Historic 24th Triennial Congress of Ukrainian Canadians: Congress Summary

“I am honoured to have been re-elected to lead the Ukrainian Canadian Congress for the next three years,” stated UCC President Paul Grod.  “I am also energized by the vibrant and stimulating discussion that took place in Toronto.”

The leadership of the Ukrainian Canadian community from across Canada met in Toronto for the first time in almost 70 years and brought together some 400 delegates, observers and guests for a weekend filled with culture, policy discussion and debate over key issues.  The Congress was Chaired by Ms. Alexandra Chyczij, along with Daria Luciw and Irka Korpan as vice-chairs.  Opening remarks were given on Friday morning by UCC National President Paul Grod and UCC Toronto President Oksana Rewa, the Congress co-host.

The Triennial Congress was kicked off on Friday morning by an impassioned discussion on the theme “Limits on Freedom”, featuring Canada’s Ambassador of Religious Freedom, Dr. Andrew Bennett, Rector of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Dr. Serhiy Kvit and Vice rector of Ukrainian Catholic University Dr. Pavlo Khobzey.  The session was moderated by Mr. Danylo Bilak, Managing Partner of the CMS Cameron McKenna LLC Ukraine office.

Friday’s afternoon plenary session was kicked off with a panel discussion on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights featuring Paul Grod, Andrew Hladyshevsky and Vasyl Balan,  moderated by Professor Robert Magosci.  The session focused on the UCC’s concerns over balance in the Museum and how key human rights issues such as the Holodomor, WWI Internment Operations and the crimes of communism have been minimized or completely ignored.  The Congress delegates called for urgent community action, as the CMHR  is now scheduled to open its doors on September 20, 2014.

Friday afternoon’s session concluded with a presentation by Mr. Andrew Hladyshevsky on the importance of the work of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko.

Friday evening saw some of the real highlights of the Triennial Congress, beginning with the star-studded Opening Ceremonies attended by several hundred guests.  Hosted by Ryan Boyko and Diane Dagenais, the Opening featured Canada’s political, religious and business elite.

The Congress received blessings from His Eminence Metropolitan Yurij Kalistchuk, Archbishop of Winnipeg and the Central Eparchy, Metropolitan of Canada, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and the Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, Archeparch of Winnipeg, Metropolitan for the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada.

Following this, UCC National President, Paul Grod declared the Congress to be officially opened with an inspiring address about the accomplishments and the future of our community.  A traditional Ukrainian Pryvit was performed by Desna Ukrainian dancers, under the artistic direction of Luba and Yuri Grekhov. Greetings were received from His Excellency Vadym Prystaiko, Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada, Ukraine’s Leader of the Opposition Arseniy Yatseniuk (by video), the Hon. Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development, the Hon. Thomas Mulcair, Leader of the Official Opposition and New Democratic Party of Canada, Mr. Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Greetings from the Province of Ontario by Ms. Donna Cansfield MPP, and from Mr. Eugene Czolij, President of the Ukrainian World Congress.

During the Opening, Minister Kenney donated a bandura to the “Zoloti Struny” (Golden Strings) Ensemble which had initially been presented to him by Ukraine’s Culture Minister Mykhailo Kulyniak in 2011.

The official opening ceremonies were concluded with the award of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’ Youth Leadership Awards of Excellence to Christine Czoli, Danylo Korbabicz, Bozena Hrycyna and Andrea Kardasz.

The second half of the evening featured the Ukrainian Dragons segment.  This new and highly anticipated session paired our community titans/philanthropists with innovative community projects vying for a $60,000.00 prize.  The event was hosted by Victor Malarek, Senior Reporter CTV’s Fifth Estate and featured the following Ukrainian Dragons: Borys Chabursky, CEO SHI Consulting, Ian Ihnatowycz, CEO First Generation Capital, John Ivaniura, President Caravan Logistics, Nadia Jacyk, CEO Prombank Group, Eugene Melnyk, CEO Ottawa Senators, and James Temerty C.M., Chairman Northland Power.  The Dragons heard pitches from 5 proponents:

Ukrainian Canadian Students Union (SUSK) – Christine Czoli, Danylo Korbabicz and Olen Kit presented their project on mentorship for students.

Lemon Bucket ORKESTRA’s Mark Marczyk presented a proposal for a Tour of Canada performing Ukrainian and Eastern European musical selections.

Vesnivka Choir: Talia Lysiak, Luba Krekhovetsky Ivanka Fuke, presented their proposal for an online library of choral music beginning with Vesnivka’s 1000 song repertoire and adding other  songs in the future in order to make choral music available to all choirs around the world.

The Ukrainian Canadian Archives & Museum of Alberta (UCAMA) had Paul Teterenko, Krystya Kohut presented their proposal for an initial kick -off presentation in the museum opening spring 2015. The project included displays from Ukrainian Jewish relations and cultural connection between First Nations and Ukrainians in Canada.

Community Digital Stories. Jennifer LaFontaine presented her proposal to map digital places, in the Ukrainian Toronto community on a digital map. Each tab would contain a story about the place or people.

