Turning the pages back... June 24, 1979 (06/20/04)

Turning the pages back...

June 24, 1979

Ukrainian national rights activist Valentyn Moroz traveled throughout Canada for a week during June 1979, and a report on his tour appeared in The Weekly on June 24. He arrived in Toronto on June 6 and returned to New York on June 13. In each city, parades, rallies, banquets and press conferences were organized for the recently freed Soviet political prisoner.

During his Canadian tour, organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Committee, Mr. Moroz carried the same message in his speeches: action was necessary to free Ukraine and its people. Not only was individual action necessary, but action must be taken by government as well.

When Mr. Moroz visited Ottawa on June 7, he stated that Canada and the United States should withhold wheat sales to the Soviet Union. Mr. Moroz claimed that the wheat North America sold to the Soviet Union was it in turn sold to Third World countries in order to promote anti-Western policies. At a press conference Mr. Moroz proclaimed, "it is only a matter of time until Ukrainian independence is achieved." He also placed a wreath at the Centennial flame to honor other political prisoners.

While Mr. Moroz was in Toronto, on June 9, in the presence of 30,000 Ukrainian Canadians, he urged Ukrainians to put aside their political and religious differences to free Ukraine from the Soviet Union. To accomplish this, Mr. Moroz urged a union between the Ukrainian Orthodox and the Ukrainian Catholics.

Mr. Moroz's next stop was Winnipeg, where he urged Western countries to boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow to force a general amnesty for all political prisoners in the Soviet Union.

Mr. Moroz also maintained that he would not criticize the West, arguing that "Ukraine is part of the West. The tragedy of the Ukrainian is that psychologically he is an individual who is forced into an Eastern collective situation."

Montreal was the last stop for Mr. Moroz. He again said that if Moscow did not agree to release all political prisoners confined in Soviet camps and prisons, the Olympics should be boycotted. A program was also held for Mr. Moroz at Plato Hall, where 1,000 of his fellow Ukrainians gathered to listen to songs about revolution and Ukrainian insurgents.

Mr. Moroz's visit to Canada drew media attention, with articles about him appearing in newspapers such as the Ottawa Citizen, the Edmonton Journal, the Toronto Star and Le Devoir, a Montreal newspaper. This coverage also extended to radio, with the International Service of Radio Canada reporting on Mr. Moroz during his stay in Canada, and an interview with him airing twice on the day of his visit to Toronto.

Source: "Thousands across Canada cheer Moroz," The Ukrainian Weekly, June 24, 1979.

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