UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CIVIL LIBERTIES FOUNDATION

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On August 22, 2014 communities across Canada unveiled 100 plaques commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the start of Canada's first national internment operations.  "CTO" is the Ukrainian word for "One Hundred".

An act to confer certain powers upon the Governor in Council and to amend the immigration act .
Acts of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada

Full text of the law giving greater powers to the government of Canada during times of war
War measures act, 1914

Downloaded from:   http://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08039

Signed in 1907, the Hague Convention guaranteed the rights of prisoners of war held in camps. The rules of the Convention were not always or completely respected by Canada during the First World War. The Convention made a distinction between prisoners of war and civilians, but the Canadian authorities to a large degree ignored this distinction. The twenty-four camps that accommodated internees were mostly located away from cities, such as remote areas in the Rocky Mountains.

Official publication of the Government of Canada, notably containing Orders in Council.

Official publication of the Government of Canada, notably containing Orders in Council.

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From the outset, the Canadian government adopted many measures by Order in Council to respond to the new exigencies of war, including the restriction of some civil liberties. Canadian authorities were given the right to arrest, to detain, to censor, to exclude, to deport, to control or to capture all persons and property considered as a potential threat to Canada. Any resident not naturalized who had been a citizen of the now enemy states were considered de facto "enemy illegal residents." Some of these persons were ultimately subject to detention in camps. The War Measures Act was subsequently approved by Parliament. The Act in addition to authorizing future actions, also legitimized the decisions implemented in the early days of the war by the Privy Council (Cabinet).

From London instructions were sent out on February 8, 1915 which called for the governments of British overseas dominions and colonies to bring their practices in regard to the treatment of "special classes" of interned enemy subjects into conformity with those pursued in Great Britain. Signing for the under secretary of state, Henry Lambert of the Colonial Office noted that "preferential treatment" should be accorded not only to "inhabitants of French extraction of Alsace and Lorraine," but also to "the following races which are considered to be hostile to Austro-Hungarian rule: Czechs, Croats, Italians (from Trieste and the Trentino), Poles, Roumanians, Ruthenes, Serbs, Slovaks, and Slovenes."

Note: The German word "Ruthene" was introduced in 1772 to describe the Ukrainian population of the Austro-Hungarian population, being translated into English as "Ruthenian". In Canada, "Ruthenian" preceded the use use of the word "Ukrainian."

Library and Archives Canada holds an extensive collection of governmental and private records generally consisting of textual documents on paper or on microfilm as well as publications and films about internment camps located in Canada during both World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945). Please note that this guide relates mainly to the internment camps in Canada. At the end of this guide, you will find a section related to internment camps abroad.