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November 11, 2008 - Toronto- In a statement by UCC National President Paul Grod to mark the 90th occasion of Remembrance Day, Mr. Grod expressed "unequivocal support and heartfelt gratitude to all our veterans, troops and their families."
"Today, as Canadians have done for the past 90 years, we pay tribute to the sacrifice made by generations of Canadian military personnel for the protection of our fundamental values and thank them for our freedom. As Ukrainian Canadians we also remember and pay tribute to the millions of men and women who perished fighting for the freedom of their Ukrainian homeland."
Mr. Grod also remarked, "that today we must also remember the WWI internment operations as one of Canada's most tragic ironies. While one group of Ukrainian Canadians such as Victoria Cross recipient Corp. Philip Konowal were heroically serving their country, there was another group of Ukrainian Canadians who were jailed in Canadian internment camps all because of which side of the river they were born on. This is a time where we must remember our history so we do not repeat the same mistakes."
His statements were delivered to a group of veterans, soldiers and their families at Remembrance Day ceremonies in Toronto on November 9, 2008. His full statements in English and Ukrainian are available at www.ucc.ca.
Did you know?
More than 80,000 Ukrainians were branded "enemy aliens" during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914 to 1920. In addition, almost 5,000 Ukrainians, including men, women and children, were interned as forced labourers in 24 Canadian concentration camps during and after the First World War. More than 8,000 people were interned in total. People were interned not because of anything they had done, but only because of where they had come from, who they were. There was no evidence then, nor has any been found since, of divided loyalties on the part of the victims of these internment measures. The present day value of the economic losses suffered by the internees is approximately $50 million.
For more information check www.ucc.ca and www.uccla.ca
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