The professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and former chair of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA), has taken it upon himself to lead the way and organize a stirring tribute to mark the memory of the thousands of “enemy aliens” who had their civil rights stripped, and were subsequently imprisoned during Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920 following the implementation of the War Measures Act.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act — adopted on August 22, 1914 during the First World War. It was used to imprison Ukrainian-Canadians, and other ethnic groups including German, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian and Armenian communities, into one of Canada’s 24 internment camps.
“The War Measures Act was fairly Draconian,” said Luciuk, who as opposed to seeking an official apology or restitution payments from the government, has simply been looking for acknowledgement and recognition.
That recognition comes in the form of the CTO (“One Hundred”) project, where 100 aluminum plaques will be simultaneously unveiled at 100 different locations across the country at 11:00 a.m. local time on Friday, August 22 2014.
“I don’t think it would be fair for me to come to you and say you should pay me money today as a taxpayer because of what your grandfather did to my grandfather,” said Luciuk. “This isn’t a negative kind of crusade. It’s about affirming the importance of human rights and civil liberties by learning about the past.”
The first plaque will be unveiled in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and then the wave of plaque unveilings will move west, from province to province, culminating in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
“This is a first in Canadian history. Nobody has ever unveiled 100 plaques on the same day from coast to coast for any reason that I’m aware of, and in this case to recall a historic injustice,” said Luciuk. “It’s something Canadians should pause to remember as we recall the First World War and the valour of all those Canadian men, and some women, who served — this is not meant to take away from that.”
For more information and a complete list of recipient locations, visit www.uccla.ca.
