War involvement was unveiled in Calgary Saturday.
A memorial exhibit marking a dark chapter of Canada’s First World War involvement was unveiled in Calgary Saturday.
An interpretive panel dedicated to remembering internment operations was installed in the Ukrainian Pioneers Park in the northeast.
It's a way to commemorate a sad, largely forgotten point in Canadian history when the country invoked the War Measures Act.
That decision led to the government imprisoning more than 8,000 European immigrants -- mostly Ukrainians -- when the war broke out. They were deemed enemies of the state and shipped to 24 camps across Canada, forced into labour as the fighting continued.
There were five such camps in Alberta.
"When I found out about it only a year ago, I thought it was kind of crazy that this isn't anything that we're taught about or know about," Kyle Hoyda with the Ukrainian Canadians Civil Liberties Foundation said. "So being able to do something simple is a small step we can take to educated people about our history.
"It's important to know how we got to where we are so we can learn from that."
