On April 9, the Invermay Golden Age Club led the community celebrations of the 125th anniversary of Ukrainians in Canada.
Mike Kaminski, the club president, welcomed the celebrants to the program which was dedicated to enabling citizens to learn more about Canada’s history and its culture. The program focused on the experiences of Ukrainian immigrants, the challenges they faced and their achievements.
Contributing to the celebration were: Sunrise Health which provided a cultural promotion grant, Village of Invermay, RM of Invermay and the Golden Age Club.
Dan Bodnar, a guest speaker who is former member of the Ukrainian Congress of Canada, provided an overview of the early history that the immigrants faced. He mentioned that the Ukrainian Canadian internment was part of the confinement of "enemy aliens" in Canada during and for two years after the end of the First World War, lasting from 1914 to 1920, under the terms of the War Measures Act. The Act’s sweeping powers permitted the government to suspend or limit civil liberties in the interest of Canada’s protection, including the right to incarcerate “enemy aliens.”
Canada was at war with Austria-Hungary and about 4,000 Ukrainian men and some women and children of Austro-Hungarian citizenship were kept in 24 internment camps and related work sites – also known, at the time, as concentration camps. Their savings were confiscated until they were released. Almost all were paroled from camps in 1916–17 to become paid workers on farms, mines and railways, where labour was scarce. Another 80,000 were left at large but were registered as "enemy aliens" and obliged to regularly report to the police.
His presentation included a PowerPoint display with related information, documents and books in regards to this period of history. Following his presentation, the video Jajo’s Secret was shown to the gathering.
Ken Krawetz, former deputy premier and Canora-Pelly MLA, shared his experiences from his work and travels to Ukraine. This work all stemmed from the province’s relationship with the government of the Ukraine and the role that he served. He spoke about government, education, agriculture and culture. He enriched his presentation with a display of many pictures, books, and artifacts from Ukraine. He also had a rich display of items for viewing.
Krawetz concluded his presentation saying that Premier Brad Wall has announced that 2016 is the Year of Saskatchewan Immigrants. The province is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants to Canada.
