Ukrainians as "nation builders" in Canada (08/24/97)

Ukrainians as "nation builders" in Canada

Below are excerpts from an address delivered president of the UCC Saskatoon Branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, at the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation Biennial Convention in Calgary, on August 3.

"Nation-building was our purpose in life and our destiny, insofar as Ukraine was concerned and insofar as Canada was concerned.

To a large degree we were united in that effort. When Ukraine became independent on August 24, 1991, the focus and direction of the Ukrainian effort changed. Up until then it could be said that a common enemy - the Soviet Union - united all Ukrainians everywhere. ...

When Ukrainians immigrated to Canada they organized themselves in to various groups and associations. These usually centered around the Church as well as national and occupational groups. Some of them were: the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood, Ukrainian Self Reliance League, Ukrainian National Federation, United Hetman Organization and the Association of Ukrainian Organizations.

Then on November 7, 1940, at the urging of Prof. George W. Simpson and Watson Kirkconnell, as well as Tracy Philipps, a British diplomat working in Ottawa, and with the Canadian government's blessing, those previously mentioned organizations formed the Ukrainian Canadian Committee (now Congress) - a national body with local counterparts. The objectives of the UCC were as follows:

coordinate the efforts of the Ukrainians in World War II;
serve as the authoritative representatives of the Ukrainians in Canada; and
promote and work for the independence of Ukraine.

As we meet today, I would say that objectives 1 and 3 have been achieved. That leaves us with objective No. 2. In the meantime, the make-up of the UCC has changed: the Hetman organization and the Association of Ukrainian Organizations no longer function as a group; their places have been taken over by the League of Ukrainians and the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation.

It is apparent that times have changed, and the Ukrainian community must change with the times. The objective may be the same, but the method in achieving it has to change.

What is expected of the Ukrainian Canadian community in this regard? I personally recommend the following five proposals:

Make a genuine attempt to restructure our various Ukrainian organizations, especially the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and involve our younger people. They are not interested in our petty past disagreements. They are our future and they must participate in coming up with the solutions. I know it's not easy to tell young people what they should do, however they must become involved.
Make greater use of the news media and become media conscious - letters to the editor, news commentaries, journalists' articles etc. We are fortunate to have the Canadian Institute of the Ukrainian Studies and the Ukrainian News from Edmonton, but we need more such endeavors. We need more writers like Myrna Kostash and Janice Kuylyk Keefer - invite them to make presentations at our conferences. There are many more such individuals as above.
There should be a greater dialogue with the non-mainstream Canadians of Ukrainian origin. [Canadian astronaut] Roberta Bondar comes to mind. Find out more about her - interview her. Premier Roy Romanow cannot be expected to do it all.
Utilize the CBC to greater extent. Why does the Holocaust get greater play in the CBC programming than the Ukrainian famine? Because someone got there first. There should be, on prime time CBC, presentations on the following or related topics: Ukrainian independence, World War II losses in Ukraine and Shevchenko commemorations.

Is the CBC amenable? I don't know. Have they been asked? I don't know. Will there be future overtures? I don't know.

But I do know what Perrin Beatty, the president of the CBC, said in the July 29 issue of The Globe and Mail, "I was pleased to meet Archbishop (Francis) Spence, and I hope to meet with representatives of other faiths as well as a broad cross-section of Canadian society. As a public broadcaster owned by every citizen, the CBC will not only accept requests to meet where it's possible, but will actively seek out opportunities to listen, to explain, to account for the public trust we hold, and to seek the public's support." He should be taken up on that invitation.

· Devise, adopt and promote a national theme that reflects the Ukrainian dimension on the Canadian scene. That is why the Ukrainian Canadian Committee - Saskatchewan Provincial Branch chose the theme "nation- builders" to represent them. ...

"Nation-builders" is what we felt best describes the Ukrainian community in Saskatchewan by indication of who we are, our history, our impact, our involvement, our inspirations, etc. If it would be agreeable to others, we should then adopt it, use it, promote it, and let others know about it. Let others identify it with the Ukrainian community in Canada.

Maybe there is a better theme to describe the Ukrainian community. If so, let us consider it on the national level. Surely, in the Ukrainian Canadian soul there must be a theme that is waiting to be discovered.

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