Ukrainians in Canada

The XXVI National Convention of the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) and the XX National Convention of the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW) took place on June 20-22 2014 inToronto. The conventions were dedicated to several significant anniversaries – the 65th anniversary of LUC, the 65th anniversary of “Homin Ukrainy,” and the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council. The 200th anniversary since the birth of Taras Shevchenko was also commemorated...

Thousands of Kingstonians and visitors to city attended the 45th annual "Lviv, Ukraine" pavilion at Folklore on 13-15 June 2014. Hosted by the Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston this event focused, this year, on the 200th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's bard, while also recalling the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act and Canada's first national internment operations - Kingston's own Fort Henry was Canada's first permanent internment camp...

Friday, May 2, the Canada Room at Brennan Hall at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto was packed with leaders of the Ukrainian community and university officials, as Patriarch Sviatoslav delivered a riveting address during a fund-raiser for the Sheptytsky Institute. The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke on the value of higher education and the quest for a relationship with a God who wants to be known. He also spoke of the under-reported religious dimensions of the Maidan. Shevchuk noted how the movement was transformed from a pro-European protest into an incubator of human dignity. In Kyiv, religious leaders of various Christian communities, as well as Jewish rabbis and Muslim imams, lead the people in prayer and the transformations that occurred there. Patriarch Sviatoslav addressed the role of the diaspora, reminding his audience that the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Churchis not a Church simply for Ukrainians. It is “a Church that comes from the Ukrainian people, but is for the entire human race.” That is what makes it a Christian Church...

Vernon, British Columbia – March 21, 2014 brought the Ukrainian, Japanese and First Nations communities together in a ceremony entitled, Internment to Inclusion. Chief Byron Louis provided a ceremonial welcome to the Ukrainian community to the Okanagan, the first of its kind in Canada. Chief Louis stated, “We all share the effects of internment.” Andrea Malysh, program manager of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund (CFWWIRF) presented Chief Louis with the staples of Ukraine: Bread and Salt. The program was opened with the singing of O’Canada by Internee Descendant, Subdeacon Paul Malysh...

At this time it is clear that the West’s response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea has been relatively weak and must be much stronger. The West must speak with one voice to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and must continue to denounce the illegal invasion and occupation of Ukraine’s territory in violation of international law, in violation of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, and in violation of all bilateral agreements signed by Russia and Ukraine. The West must sanction the...

Statements Delivered at a Rally In Front of the Russian Consulate inToronto, 16 February 2014. Supporting the rally were Conservative Members of Parliament representing the Government of Canada: Ted Opitz, MP (Etobicoke-Center), Bob Dechert, MP (Mississauga-Erindale), and Wladyslaw Lizon, MP (Mississauga East-Cooksville) who also addressed the protestors. Yuri Shymko, Fmr MP & MPP President of the International Council In Support Of Ukraine: We have gathered here today to protest the brutal interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine by the repressive, Facsist and homophobic regime of Vladimir Putin. Our demands are simple: Putin, hands off Ukraine!..

Waterdown District High School has some new material to add to its soon-to-be-unveiled history museum. On Thursday, students in the Grade 11 genocide class were presented with an exhibit of posters, books and videos about the Holodomor — an imposed famine in which as many as 10 million Ukrainians were starved to death by Joseph Stalin's regime in 1932 and '33. "It will be good to learn more details about it," said 16-year-old Molly McCleary. "It's important to remember and reflect on the crimes that have happened." The gift was presented by Orest Steciw, national president of the League of Ukrainian Canadians. He said the materials are part of a package the group, along with the Ukrainian Research Institute, is working to distribute worldwide. "I think it's important to make sure that a...

A major Shevchenko book will be published according to President Andrew Gregorovich of the Taras Shevchenko Museum in Toronto. It will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great poet Taras Shevchenko on March 9, 2014. The project, started in 2010, will result in a book with a selection of fifty poems in Ukrainian, English and French. The museum, founded in 1952, is unique as the only Taras Shevchenko Museum in the Americas. It has a fine collection of Ukrainian art and a very valuable Shevchenko Library. It includes the world’s first Shevchenko internet site (www.infoukes.com/ shevchenkomuseum) established by Mr. Gregorovich. The museum is located on 1614 Bloor Street West in Toronto and, is open week days. Canada has created more...

Every November, over the course of over 51 years, young members Plast, the Ukrainian Scouting Organization have come together on the grounds of the Ukrainian National Association Estate, Soyuzivka, in upstate New York to compete in a unique intellectual tournament known as “Orlykiada.” The competition is organized year after year by the Plast fraternity “Orlykivtsi,” spearheaded this year by Marta Mudri and Lydia Rezie (a member of the Orlykivtsi). Fourteen teams qualified for Orlykiada 2013 which took place from November 9-10th. Participants answered questions in an academic bowl, displayed exhibits, and performed in an artistic sketch following the theme of Ukraine as “The Breadbasket of Europe.” “During the 80th anniversary of the [Ukrainian Genocide] Holodomor, we wanted the scouts to evaluate and understand the important role of bread in the history and culture of Ukraine,” explained Lydia Rezie, “only then a young person can truly understand the reasoning behind the Holodomor and its tragic effects for the Ukrainian nation – not only physically, but spiritually as...

Figure 1 Publishing and Raincoast Books are pleased to announce the publication of Leaving Home: the Remarkable Life of Peter Jacyk. Written by renowned Canadian biographer and novelist John Lawrence Reynolds, Leaving Home recounts the inspiring life of one of Canada’s most successful immigrants, the late Toronto- based businessman Peter Jacyk. Petro (Peter) Jacyk survived two of the most horrendous events of the twentieth century: the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, instigated by Stalin and responsible for the deaths of untold millions; and waves of invasion and slaughter from Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. Fleeing post-war Europe in 1949, he arrived in Canada with $7 in his pocket and horrific images in his memory. His adopted country would inspire a...