Michael Starr, 89, Ukrainian Canadian political pioneer, dies (04/02/00)

Michael Starr, 89, Ukrainian Canadian political pioneer, dies

by Myron Momryk
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

OTTAWA - Michael Starr, a political pioneer in Canadian history who was responsible for many firsts in the Ukrainian Canadian community - among them becoming the first Ukrainian Canadian to be elected mayor of a large Canadian city - died in Oshawa on March 16. He was 89.

Mr. Starr (Starchewsky) was born on November 14, 1910, in Copper Cliff, Ontario, the son of Ukrainian immigrant parents. His father worked in Montreal and Toronto before settling in Oshawa. The family was active in the Prosvita Society in Montreal and Oshawa.

After attending high school, Mr. Starr began to work in 1928 as a clerk in a local metal products factory. His employer suggested that Mike shorten his surname from Starchewsky to Starr for business purposes, and he made that change with his father's permission.

The Depression of the 1930s had a disastrous effect on the Canadian economy and profoundly affected the local Ukrainian community. There were many unemployed and a large percentage of families was on welfare. The young Mr. Starr was among the fortunate few who had steady employment. The desperate economic situation politically radicalized many young men, but Mr. Starr worked to improve local conditions through the existing political structures. During federal and provincial elections, he campaigned and translated for political candidates among the Ukrainian community.

His first venture into politics was an unsuccessful campaign for the position of alderman in 1937. He maintained his interest in municipal affairs, however, and was appointed to the Welfare Board in 1939. He continued to campaign for alderman almost every year and was elected to the municipal council in 1944.

Oshawa, a center of automobile production, was heavily involved in war production. During the second world war Mr. Starr served on many community committees relating to the war effort. At the end of the war in 1945, the economy improved and Oshawa benefited from the post-war economic boom. During this period Oshawa received many Ukrainian immigrants from Europe who added youth and vigor to the local community. They also brought news of events in Ukraine during World War II.

In 1949 Mr. Starr was elected mayor of Oshawa. He continued his program of municipal development and was responsible for the construction of major municipal services. In 1951 he ran unsuccessfully as a Progressive Conservative Party candidate in the Ontario provincial elections. In April 1952 he ran in a federal by-election as a Progressive Conservative Party candidate for the Ontario Riding and won, receiving the highest support from south-end Oshawa, his old Ukrainian neighborhood.

In his first speech in Parliament, Mr. Starr emphasized that he was a representative of the "new Canadians." On July 1, 1952, Mr. Starr spoke on the opening broadcast of Radio Canada International to Ukraine. He spoke the prophetic words: "... But do not lose courage, brothers, for the free world has not forgotten you. The time will come when the spirit of freedom penetrates the Iron Curtain of oppression, the prison of nations crumbles and the reign of terror disintegrates under the blows of victorious forces of freedom and democracy."

As a member of Parliament, Mr. Starr was perceived by many Ukrainian community leaders as their spokesman in Ottawa on national and international issues. He spoke in the House of Commons and in public against the influence of communism in Canada and against the nationality policies of the Soviet Union.

In 1956 Mr. Starr actively supported John Diefenbaker in his campaign for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. With Mr. Diefenbaker as national leader, the Progressive Conservatives won the federal election of 1957; Mr. Starr was appointed minister of labor - the first Canadian of Ukrainian origin to hold this position. That appointment began a new chapter in his political career.

Due to his national profile, Mr. Starr was able to obtain the support of many Ukrainians across Canada for the Progressive Conservative Party. Traditionally, many Ukrainians had voted for the Liberal Party because it was during their administration that most Ukrainians immigrated to Canada in the years 1896-1911 and again in 1947-1952.

In 1957 Mr. Starr was honored in Detroit as Ukrainian of the Year for North America by the Ukrainian Professional Association.

He was re-elected in the 1958 federal elections and was faced with many national problems: seasonal unemployment, regional disparities, union negotiations, emerging militant Québecois nationalism. During his tenure as minister of labor, the Winter Works Program encouraged year-round employment and fundamentally changed Canadian seasonal working traditions. He was very conscious of the disastrous effects of unemployment on individual and family life, and devoted most of his time and efforts to create employment across Canada. Mr. Starr did not hesitate to use the resources of the federal government to stimulate the economy.

He was a practical politician and was not limited by ideological concerns. Although Mr. Starr was an anti-Communist, he did not oppose the sale of Canadian wheat to Communist China because he knew the history of Ukraine during the 1932-1933 Great Famine and did not want to use food as a weapon.

During his tours across Canada Mr. Starr made an effort to visit Ukrainian communities in towns and cities and spoke to his audiences in Ukrainian. He also visited Ukrainian communities in the United States and spoke at Ukrainian national and international conferences and congresses. He personally encouraged Ukrainian community leaders to run for political office at all levels.

On the local level, Mr. Starr was one of the founders of the Ukrainian Business and Professional Club in Oshawa, which attempted to provide a link between the Ukrainian community and the larger society.

After the defeat of the Conservative government in the 1963 elections, Mr. Starr became an active member of the opposition in Parliament. He remained loyal to Mr. Diefenbaker despite a growing movement to remove him as party leader. For his loyalty the party leader appointed Mr. Starr as House Leader.

When Mr. Diefenbaker's leadership was challenged within the Conservative Party and a leadership convention was called for September 1967, Mr. Starr felt he had the support of Mr. Diefenbaker in running for the leadership of the party. However Mr. Diefenbaker decided at the last minute to enter the leadership race himself and Mr. Starr lost most of his support. Mr. Starr remained House Leader under the new party leader Robert Stanfield. Mr. Starr later stated that his motive in running for the leadership of the Conservative Party was to encourage others from the Canadian ethnocultural groups to enter Canadian politics.

In the 1968 federal election Mr. Starr was defeated by a mere 15 votes by Ed Broadbent, who later became the national leader of the New Democratic Party. Mr. Starr was appointed Citizenship Court judge, serving in that post until 1972. During his tenure he encouraged Ukrainians, including members of the Ukrainian left-wing organizations, to acquire Canadian citizenship.

In 1972 Mr. Starr ran against Mr. Broadbent in the federal elections but was not successful. From 1973 until 1980, he was chairman of the Workmen's Compensation Board of Ontario. Mr. Starr also served on the Liquor License Board of Ontario. As he had developed a reputation for public service and fairness, in 1983 he was appointed co-chairman of a task force reviewing conflict of interest and post-employment guidelines for members of Parliament. The report was submitted in 1984.

Mr. Starr continued to live in Oshawa in the home he built with the aid of friends and family. He remained active in the local community and headed many fund-raising campaigns for Oshawa and the Durham Region. Throughout his career he appeared at many Ukrainian functions across Canada and the United States. For example, he spoke at the historic First World Congress of Free Ukrainians held in New York City in November 1967 and was active in the Ukrainian Canadian Centennial celebrations in 1991.

He felt that he was particularly fortunate to witness the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of an independent Ukrainian state in 1991. During the last year of his life he was involved in a project to twin the Durham Region with the city of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Mr. Starr was predeceased by his wife, Anne Zaritsky, whom he married in 1933, and his son, Dr. Robert Starr. He is survived by his daughter, Joan Nicol, and several grandchildren.

Mr. Starr opened the political doors for many other Ukrainian Canadians and also for those from other Canadian ethnocultural groups. His contributions to Canadian political life were recognized by many Canadians and he received many awards in acknowledgment of that fact. An Ontario provincial government office building in Oshawa was named in his honor. His life and career serve as a concrete example of the success of the Canadian policy of multiculturalism.

Myron Momryk is an archivist and historian living in Ottawa.

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