CALGARY, Alberta – This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of Canada’s First National Internment operations of 1914 to 1920, which saw more than 8,000 immigrants – the majority of whom were of Ukrainian origin – imprisoned as “enemy aliens” in 24 internment camps across the country. Another important milestone was marked on August 12: the 25th anniversary of Canada’s first statue and trilingual bronze plaque, placed near Castle Mountain, Banff National Park, in memory of those held at that internment camp from July 1915 to July 1917.
The Castle Mountain camp was the first of the camps to be located in a dominion park (national parks, as they are known today). Internees were exploited for forced labor, including the completion of the road to Lake Louise, landfilling and draining of recreational grounds, the clearing of bison paddocks, trail cutting, reclaiming land for recreation activities, rock-crushing and the quarrying of stone (to be used for the building of the Banff Springs Hotel and public works infrastructure projects).