Canadian Friends of Ukraine plan Parliamentary Resource Center (01/04/98)

Canadian Friends of Ukraine plan Parliamentary Resource Center

by Andrij Kudla Wynnycky
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - The local branch of Canadian Friends of Ukraine has announced plans to help establish a Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Resource Center at the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, and to give teaching awards to leading pedagogues in eastern Ukraine.

The president of CFU Toronto, Bohdan Wynnyckyj, told The Weekly in a recent interview that his organization works with "a broad coalition of activists and organizations in Ukraine, without regard for specific political affiliation."

The CFU official also expressed hope that the Ukrainian community in the diaspora "will rally behind our projects as they have our five library support efforts in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Symferopil and, most recently, in Odesa."

The Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Resource Center would house pertinent Canadian federal and provincial laws, as well as regulations concerning various agencies and quasi-governmental institutions.

The intent is to make a broad spectrum of information pertaining to trade and economic development, environmental protection, constitutional reform, federal provincial relations, cultural preservation, health care, human rights, and other areas accessible to Ukraine's elected officials and public servants, as well as the general public and scholars.

Mr. Wynnyckyj said that Leonid Kravchuk, former president of Ukraine and currently a National Deputy has endorsed this project and agreed to be its honorary patron in Ukraine. As a testament to the CFU's political ecumenism, Mr. Wynnyckyj said that Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz also has given his blessing to the project.

Prof. Orest Subtelny of York University, the CFU project chairman, said, "[Ukrainian officials] often look to Canadian legal precedent, and it's very important for them to know how [Western] judiciaries and legislatures operate." The historian added that former Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk also expressed great interest in the project.

Mr. Wynnyckyj said that while there are copies of Canadian statutes in Kyiv, they are spread out all over the capital in various academic institutions and government ministries. "We'd like to provide one central area where people can go to access legal information," the CFU branch president said.

Dealing with the nuts and bolts of the operation in Ukraine will be the secretariat of Ukraine's Parliament, headed by Leonid Horiovy, and the Rada's Library Information Branch, headed by Dr. Edvard Afonin.

While he was optimistic about the impact this initiative would have, Mr. Wynnyckyj was realistic about how soon it would be up and running. "It's still going to take a while," he said, "the major problem is getting the Canadian government and the Canadian Industrial Development Agency interested. Our partners in Ukraine are raring to go, now we have to work on people on this side of the ocean."

Individuals and organizations are invited to support this project. Donors contributing $500 or more will be recognized as the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Resource Center's honorary founders, and their names will appear on a permanent plaque in Ukraine's Parliament building.

Lisa Shymko, CFU Toronto Branch executive administrator, told The Weekly that the CFU's Teachers Awards Fund was established in response to the challenges faced by Ukrainian educators in the eastern oblasts of Ukraine.

In a recent interview, Prof. Jurij Darewych, CFU Toronto vice-president and teachers' fund chair, said "the aim is to encourage and reward those professionals in rural areas of Ukraine's eastern oblasts, to whom the least amount of attention has been paid to date." Initially, each award will be valued at $100 (U.S.).

Mr. Wynnyckyj added that the decision to concentrate on eastern Ukraine was predicated on a desire to counter the effects of Russification. "It would be nice to say that we could reverse Russification, or slow it down," he said, "but the best we can do is to get Russian speakers to feel good about also speaking Ukrainian, their country's official language."

Prof. Darewych, who teaches physics at York University, said the effort, which aims to reward nine teachers by the end of the current academic year in the oblasts of Chernihiv, Sumy and Luhansk, is still at the organizational stage. The intention is to form three-person committees consisting of one local CFU member, one local representative of a civic organization, such as Prosvita or the Shevchenko Ukrainian Language Association, and one member of a local teachers' council or some other third party representing teachers.

Pedagogues may either be nominated, or they may they may apply directly themselves.

Prof. Darewych said the CFU is about a month away from having these committees struck and ready to process applications. He added that Dr. Maria Fischer-Slyzh of Toronto donated the $900 (U.S.) for this year's round of awards. The CFU vice-president said the fund eventually intends to reach into every oblast and to establish itself as a self-supporting endowment fund.

Mr. Wynnyckyj explained that the project is unique, "because it's a small, grass-roots program, as compared to many of the huge projects administered by CIDA." He added, "Some of the most successful programs [in Ukraine] are those that do not command the big dollars."

Donors who wish to establish an award in their name or in the name of a patron of their choice have two options: by contributing $545 Canadian (or $390 U.S.), donors will establish an oblast award in their name; or by making a donation of $1,250 Canadian ($900 U.S.) donors will establish a three-oblast annual award in their name. CFU Toronto intends to recognize donors with special certificates.

For further information contact the Canadian Friends of Ukraine, Toronto Branch, 620 Spadina Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2H4; telephone, (416) 964-6644; fax, (416) 964-6085.