Internment Plaque Unveiled, Welcomed in Sault Ste. Marie

On Saturday, October 25, 2008 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., a trilingual bronze plaque was unveiled  commemorating the internment of Ukrainians and other Europeans in Canada from 1914 to 1920. This is the 21st such plaque in Canada. Located in front of the Sault Ste. Marie Museum, near the site of the internee receiving station established in The Armoury at Sault Ste. Marie, it marks the location where detainees were processed before being sent on to internment camps. The Sault Ste. Marie receiving station operated between January 13, 1915 and January 29, 1918.

The plaque was placed by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation in association with the local community, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko.

Over 150 people from the Ukrainian Canadian community and the general public attended the unveiling, among them Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, chair of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association; Olya Grod from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress; Mayor John Rowswell, a descendant of Ukrainian-Polish immigrants; and members of the Ukrainian Cultural Centre of Sault Ste. Marie. Father Jaroslaw Lazoryk conducted a panakhyda (memorial service) to honour the memory of all those unjustly imprisoned during Canada’s first national internment operations.

Following the unveiling, the attendees gathered for a reception at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, co-hosted by the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, at which Dr. Luciuk presented a very informative talk on the history of Canada’s first national internment operations and about the various camps built across Canada. Since the event took place, members of the Ukrainian Canadian community of Sault Ste. Marie have let it be known that the unveiling of this plaque has been favourably commented upon by many other residents of the “Soo” who were previously unaware of what had happened there. Plans are now underway for the development of a permanent exhibit about the internment operations and the Sault Ste. Marie receiving station.