Dopomoha Ukraini Foundation Supports Publication on Internment

UCCLA,

Professor L Luciuk receives cheque from B Wrzesnewskyj, MP, in front of an oil painting of Sir William D Otter, Commanding Officer of the Internment Operations, Royal Canadian Military Institute, Toronto, 20 April 2006

For Immediate Release (Toronto, 21 April 2006)

    The Dopomoha Ukraini (Aid Ukraine) Foundation has helped underwrite the publication of a booklet entitled, Without Just Cause, dealing with Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920. Written by UCCLA's director of research, Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, this booklet provides basic historical information about a relatively unknown episode in Canadian history, while appending important new documentation, including the 24 August 2005 Agreement in Principle between the Government of Canada and the community, and the final version of Bill C331 - the Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act, which secured Royal Assent, 25 November 2005.

    Commenting Dr Luciuk said:

    " The financial assistance provided by Dopomoha Ukraini, the charitable foundation set up by the family of Borys Wrzesnewskyj, MP (Etobicoke Centre), in part to honour the memory of  his uncle and aunt, Mychailo and Jaroslawa Szafraniuk, will help make it possible for us to provide critical information to our community and others about the Ukrainian Canadian community's ongoing requests for recognition, restitution and reconciliation. Mr Wrzesnewskyj has played a pivotal role in helping move this issue forward in the House of Commons and, with this donation, he has aided significantly in our efforts to make all Canadians better aware of the harm done to Ukrainians and other Europeans during Canada's first national internment operations. This is an educational initiative of considerable importance, for complementary copies of this publication will soon be distributed free of charge to MPs, selected public and university libraries across Canada and to international repository libraries around the world. That would not have been possible with Mr  Wrzesnewskyj's generous assistance, for which we are all most grateful. Safeguarding the civil liberties and human rights of ethnic, religious and racial minorities in times of domestic and international crisis is particularly important and so being better informed about historic injustices of the sort described in this book is a crucial step in ensuring that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past."