A little-known concentration camp in Quebec’s north was marked by the Ukrainian community, but the Feds didn’t send a representative.
The camp at Spirit Lake, now La Ferme, housed 1,200 people for two years until 1917. Most were Ukrainian immigrants – including women and children – who the government called “enemy aliens.”
Ukrainians faced widespread racism as Canada’s first big wave of immigrants who weren’t English or French.
Parts of today’s Ukraine were under the occupation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then at war with Canada. Ukrainians didn’t want to be occupied and felt no allegiance to Austria, but they still lost the right to vote. Many had their possessions confiscated when the war started.
Canada won’t apologize or even commemorate the 24 camps where thousands of Ukrainians were sent. “They cleaned out Montreal’s entire Ukrainian community for that camp in particular,” said one Ukrainian community representative.
The community unveiled a plaque at the site of the camp and held a ceremony.
