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Internees under guard at Kapuskasing, circa 1917. (Photo courtesy of Ron Morel Museum) |
Jean Charest minister of the environment and Tory leadership hopeful, is now attempting (Ukrainian-Canadian internment will be recognized - Charest, Letters, April 12) to avoid personal responsibility for accepting the March 1991 recommendation of the historic sites and monuments review board decision about not placing an historical marker at the Castle Mountain internment campsite in Banff National Park.
That board declared that internment of Ukrainian Canadians during the First World War was "not, in and of itself, of national historic significance."
Charest accepted that recommendation, and has not reversed his decision despite editorials like The Journal's on March 31 ( Charest should back down on Ukrainian request), and our community's understandable protest.
And suggesting that he is working with the minister of multiculturalism, Gerry Weiner, on how best to resolve the Ukrainian-Canadian community's acknowledgment and redress claims is disingenuous, given that Weiner has now been "consulting" with us since October 1988, which in effect has meant that very little has been done to meet our legitimate requests.
I appreciate Charest's claim about giving his "full support" to resolving the community's request at the cabinet level. I only wish they would get on with it and do what is right and just. Ottawa has been considering our case now for over seven years.
Lubomyr Luciuk
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Document URL: http://www.infoukes.com/history/internment/booklet02/doc-082.html
Copyright © 1994 Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Copyright © 1994 Lubomyr Luciuk
We acknowledge the help in the preparation of this document by Amanda Anderson
Page layout, design, integration, and maintenance by G.W. Kokodyniak and V. Pawlowsky
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Originally Composed: Wednesday December 4th 1996.
Date last modified: Thursday October 30th 1997.