At the end of May this year (2026), during his annual routine maintenance visit to the Castle Mountain Camp memorial in Banff National Park, Borys Sydoruk of the National Internment Committee was shocked to discover that two bronze plaques were missing and the statue itself had been damaged.
In this conversation, he discussed the likely motive behind the theft, the RCMP investigation, and Parks Canada’s uncertain response over who should repair a monument funded by the Ukrainian community and gifted to Parks Canada.
As well, he shared the wider story of Canada’s First World War internment operations, and reminded listeners of the role of internees—used as slave labour—in developing Canada’s national parks.
He also discussed the struggle to mark these sites across the country, and what this kind of vandalism reveals about how little most Canadians still know—or are taught—about this dark chapter of Canada's history.
","author_name":"Paulette MacQuarrie"}