Turning the pages back... August 12, 1967 (08/12/01)

Turning the pages back...

August 12, 1967

The Ukrainian Weekly reported on August 12, 1967, that 15 Canadian Ukrainian demonstrators had been arrested at the Expo fair in Montreal. They were charged with disturbing the peace after their group of 75 people stood outside the Russian pavilion shouting "shame" and "freedom for Ukraine."

The incident occurred after the conclusion of Canadian Ukrainian Week, which had ended earlier in the day with a lecture on Ukrainian history and a demonstration of Ukrainian handicrafts. Eugenia Zagurak, a member of the committee responsible for the Expo's Ukrainian events, explained, "When we began to organize our entertainment, the furthest thing from our minds was that we would cause a political hassle, but we've had difficulty about every little thing we've tried to do."

According to demonstrators, tension had been building as a result of "harassment" in the form of censorship by the management of the Expo. A line referring to Ukraine's struggle against Russian domination had to be cut from a film on Ukrainians in Canada. Expo officials also ordered the removal of a trident from the front cover of the Canadian Ukrainian Week's program.

The Expo staff even halted distribution of copies of a speech by Anna Tokarek, former president of the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada, in which she referred to the assocation's goal: "to provide moral and spiritual aid to the people of Ukraine in their efforts to gain full independence." Ms. Tokarek commented, "That statement of aim has been publicized in Canada for 40 years, but we couldn't say it here for fear the Russian pavilion staff might be offended."

Meanwhile, an Expo spokesman maintained that the censorship was necessary, since no group is permitted to use the Expo facilities to promote their own political cause. He said, "The Canadian Ukrainians received just the same treatment as everybody else."

Source: The Toronto Daily Star, July 31, 1967. Reprinted in The Ukrainian Weekly under the title "15 Demonstrators Arrested, 'Harassment' from Expo officials," Saturday, August 12, 1967.

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