UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CIVIL LIBERTIES FOUNDATION
LA FONDATION UKRAINIENNE-CANADIENNE DES DROITS CIVILS
УКРАЇНСЬКО-КАНАДСЬКA ФУНДАЦІЇ ГРОМАДЯНСЬКИХ СВОБОД
UKRAINIAN
INTERNMENT IN CANADA
The Ukrainian Canadian Internment was a period of confinement of "enemy aliens" during and after the First World War, spanning from 1914 - 1920, under the terms of the War Measures Act.
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS
Wasyl Severyn Family Story
Wasyl Severyn and family made the arduous journey to Canada from the Bukovynian village of Laskivka in 1908. Their travel permits were issued in Austrian German, as an independent Ukrainian state did not yet exist. They filed for a homestead in north-central Alberta, just south of present day Glendon (quarter section NE20-60-8-W4). Five years later, having met the requirements of The Homestead Act, they applied for a patent on their 160 acres for outright title to it. Like so many other tens of thousands of ethnic Ukrainians who immigrated here as former Austrian residents, when Canada entered into WWI they were considered to be "enemy aliens" and endured many unjust state sanctioned indignities, including the carrying of Canada Registration Board identity cards.
Library and Archives Canada, RG 117 Vol 19, File: Prisoners of 1914-1918 War, Reel: Earnings and Cash Balances (223), 1938
Statement of Earnings and Cash Subject to Claims by Ex-Prisoners of War; Proof of Figures Shown on Statement Attached with Balances in Cash Book; Statement of Earnings and Cash Subject to Claim by Ex-Prisoners of War as per Individual Ledger
Library and Archives Canada, RG 117 Vol 19, File: 219 (1920's)
Property of Prisoners
34. Prisoners of war are only allowed to have in their possession such sums of money or other property as the Commandant may from time to time allow.
35. All other money or property belonging to prisoners of war will be in charge of an officer for that purpose who will keep an account.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part One
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Two
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Three
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Four
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Five
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Archival Documents from the Munson, Alberta - Eaton, Saskatchewan Internment Camps, Part Six
Documents from Morrisey, BC and Vernon, BC Internment Camps, moving internees and guards to Munson, AB and Eaton, SK. The internees and guards were eventually moved to Amherst, NS. There is reference to internees and guards who fell ill due to the Spanish Flu. These documents are from October 1918 to March 1919.
Borden's Breach of Faith, The Daily British Whig, September 8, 1917
Kingston's Daily British Whig admonished: "It is very probable that if this proposal becomes law, the 'alleged' foreigners and hitherto 'naturalized' Canadians will bear their reproach meekly, but they will have sown in their hearts the seeds of a bitterness that can never be extirpated. The man whose honour has been mistrusted, and who has been singled out for national humiliation, will remember it, and sooner or later it will have to be atoned for."