What an honour it was to be part of the wave of plaque unveilings across the country on Friday at 11am, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Canada’s first national internment operations. The hundred plaques project, known as CTO (Ukrainian for 100) was the brainchild of Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk and was organized and funded by the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
Since there were only 100 plaques for the entire country, as soon as I heard about this project, I put Brantford down for one. Here’s what the plaques look like:
There were about 80 people in attendance, many driving in from Toronto and Cambridge including people of Alevi and Armenian heritage. The prayers and hymns were a moving tribute to those who had been unjustly imprisoned by Canada one hundred years ago. Both priests spoke eloquently, as did our government representatives.
What sets Canada apart from many countries is that we do acknowledge injustices. That’s what these 100 plaques are all about — commemorating a past injustice so it will never be repeated.
