Men who served in Ontario’s first alternative service camp honoured

A plaque was unveiled at Conrad Grebel University College commemorating the 570 men who worked at the Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp outside of Sault Ste Marie from 1941 to 1943.

The men joined the camp as an alternative to military service based on their religion with most being of Mennonite and Amish faith.

The camp was credited for extending the trans-Canada highway into the north during the war.

Ontario Heritage Trust and Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario hosted the ceremony on Thursday. 

The Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario said of the 570 men who joined the camp about two-thirds came from Waterloo Region.

“A lot of them simply did not want to go to war, but that does not mean they didn’t want to serve their country. They wanted to do both,” Laureen Harder, president of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario.

Later this week, the plaque will be permanently installed in the Montreal River harbour at the site of the former camp.

“It told a story of the second world war in particular that a lot of people didn’t know. That’s what we’re all about. To share and celebrate the history and heritage of Ontario,” said John Ecker from Ontario Heritage Trust.