.JustinTrudeau recently offered an apology to descendants of the No. 2 Construction battalion’s 600 members gathered in Truro, N.S., on the same grounds where the unit formed prior to deployment overseas in March 1917.
The Canadian PressNOVA SCOTIA ARCHIVES - The Canadian government has formally apologized for treatment endured by the No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all-Black unit that served in the First World War while experiencing racism .
Hundreds of Black men in Canada were turned away when they volunteered to fight overseas in 1914 because they weren’t wanted in what was considered a white man’s war. The unit supported three major forestry operations while overseas, working lumber mills and maintaining roads and railway equipment. “For the overt racism of turning Black volunteers away to sacrifice their lives for all – we are sorry,” Trudeau said as descendants of the battalion applauded.
“I am committed to eliminating systemic racism so that the discrimination faced by the No. 2 Construction Battalion, and those who followed, never happens again,” she said. The 21-year veteran of the Armed Forces said his great-uncle George Reddick served in the battalion and often mentioned the poor quality of the boots given to the Black soldiers compared to those given to their white comrades.Tamara Tynes Powell from Truro said the history of the battalion can’t be hidden anymore.
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