Ukrainians in Canada

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...

The 24th Triennial Congress of Ukrainian Canadians is only two weeks away and organizers want you, the members of our community to know how you can participate in an opportunity that comes along only once every three years. First, we encourage members of our constituent organizations to attend as delegates. Contact your local executive to find out if you are eligible. We also welcome non-delegate participants. Attend a joint church service (Moleben) on Sunday, which begins at 8AM in the ballroom of the Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel, 901 Dixon Rd. A commemoration of the Holodomor on this the 80th anniversary will follow our prayer service. There’s much more. The keynote event...

On Thursday, September 26, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress recognized seven deserving individuals with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and thirteen outstanding community leaders with the UCC Leadership Award. "It was a tremendous honour to present these awards to such worthy leaders from our community," stated Ukrainian Canadian Congress National President Paul Grod. "It is only fitting that these important leaders of our community are recognized. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank them for their tremendous work in building and leading our community in Toronto and across the country." The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals were...

Thirty-four university students from Ukraine, Austria, Belarus, China, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia arrived in Ottawa for the 23rd Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program, an internship program in the Canadian House of Commons. The Interns came to Canada from universities in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Berlin, Tbilisi Georgia, St. Petersburg Russia, Simferopol, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovs’k, Mykolaiv, Vienna, Rome, Mainz, Maastricht, and Zhejiang China. In 1990 Toronto Attorney Ihor Bardyn founded the Program, to celebrate the centenary of Ukrainian group immigration to Canada and the renewal of Ukraine's Independence. On their arrival in Ottawa, Mr. Bardyn greeted the...

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress congratulates Justice Marc Nadon on his appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Nadon indicated his pride in his Ukrainian and French Canadian roots at his public Parliamentary hearing on his nomination on October 2, 2013, "I was born in St. Jerome, Quebec to a French Canadian minor league hockey player father and a Ukrainian Canadian professional singer mother who worked at the Chateau Frontenac...I am proud of my French Canadian and Ukrainian background.My Ukrainian grandparents came to Canada during the First World War and were pleased to come to a country which welcomed them so warmly. "The Ukrainian Canadian community congratulates...

The Board of Directors and Staff at St. Vladimir Institute (SVI) are very pleased to announce an eventful year of festivities surrounding this, our 50th Anniversary year, celebrating 50 years of Ukrainian cultural programming and post secondary housing to the GTA Area. With two events scheduled for the fall to recognize this milestone, the excitement is building...

The Communists controlUkraine, our country’s spirit withers with the slow eradication of our history, language, and culture. The year is 1929, I am seven years old and I hear talk of a depression; work and food have become scarce. As I manage to scrape by, many perish; Stalin’s induced famine has killed millions of my fellow Ukrainians. With the conclusion of my second grade education, I return to the land; it needs my back and hands. Ten tough years have passed and World War II is imminent, despair lies on the horizon. I watch many of my friends disappear as they are pulled into the abyss of battle. What am I to do? Shall I fight with the Soviet regime, which is systematically dismantling my beloved home, or fight under mad dog Hitler, who has promised to “liberate‘‘Ukraine. I seek out a third solution, I run and hide. I leave my family at the age of seventeen; I will never see them again. I lock the memories of war away, yet I know that they shape the time I have left breathing. I escape toEnglandand am immensely relieved to find that I have met a wonderful people...