August 22, 2014 – James Bezan, MP was pleased to attend the unveiling of the CTO Plaques in Arborg and Beausejour,MB. These Plaques are two of the "100 Plaques to Remember 100 Years - CTO Project" unveiled acrossCanadaby the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The CTO Project was funded with a grant from the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund to recognise the internment of Canadians 100 years ago.
August 22, 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the implementation of the War Measures Act. During the Great War from 1914 to 1920, 24 internment camps were set up and operated across the country which imprisoned over 8,500 men, women and children for being enemy aliens. Prisoners at the internment camps were used as forced labour for the construction of government infrastructure such as theTrans-Canada Highway and Banff National Park. A further 88,000 enemy aliens were required to report regularly to police authorities during this period.
“The plaques unveiled today recognize a troubled period of Canadian history,” explained MP Bezan. “It is important to understand the impact that this action had on Canada. Innocent new Canadians from Ukraine, as well as those of German, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Armenian descent, as well as other Eastern Europeans, were needlessly imprisoned as enemy aliens because of the passport they immigrated with to Canada.”
A Conservative Private Members Bill initiated the redress for the WWI internment with Bill C-331, the Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act. The Harper government provided an endowment of $10 million to the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund on May 9, 2008, which is being used for the redress and commemoration of WWI camps and memorial sites across Canada, including the National Internment Exhibit at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site in Banff.
“I am proud our Conservative government has supported the redress and commemoration of Canada's World War I internment camps,” concluded MP Bezan. “It is important to understand and acknowledge this important part of our history, and to learn from this dark section of our past.”