The Ukrainian Dragons selected the following three winners:

·         SUSK – $25,000

·         Lemon Bucket ORKESTRA -$20,000

·         Vesnivka Choir – $15,000

Those in attendance were able to enjoy lively performances by the Zubrivka Musical Ensemble as well as comic relief from Mr. Ron Cahute and Mr. Ihor Bachynsky.

On Saturday, the work of the Congress focussed on a dozen concurrent, moderated workshop sessions featuring presentations with leading experts in these areas.  The workshops were: governance and community development (fundraising, changes to not for profit legislation, advocacy and government relations); promotion of Ukrainian language and culture; Ukrainian Canadian historical issues and Ukraine’s historical memory; Ukrainian instruction and expanding the reach of the Ukrainian Canadian community among youth and recent immigrants.  For a complete list of speakers and sessions please view the attached link: Speakers of the 24th Triennial Congress

Certainly one of the most highly anticipated sessions of the Congress was Saturday afternoon’s plenary “Ukraine: One year after the Parliamentary Elections”.  The Congress received greetings from President Victor Yanukovych and a statement from former Prime Minister Ms. Yulia Tymoshenko.  In her statement, Ms. Tymoshenko stated

“History will never forgive the failure to sign the Association agreement to those who did everything possible and impossible for it. In just three weeks we will have a chance for the future we dreamed of; for the future that our predecessors fought for. Otherwise, we will have to wait for it for another three centuries. That is why I am stressing it again. I will never impose any conditions or demands on the Coks-Kwasniewski mission regarding my destiny. I am ready to accept any suggestion on their part no matter how difficult for me it might be. I will do it for the sake of signing the Ukrainian Association Agreement with the EU during the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on November 28-29, 2013.”

To read Ms. Tymoshenko’s entire statement, please click here.

Saturday evening’s sold out banquet was emceed by Mr. Paul Migus, and was tremendously interesting and successful. For the first time in 21 years, the Congress was attended by a sitting Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper.

Barvinok Dancers, under the artistic direction of Fedir Danylak, escorted Prime Minister Harper and UCC President Grod into the ballroom for the banquet and greeted them with the traditional Ukrainian bread and salt.

Prime Minister Harper was introduced by Ukrainian Canadian Congress Advisory Council Chairman James Temerty. Attendees were able to witness a 25-minute “Conversation with the Prime Minister”.  In a wide ranging discussion, interviewer Jurij Klufas addressed numerous issues with Canada’s Prime Minister such as: the Prime Minister’s new book on the history of hockey; the Canadian government’s actions supporting the recognition of the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people and acknowledging the internment of Ukrainian Canadians during the First World War; the issue with balance in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights; Canada-Ukraine relations; Ukraine’s signing of an Association Agreement with the EU; and the bullying of Ukraine by Russia.

One of the most interesting comments by the Prime Minister was with respect to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, scheduled to be opened next year:

“Issues of balance have been raised with me and I think, we have to be clear here in that this is set up obviously as a separate crown agency where politicians cannot dictate the contents or subject matter of the museum, that obviously has to be something done by an independent board and by professionals.

But, that said, I do believe it is important. A couple of things are important. First of all, you know, things like the Holocaust, the Holodomor, other events, it is important that they be recognized, and they be recognized really I think from a Canadian perspective.

I don’t think we want to duplicate, you know, what they would do in Israel, what they would do in the Ukraine, but we do want to bring the Canadian perspective of people who have fled these kinds of events and how they’ve contributed to the growth of the human rights and democracy narrative in this country. But I do think it is critical, and I say this because I’m saying it at arm’s length of the museum, it is important that all of these things be represented, they be represented broadly and in a balanced way. And the fact of the matter is, as I say, I’m very supportive of the monument to victims of Communism.

We have a very large number of Canadians who are here today because they have fled the tyranny of Communism of other countries and through the generations they have worked hard so that their relatives and their fellow countrymen can be free from that.

And I think that perspective and those histories of all of those communities including Ukrainian Canadians, should be accurately represented in a museum like that.” Click here to view the entire transcript.

Following the conclusion of the “Conversation with the Prime Minister, Mr. Eugene Melnyk, Chairman of the Ottawa Senators Hockey club thanked Prime Minister Harper and presented him with a complete set of the 2014 shortlisted literary works for the Ukrainian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko’s Kobzar Literary Awards.  Mr. Melnyk also announced that he had purchased and donated copies of Prime Minister Harper’s book “The Great Game” for all of the registered Congress delegates.  Proceeds from the book’s sale go to the “Military Families Fund”.

The dinner was addressed, as well, by Eugene Czolij, President of the Ukrainian World Congress, and was attended by Metropolitan Jurij and Metropolitan Huculak, Bishop Stephen Chmiliar, Bishop Andriy Peshko, Hon. Jason Kenney, Members of Parliament Ted Opitz, Chair of the Canada Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, the Hon. Bob Dechert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice; Mr. Wladislaw Lizon, MP, Bernard Trottier, MP, Stella Ambler, MP, Peggy Nash, MP and His Worship Toronto Mayor Rob Ford were in attendance.  The Vira Zelinska Ukrainian Youth Bandura Capella Zoloti Struny(Golden Strings) played three lovely musical and vocal pieces including a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion.

