Hnatyshyn counsels patience in dealing with Ukraine (01/04/98)

Hnatyshyn counsels patience in dealing with Ukraine

by Christopher Guly

OTTAWA - Ukrainian Canadians eager to offer Ukrainians "free advice" on how to push Ukraine faster along its current path of reforms should "have a sense of patience and understanding about the challenges [Ukrainians] face," Canada's former Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn told the annual awards dinner of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association of Ottawa on November 22, 1997.

"Ukrainians are living the reality of facing a system they have to change and are trying to change," he explained. "It's important to be supportive of Ukraine in the challenges they face. But we have to understand that Ukraine is not a country that knows democracy very well and has never known a free-market economy."

Mr. Hnatyshyn, the first Ukrainian Canadian to hold the country's highest office as Canada's constitutional head of state in 1990-1995, was also the first foreign head of state to visit Ukraine in September 1992 - a year after the country declared independence. "It was certainly one of the emotional highlights of my term in office," said Mr. Hnatyshyn, who recalled meeting a relative, Ivan Hnatyshyn, a senior official in Bukovyna.

Saskatoon-born Mr. Hnatyshyn, a former federal Conservative Cabinet minister prior to his appointment as governor general, also reminded his audience of approximately 120 guests of Ukrainians' "enormous contribution to Canada's way of life." He mentioned John Sopinka, whom he appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada during his term as Canada's attorney general in the late 1980s. "There was a time in Saskatchewan when we pretty well ran things," he continued lightheartedly. "We had a governor general, a premier [Roy Romanow], the chief justice of the Court of Appeal [Edward Bayda] and a lieutenant governor [Dr. Sylvia Fedoruk, replaced by Ukrainian Canadian John Wiebe] from the province who were all of Ukrainian descent."

Serving as Canada's governor general during the 1991-1992 centennial year of Ukrainian settlement was another highlight for him, said Mr. Hnatyshyn. His appearance at an Ottawa P's and B's gathering was the first in about a decade - a time not forgotten by Mr. Hnatyshyn. "I was representing the prime minister [Brian Mulroney] and recall sitting next to an Ottawa alderman by the name of 'Smith,'" said Mr. Hnatyshyn, the son of the first Ukrainian Canadian senator, John Hnatyshyn. "He was Ukrainian but changed his name to Smith to get elected in Ottawa. When it was my time to speak, I said I was born a Smith but changed my name to Hnatyshyn to get elected in Saskatoon-Biggar [the electoral district that he represented in the House of Commons]."

Given Mr. Hnatyshyn's references of Ukrainian Canadiana, it was easy to overlook some of the anomalies present at the P's and B's event. The site for the third annual awards dinner was Greek (the Hellenic Banquet Center) and the menu was distinctly North American (roast sirloin of beef, with not a varenyk to be found).

Nevertheless, the mood was decidedly celebratory in terms of local Ukrainian Canadian accomplishments. Lucy Hirniak, an 18-year volunteer in Ottawa who served four terms as president of the local Ukrainian Canadian Congress and hosts a weekly community cable-TV series, "Ukrainian Profile," was given the Filip Konowal V.C. Memorial Achievement Award, which honors the only Ukrainian Canadian veteran to receive the prestigious Victoria Cross. Retired Justice Department lawyer Peter Sorokan was awarded the "Member of the Year" prize.

The Ps and Bs event also raised $1,500 for the Help Us Help the Children Fund, which has distributed 1 million kilograms (approximately 2 million pounds) of medical supplies, clothing and infant formula worth about $7 million ($5 million U.S.) to 170 institutions throughout Ukraine.