Camp Spirit Lake Internment Interpretive Centre Opening Now on YouTube

NP - Construction of the Camp Spirit Lake Internment Interpretive Centre and its opening in La Ferme, near the City of Amos in the Abitibi region of Quebec was made possible by the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, established to commemorate internment camps and redress internees who suffered in them in Canada during WWI.

(UCC QPC) - The historic inauguration ceremony of Camp Spirit Lake Internment Interpretive Centre at La Ferme, Quebec, the first such internment interpretive centre opened in Canada, is now available on YouTube video for viewing to the general public.  The Centre was organized by James Slobodian of Rouyn Noranda, Que. with the assistance of Camp Spirit Lake Corporation board members. The official opening ceremony which took place on November 24, 2011 was filmed and edited by Montreal filmmaker Yurij Luhovy with Volodymyr Hayduk as soundman, has been released in seven parts on YouTube. 

Part One covers the presentation by The Hon. Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, as well as the opening remarks by James Slobodian, chairperson of Camp Spirit Lake Corporation.  Part Two includes the speech by James Bezan, MP Selkirk-Interlake, Manitoba.  The third part addresses the presentation by MP Christine Moore representing Abitibi-Tmiscaminque. Part Four presents remarks by Andrew Hladyshevsky QC, President of the Shevchenko Foundation which administers the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.  Part Five includes commentaries by Jacques Riopelle, prefect for MRC Abitibi, as well as the special award presentation to Yurij Luhovy and Zorianna Hrycenko-Luhova for their work on the internment issue.  The sixth part conveys the message delivered by His Grace Bishop Gilles Lemay of the Diocese of Amos, and Part Seven presents the religious service offered by representatives of the Roman Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox churches in memory of those buried at the Sprit Lake Camp internment cemetery.

The seven-part series is interspersed with selected articles by various individuals published in Canadian and Ukrainian-Canadian newspapers which brought awareness of Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920 to the general public, and constituted part of the ongoing campaign for recognition of the unjust internment by the Canadian government of so called “enemy aliens” – the overwhelming majority of whom were innocent Ukrainian immigrants. The series also includes a selection of archival photos depicting the Spirit Lake Camp internment site from 1915 to 1917 and other internment camps across Canada, as well as Spirit Lake excerpts from the documentary films Freedom Had A Price and Ukrainians in Quebec 1891-1945.

The filmed segments will serve as a permanent record of the proceedings of the inauguration ceremony, and will help provide a fuller picture of the efforts to establish the interpretive centre. They will also remind viewers of the Ukrainian Canadian community’s determination, over many years, to ensure that the internment story does not become a forgotten part of Canadian history but is etched in mainstream consciousness. The film coverage will be included in the interactive displays as part of the permanent exhibit at the interpretive centre.  Visitors and students participating in the ongoing school tours will be able to access desired parts of the ceremony at a touch of a button.

The inauguration film is available through www.yluhovy.com with a link on YouTube.

For further information about the Camp Spirit Lake Internment Interpretive Centre email campspiritlake@cableamos.com or call 819-727-2267.

 
As reported in The New Pathway:

Inky Mark, former MP for Dauphin-Swan River Manitoba, was successful in having his Private Member’s Bill C-331 passed in Parliament and received Royal Assent on November 25, 2005. The “Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Recognition Act”  recognizes the injustice that was done to persons of Ukrainian descent and other Europeans who were interned at the time of the First World War and legally obliges the Government of Canada to negotiate “an agreement concerning measures that may be taken to recognize the internment” for educational and commemorative projects. The efforts and work of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association  helped establish the CFWWIRF. Years ago, UCCLA's Redress Council placed a trilingual plaque at the Spirit Lake Camp and unveiled a statue, “Interned Madonna”, helping set the stage for building the Centre which stands today.

PHOTO

UCCLA plaque at the Spirit Lake Camp