moved for leave to introduce Bill C-331, an act to recognize the injustice that was done to persons of Ukrainian descent and other Europeans who were interned at the time of the first world war and to provide for public commemoration and for restitution which is to be devoted to education and the promotion of tolerance.
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to introduce my bill. The bill calls for a redress of the Ukrainian internment which occurred during the first world war, when over 5,000 citizens were interned and over 80,000 were made to register like common criminals.
I thank the current Speaker who was an advocate back in the days when he first came to the House. The current Prime Minister, when he was leader of the official opposition previous to his days as Prime Minister, promised Canadians of Ukrainian descent that he would deal with the issue. To date he has not.
I ask all members for their support to bring a resolution to this issue once and for all.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)