A Bare and Impolitic Right: Internment and Ukrainian-Canadian Redress

Myroslav Shkandrij is head of the Department of German and Slavic
Studies at the University of Manitoba and the editor of The Cultural
Renaissance in Ukraine: Polemical Pamphlets, 1925–1926.

This book discusses the internment of Ukrainians as enemy aliens during
World War I, arguing that the move was unwarranted, arbitrary, and
heavy-handed. It also outlines the dialogue on redress in the 1980s and
1990s and, in a final chapter, argues the case for a symbolic act of
redress by the Canadian government in a way that would signal awareness
of the wider implications and move all concerned parties toward
reconciliation.

About 170,000 individuals of Ukrainian origin immigrated to Canada
between 1892 and 1914. The authors show that the most common reason for
interning thousands of Ukrainians was vagrancy or unemployment. The
internees were forced to do difficult and sometimes dangerous work.
Their property was confiscated in a manner that appears to have been
punitive. Proceeds from their goods and lands sold at auction were often
not returned. When the military conscription of labour ended in 1920,
many individuals did not receive outstanding wages. Kordan and Mahovsky
argue that there was no equivalent to this behaviour among the warring
parties. The courts appear to have subordinated themselves to the
demands of military policy, even though actions defied international
custom and practice. Moreover, the events had little impact on the
public mind at the time or in subsequent decades.

The authors point out that the unwillingness to confront these
injustices has implications for the choices Canadian society makes in
the present day and for future government behaviour. The refusal to
allow discussion of the issue in the wider public discourse or even to
acknowledge the wrongdoing poses threats to the values on which Canada
was founded. The authors argue that the issue is not one of
compensation, but rather that the government should make an appropriate
gesture toward public education concerning human rights in a way that
would satisfy the community.

This is a calm, relatively dispassionate, and lucidly written
presentation of the case for redress that focuses on the key issues in
the contemporary debate.