Zorianna Hrycenko for NP-UN.
The Honourable J. Michael Doyon, the twenty-ninth Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, will visit Spirit Lake Internment Interpretative Centre on May 20. Lt. Gov. Doyon will view first-hand the award-winning museum, which has attracted over 40,000 visitors from all over Quebec, Canada and Europe. Spirit Lake Centre is uniquely located on the original grounds of the second largest internment site during Canada’s First National Internment Operations 1914-1920, in which 1,200 men, women and children were unjustly interned, the majority being Ukrainians, many taken from Montreal and areas. The Centre’s museum, open all year, depicts the internment story and early history of Ukrainian immigration to Quebec.
For this special visit, the Board of Director of Sprit Lake has invited the Regional Minister and the Deputies from the districts of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, as well as, the municipal authorities of the County of Abitibi, the municipality of Trecesson (La Ferme) and the City of Amos.
The Lieutenant Governor of Quebec will highlight the twentieth anniversary this year, of the creation of Camp Spirit Lake Corporation which co-ordinates the work of Spirit Lake Centre and the largest internment museum in Canada, with its educational workshops and outreach programs. This year, Spirit Lake Internment Interpretative Centre (SLIIC), marks The Centre’s eighth year of operation, welcoming visitors, teachers and students throughout Quebec and beyond. Spirit Lake operated from 1915-1917, with internees then transferred to other internment sites.
Spirit Lake Centre/museum is winner of two Quebec awards. Spirit Lake museum has caught the public’s attention in Quebec and beyond.
The first months of 2018 has begun with a flurry of activities for Spirit Lake Centre. End of March 2018, a 3-person TV crew from Montreal, came to Spirit Lake to film for France’s Channel Evasion. A program on Spirit Lake internment museum, the history of the site and of Ukrainian immigration will be aired in France & in Quebec.
In April 2018, a freelance journalist for Le Devoir visited Spirit Lake to do an article for the weekend edition/tourist section, of French-language newspaper. The article will highlight the uniqueness of the internment museum in Quebec, the history of Ukrainian immigration to Quebec and Canada. The journalist was presented with the French-language version of the documentary “Ukrainians in Quebec 1891-1945” which features a section on Spirit Lake internment.
The 2018 Summer Tourist season officially begins June 24. Over 40,000 have visited the internment Centre/museum, and growing, with visitors from parts of Canada, United States and Europe. This year the amalgamated region of Trecesson marks its 100th anniversary, where Spirit Lake Internment Centre is located. The Centre continues with its free loan of donated bicycles, offering the bikes located in front of the Centre for tourists to explore the area around Spirit Lake Internment Centre, the lake and lush forests where internees once labored.
In Quebec, four French-language books have been published about Spirit Lake, one musical composition made, many student essays written, all inspired by the internment story. The Centre offers classroom visits, providing volunteer instructors to schools, conducting information-seminars to the five school commissions in the Abitibi area. This includes elementary and high schools. Classes later visit Spirit Lake Internment Centre from all over Quebec and neighboring provinces. Post high school classes in CEGEP, incorporate Regional History and Heritage Studies covering the history of World War I, its effect on society, and cultural heritage. Teaching of internment is included in their courses. The documentaries “Ukrainians in Quebec 1891-1945” (French and English versions), and Yurij Luhovy’s “Freedom Had A Price” are used as teacher resource material.
Spirit Lake Centre continues its hard work with its many volunteers, bringing awareness about early history to the general public. Spirit Lake Centre received a major grant from the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, chaired by Andrew Hladyshevsky to help establish the Centre. As James Slobodian, chair of Camp Spirit Lake Corporation stated, “Spirit Lake is Montreal’s, Quebec’s and Canada’s story. The museum has a tremendous impact on internment awareness.”
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