Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on the Liberal government to recognize the injustices that were done to the Canadians of Ukrainian descent and other Europeans who were interned at the time of the first great war. Over 5,000 were interned in 24 detention camps throughout Canada.
My private member's bill, Bill C-331, cited as the Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act, calls for a final resolution to this bleak moment in Canadian history.
Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney made vague promises of support in the 1980s. The current Prime Minister also promised to deal fairly with the requests for acknowledgement and redress should he become Prime Minister in 1993. That promise has not been carried out.
Today there are over one million Canadians of Ukrainian descent. Many have made outstanding contributions to Canada in all areas of society. Canadians want to learn from their history. It is time for the government to do the right thing and bring this issue to a close.