The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) commemorates Canada’s First National Internment Operations on October 28.
Proclamation Commemorating Canada’s First National Internment Operations (1914-1920)
WHEREAS: On October 28, Canadians from many backgrounds commemorated Canada’s First National Internment Operations – the forced internment of 8,579 Ukrainians and other Europeans who were branded ‘enemy aliens’ and sent to 24 internment camps across Canada between 1914 and 1920;
WHEREAS: Men, women, and children suffered during Canada’s First National Internment Operations, not because of anything they had done, but only because of who they were and where they had come from;
WHEREAS: On this day, we remember the victims of this injustice and we are united in our resolve to bring an end to prejudice and discrimination, wherever they may appear;
WHEREAS: All Canadians are encouraged to mark this important day of commemoration in their communities; and
WHEREAS: The Toronto Catholic District School Board Ukrainian Canadian Advisory Committee requested that our Board commemorates Canada’s First National Internment Operations 100th anniversary in 2020 and every October 28 thereafter.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Toronto Catholic District School Board, hereby proclaims October 28 as Internment Commemoration Day in recognition of Ukrainians and other Europeans who were interned in Canada during the First World War and 2020 as the 100th Anniversary of the Closing of the Internment Camps in 1920.