Photo courtesy: www.peterborough.ca/recreation-culture-social-services/arts-and-culture/museum-and-archives/
The Peterborough Museum and Archives will host a travelling national exhibition this summer examining some of the most controversial chapters in Canadian history.
Lost Liberties – The War Measures Act, developed by the Canadian Museum of History, opens June 20 and runs through Sept. 13 at the museum on Hunter Street East.
The exhibition explores how the federal government suspended civil liberties during the First and Second World Wars and the 1970 October Crisis through the use of the War Measures Act.
Visitors will learn about the internment of Canadians of Ukrainian origin and other nationalities during the First World War, the internment of Italian Canadians and the forced relocation and internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, as well as the arrest of hundreds of people in Quebec during the October Crisis.
According to the Canadian Museum of History, the exhibition examines the fears, racism and political pressures that contributed to the use of the legislation and its lasting impact on individuals, families and communities across the country.
Curators say the exhibit presents multiple perspectives and includes first-hand accounts from people whose lives were directly affected by the government’s actions during these periods of national crisis.
“Lost Liberties not only places these crises in their historical context, but it also examines them through multiple perspectives and, above all, presents poignant first-hand accounts from the men, women and children who lived through them,” said co-curator Dr. Mélanie Morin-Pelletier of the Canadian War Museum.
The exhibition was developed by the Canadian Museum of History with support from the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
The Peterborough Museum and Archives is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from noon to 5 p.m.
(Written by: Jordan Mercier)
