A petition to save the Spirit Lake internee cemetery in Québec

Some of our readers will know that between 1914 and 1920, Canada interned 8,579 innocent men, women and children as “enemy aliens.” Most of these internees were from the lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and were primarily ethnic Ukrainians. Activists and organizations from Canada’s Ukrainian community fought diligently to have the federal government acknowledge this dark chapter in the country’s history. By the time the federal government provided acknowledgement and funding for commemorative and educational projects on internment, the last known survivor of Canada’s internment camps had died.

One such internment camp was called Spirit Lake, located near the town of Amos, in northern Québec. Nearly a decade ago, I had the chance to visit the former camp’s cemetery, all but reclaimed by the forest, where 16 internees were buried. It was both a moving and a disturbing experience. Already 10 years ago, the cemetery was close to being lost.

This week, a petition was launched on the House of Commons website, in an effort to convince the Government of Canada to assume responsibility for the restoration of the Spirit Lake internee cemetery. I would encourage the readers of the Hungarian Free Press to consider signing the document. We are sharing the text of the petition and the link below. (C.A. / HFP)

Visiting the Spirit Lake Cemetery in September 2008.

E-1643 (CANADIAN HERITAGE)
42nd Parliament
Initiated by Lubomyr Luciuk from Kingston, Ontario, on April 17, 2018

PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Whereas:

The Government of Canada needlessly categorized many Ukrainians and other Europeans as “enemy aliens” during Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920;

An internment camp was set up at Spirit Lake, Quebec, one of 24 across Canada;

At least 16 internee burials took place at the Spirit Lake cemetery;

The Department of Agriculture sold these lands to Quebec in 1936 and the province sold them to a farmer in 1988;

Attempts to restore and re-consecrate the Spirit Lake internee cemetery have been rejected by the property owner and the cemetery is all but lost to the boreal forest;

Federal officials, repeatedly informed about the deterioration of the cemetery, claim this is Quebec’s problem, abrogating all legal and moral responsibility for a cemetery established under federal authority and for the remains of the unfortunates buried there.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to use whatever measures necessary to provide for the archaeological examination, restoration, re-consecration and limited ongoing site visits for commemorative and religious services to the Spirit Lake internee cemetery, working in collaboration with the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Ukrainian Canadian Congress, so hallowing the victims of Canada’s first national internment operations

Sponsor:
James Bezan
Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman
Conservative
Manitoba

To sign the petition, please click here.

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