Canadian issues

The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Official Opposition, released the following statement on Vyshyvanka Day: “Today, we join millions of Ukrainians in Canada, Ukraine and around the world to celebrate Vyshyvanka Day. For centuries, the vyshyvanka has been a powerful symbol of Ukraine’s unique heritage and identity. Its iconic, colourful embroidery is inextricably tied to Ukraine’s rich history and culture and has served as an emblem of hope for generations of Ukrainians in times of unbelievable hardship. “Today, this remains as true as ever, as Ukraine has once again been plunged into the devastation of war. For over a year, the world has watched in horror as Russia has carried out its unprovoked attack and brutal atrocities on Ukrainian soil. In equal measure, the free world has watched in awe as the people of Ukraine have valiantly defended their homeland. "On Vyshyvanka Day, we admire the...

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) National Holodomor Awareness Committee is launching National Holodomor Awareness Week, November 21-27, commemorating the 89th anniversary of the Holodomor, the Soviet Communist regime’s genocide against the Ukrainian people. The UCC is honoured to be joined by the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, the Honourable Pierre Poilievre, Leader of Canada’s Official Opposition, and Mr. Jagmeet Singh, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, to launch National Holodomor Awareness Week. This year, as we mark the 89th anniversary of the Holodomor and launch the...

n the midst of the accusations and hate vandalism, the Ukrainian community has endured Nazi labels, and has repeatedly said this was part of the disinformation campaign created and coordinated by the Russian regime against Ukrainians. If one thinks the Nazi labels levied up on Ukrainians by Vladimir Putin started on February 24, 2022, they are mistaken. This campaign has been going on for decades by Russian operatives in the West and sympathizers of the Russian historical narrative of disinformation. We are thankful to the Edmonton Police Service for diligently investigating and making an arrest for the trespassing and defacing of our monument of Ukrainian military commander Roman Shukhevych (and another to fallen Ukrainian soldiers at St. Michael’s Cemetery) in the middle of the night on August 6-7, 2021. Shamefully, it seems the accused, an...

On 14 October 2022, Duncan Kinney of Edmonton was charged by the Edmonton Police Service with mischief. Kinney is the editor of The Progress Report/Progress Alberta which, according to its website, is a “non-profit news organization focused on uncovering and unpacking the news through original investigative and explanatory journalism.” In August 2021, an act of vandalism occurred at an Edmonton community centre. Members of the community described this act of vandalism as a hate crime. Kinney actively promoted the story that this vandalism was perpetrated by persons unknown when, in fact, he has now been charged as being the perpetrator. Commenting, the UCCLA’s director of research, Professor Lubomyr Luciuk, said: “In August 2021 Mr. Kinney widely broadcast a story about how a person or persons unknown trespassed onto private property and committed an act of criminal vandalism. According to ...

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) is grateful to all Canadians for their strong and unequivocal support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. An overwhelming majority of Canadians believe the Canadian Government should continue to support Ukraine and expect their Government to take tougher action on Russia, a survey commissioned by the UCC and conducted by Abacus Data on September 9-14 found. “We call on the Government of Canada to substantially increase support for Ukraine and take stronger measures against Russia. As Members of Parliament return to Ottawa for the fall session – the clear and principled position of the Canadian people provides a blueprint for the government’s further action in support of Ukraine,” stated Alexandra Chyczij, National President of the UCC...

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (Toronto Branch) is pleased to announce that $30,587.15 was raised in support of the UCC-CUF Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal on Sunday March 27,2022 at the Ukrainian Day at Casa Loma fundraising event. UCC Toronto Branch President Peter Schturyn thanked the Liberty Entertainment Group for donating the proceeds of the day’s admission tickets from Casa Loma in the amount of $22,000 and an additional donation of $5,000 to the Humanitarian Appeal. The additional funds came from onsite vendor sales of fresh and silk sunflowers donated by Flower Fantasy, pysanky, t-shirts and hoodies, linens, floral door wreaths, books and cd’s. Vendors included Victor Malarek, Maria Dolnycky, Mary Villalobos Majka, Marika Skrypnyk, Andrij Zvizhynskyy, Yaskrava by Maryna Hermanczuk, the Marczyk family, and Canada Worker Trades. Mary Radewych, Anna Heychuk and Margo Bock assisted the vendors. Peter thanked Nick Di Donato, President and...

On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry added 61 Canadians to what it calls its "stop list," prohibiting them from entering Russia indefinitely. All are accused of being "involved in the development, substantiation and implementation of the Russophobic course of the ruling regime in Canada," said the ministry. When he heard that he'd been banned, Lloyd Axworthy, a Chrétien-era cabinet minister who now heads the World Refugee Council, laughed it off. "The old saying is that you're well known by the company you keep and by the company that doesn't like you," he said. "It's not surprising but it indicates to me how silly they really are." Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, who supported installing bilingual "Free-Libre Ukraine" signs outside the Russian embassy, said he'll continue to support Ukrainians and "antagonize the Russians." "I had no plans to go to Moscow or any part of Russia and wouldn't do so because I don't want to give them any element of support," he told CBC. "But it's a serious issue. They're doing this because, quite frankly, I think...

This Ukrainian-Canadian family business has offered free deliveries of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and is running out of warehouse space due to overwhelming public response. This Ukrainian-Canadian company has been connecting the diaspora community and the old country for more than three decades. But that connection has never been as important as now when their motherland is under siege by the Russians. The phone at the Etobicoke-based family business Meest — and its branches around the world — has been ringing off the hook since Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday. Concerned people in Canada were looking for ways to deliver necessities as well as medical and light military supplies to people in Ukraine, and the owner of Meest, which has 5,000 employees worldwide, responded, offering free shipping for humanitarian aid to the country. “We’re all in it together. Meest literally means bridge, so we’ve been a bridge between the Ukrainian diaspora community and Ukraine for over 30 years,” said Iryna Kisil, daughter of the...

The topic of Ukrainian museum collections in the diaspora today is very important and nowadays often painful. It involves issues of upkeep in the context of both diminishing interest in the community and a change in worldview paradigms—there is little room left for the unique, and the only content that has broad use and interest has a chance to survive. All this is accompanied by diminishing financial support. Thus, museums, around which our community’s social and cultural life revolved, are declining, while unique collections of our cultural heritage, gathered and nurtured for generations both in Ukraine and here in the West, end up at risk of rotting in basements, being sold or auctioned off. The problem is widespread, complex, and inadequately discussed, as exemplified in the recent, sad case of the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum of Alberta (UCAMA). This interview with Orysia Boychuk, president of the Alberta Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, is about the rescue of UCAMA’s collections and possible conclusions to be drawn for other museums and archival collections in our community. Let’s start from the beginning. How did UCC-APC become involved in UCAMA’s situation? — UCC-APC is an umbrella organization with 17 organizations that come under it. We support, represent, and are a unified voice for the community in Alberta. UCAMA is one of those organizations...

A community of rememberers has come to together to restore the memory of a young man who paid the ultimate price for his country. The Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston commissioned Alexander Gabov of Conservation of Sculptures, Monuments and Objects to professionally restore the gravestone of Ukrainian Canadian First World War veteran Pte. Nikita Natalsky in Cataraqui Cemetery. Lubomyr Luciuk, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston, first noticed the gravestone’s deterioration on Remembrance Day of 2019, when he went to pay his respects...