Canada Post unveils new stamp

Canada Post unveils new stamps as a tribute to the civilian internment camps during the World Wars. (Canada Post)

A new stamp unveiled by Canada Post on Thursday pays tribute to the history of civilian internment in Canada during both the First and Second World Wars.

The Canadian government carried out large-scale internment drives during both wars when the War Measures Act was invoked, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.

In their press release announcing the new stamp, Canada Post says thousands of people were interned in camps across Canada under the guise of national security.

“Canada Post hopes today’s stamp issue will raise awareness about this history and the resilience of the people and communities whose lives were profoundly affected by this forced displacement, confinement and hardship,” the statement said.

The stamp has vertical, bilingual text in red behind barbed wires, creating the visual of a fence, which Canada Post states “captures the gloom and fear of Canada’s internment camps.”

Recounting camps during the wars

The War Measures Act was invoked for the first time during the First World War on Aug. 22, 1914, ending on Jan. 10, 1920, according to the national encyclopedia states. This act empowered the federal cabinet to suspend any civil liberties and impose laws without the approval of Parliament.

According to the news release, more than 8,500 men – including more than 5,000 Ukrainians, people from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Croats, Czechs, Hungarians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, Serbs, Slovaks, Slovenes, people from the Ottoman Empire, including Armenians and Turks, the German Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria, were held at these internment camps during this time. More than 200 women and children chose to voluntarily join their male relatives in internment.

An additional 80,000 people, the majority of whom were from Ukraine, were made to register as “enemy aliens,” the news release said.

“People experiencing homelessness and unemployment, conscientious objectors and members of outlawed political groups, especially socialists, were also interned,” the release said, adding that detainees were put to work on labour-intensive projects in harsh conditions, which made them vulnerable to disease, injuries and death.

More than 100 people died during this time and many were buried in unmarked graves, the news release recounts.

The War Measures Act was invoked a second time shortly before the beginning of the Second World War, on Aug. 25, 1939, and later replaced by similar legislation on Dec. 31, 1945, the online publication reads. More than 40 internment camps held over 20,000 people, out of which around 26 camps were in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and New Brunswick.

People targeted during the Second World War included Germans, Italians, Jews, Japanese, members of the outlawed organizations in Canada and labour leaders.

The War Measures Act was repealed in 1988 and replaced by the Emergencies Act, which does not allow the cabinet to act on its own during a national emergency.

“It also reminds us of our responsibility to learn from the past,” Canada Post said.