UKRAINIAN YOUTH ASSOCIATION OF CANADA ELECTS NEW NATIONAL EXECUTIVE
UYA National Triennial Conference participants at the Holy Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Youth Association (UYA) held the second, in-person part of its triennial Canadian National Conference in Calgary on May 13-15, 2022. A virtual component took place earlier on March 26 March. Delegates and guests represented branches in Winnipeg, Hamilton, Edmonton, Etobicoke, Calgary, Mississauga, Montreal, St. Catharines and Toronto.
Breakout sessions at the Conference focused on three main subjects: educational challenges with a focus on how best to help integrate Ukrainian families and children fleeing the war in Ukraine; organizational issues, especially how to retain and engage the membership and integrate newcomers to Canada, the key challenge being to engage youth with developmentally-oriented programming, and find ways to bridge the gap between Canada and Ukraine; CYM Canada’s 75th jubilee celebrations in 2023 with a focus on the future of the organization “where we would like to see the organization in 10 years and beyond”.
Parallel to the Conference a Leadership Seminar was held, working with a group of future UYA leaders to help hone their skillsets and identify ways in which they can most effectively contribute to the critical day-to-day work with youth.
On the occasion of the XXXIII triennial Canadian National Conference on Friday evening the local UYA Calgary Branch showcased its cultural talents and invited the delegates as well as the local Ukrainian community to the musical Rusalya. Joining the guests was Father Roman Planchak and the Consul General of Ukraine in Edmonton, Oleksander Daneleyko as well as representatives of other Ukrainian community organizations.
The official portion of the program included performances by youth of the UYA Calgary Branch and its Calgary Bandura Ensemble led by Iryna Kalinovych. Opening remarks were delivered by UYA Calgary Branch President Oksana Dawid who welcomed the delegates and guests.
The second part of the evening entailed a mesmerizing musical performance titled Rusalya, performed by young and older members of the UYA Calgary Branch under the direction of Beata Pasika and play-co-authors Nataliya Melysh and Beata Pasika.
On Saturday, delegates and Leadership Seminar participants had the good fortune to enjoy Alberta’s beautiful sceneries by taking a trip to Lake Louise and Banff. This included a stop at Cave and Basin Internment Museum and Castle Mountain Internment Camp for an educational tour under the guidance of Borys Sydoruk and Donna Korchinski.
The UYA National Executive and UYA Calgary Branch would like to express their sincerest gratitude to SERVUS Credit Union, MEEST Canada and Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation for their generous financial support.
On Sunday the final day, the Conference elected its new leadership for the next three years. In addition to the obligatory Auditing and Grievance Committees, a new National Executive was installed, consisting of:
Tamara Tataryn (Torono) – President
Daniel Moussienko (Calgary) – Vice-President
Lida Jendzjowsky (Toronto) – Secretary
Tany Choly (St. Catharines) – Co-Chair, Educational Council
Laryssa Luszczki (Montreal) – Co-Chair, Educational Council
Anna Zakharova (Calgary) – member*
Oksana Stech (Mississauga) – member*
Natalia Schturyn (Etobicoke) – member*
Yuri Broda (Edmonton) – member*
Bohdanka Hontar (Mississauga) – member*
Tamara McColl (Winnipeg) – member*
The Ukrainian Youth Association is an international organization created 97 years ago in response to political repressions in Soviet-occupied Ukraine, which evolved into a Diaspora organization-in-exile. Its primary mandate today is to meet the challenge of raising young people of Ukrainian heritage to be historically and politically astute and supportive of initiatives to maintain their ethno-cultural identity, while working with affiliated organizations to strive towards strengthening a sovereign, fully independent Ukrainian nation state.