Following the dinner, Ukrainian Canadian Congress President Paul Grod presented the Taras Shevchenko Medal to nine recipients: Vasyl Balan; Roman Borys; Dr. Daria Darewych; Dr. Jurij Darewych; Halya Kuchmij; Valentina Kuryliw; Irene Mycak; Peter Shostak; and Iroida Wynnyckyj.  The Taras Shevchenko Medal is the highest form of recognition that can be granted by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Ukrainian World Congress President Eugene Czolij presented the St. Volodymyr the Great Medal to James Temerty and Senator Raynell Andreychuk.  For more information on this honour, please visit http://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/

The invocation was by Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak and the Benediction was by Metropolitan Yurij.

On Sunday morning delegates participated in a commemoration of the 80^th anniversary of the Holodomor. Following Divine Liturgy celebrated by Fr. Peter Galadza of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute a requiem in memory of the victims was celebrated by Most. Reverend Yurij, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.

The program that followed included a screening of Konstantyn Bokan – One of Ten Million Victims produced by Ucrainica Research Institute. Irka Mycak, Chair of the UCC National Holodomor Awareness Committee, provided a brief update on current Holodomor awareness initiatives, including the awareness publication designed to inform the general Canadian public about the genocide. The main focus for the year is on the contribution of Holodomor survivors to the awareness effort and the role of all Ukrainian Canadians in sharing their stories. The presentation concluded with excerpts from the documentation project Share the Story, which can be viewed at http://www.sharethestory.ca/.

On Sunday, the delegates of the Triennial Congress continued their deliberations and approved a new Constitution and by-laws as required under changes to Canada’s Not for profit Corporations Act.

The plenary session also approved 2 dozen policy resolutions on issues such as the Ukrainian language, culture, and Ukraine’s EU Association Agreement and the situation regarding Yulia Tymoshenko.

For a full list of approved resolutions, please click here

XXIV Triennial Resolutions 2013 (English).

Finally, the Triennial Congress elected the officers, Board of Directors and Board of Auditors of  the UCC for the next three years.

The members of the Executive Committee are:

The elected members of the Board of Directors are:

Oresia Luciw – Andryjowycz – President of the UCC Alberta Provincial Council

Anatoly Ciacka – President of the UCC British Columbia Provincial Council

Oksana Bondarchuk – President of the UCC Manitoba Provicial Council

Steve Andrusiak – President of the UCC Ontario Provincial Council

Zoriana Hrycenko – Luhova – President of the UCC Quebec Provincial Council

Slawko Kindrachuk – President of the UCC Saskatoon Provincial Council

Markian Shwec – Representative of the UCC Toronto Branch

Zenon Potichny – President of the Canada – Ukraine Chamber of Commerce (CUCC)

Victor Hetmanczuk – Representative of the Canada – Ukraine Foundation (CUF)

Margareta Shpir – Representative of the Canada Friends of Ukraine

Eugene Ladna – Representative of the Canadian Lemko Association

Iryna Korpan – President of Canadian Ukraine Immigrant Aid Society (CUIAS)

Renata Roman and Dr. Michael Kondracki – Co-Presidents of Chornobyl Canadian Fund

Eugene Czolij – Representative of the Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions of Canada (CUCUC)

Myroslava Pidhirnyj – Representative of the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC)

Adriana Buyniak Wilson – President of the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW)

Tanya Dzulynsky – President Shevchenko Scientific Society

Petro Mycak – Representative Society of Veterans of Ukrainian Insurgent Army UPA

Michael Hantzsch – Representative of Ukrainian Canadian Professional & Business Federation (UCPBF)

Andrew Hladyshevsky – President of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko (UCFTS)

Jurij Darewych – President Ukrainian Canadian Research & Documentation Centre (CRDC)

Serhiy Kasyanchuk – Representative Ukrainian Canadian Social Services of Canada Headquarters (UCSS)

Christine Czoli – President Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK)

Glen Tymiak – President of the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood of Canada

Sophie Manulak – President of the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League of Canada

Denis Hlynka – Representative of the Ukrainian Fraternal Society of Canada

Markian Shulakevych – Representative of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Arts and Sciences (UVAN)

Slawko Borys – Representative of the Ukrainian National Federation (UNF)

Katrina Baziuk – President of the Ukrainian Orthodox Youth of Canada (CYMK)

Jaroslaw Balan – Representative of the Ukrainian Self – Reliance League of Canada

Sonja Bejzyk – Representative of the Association of Canada

Olya Sheweli – President of the Ukrainian Women’s Organization of Canada

Roman Brytan – President of the Ukrainian Youth Association (CYM)

Ann Szyptur – Representative of the Ukrainian Youth Association (PLAST)

The members of the board of Auditors are:

Pavlo Grod was sworn in as President of the UCC by Ukrainian World Congress President Evhen Czolij.

The new Board of Directors held its inaugural meeting on Sunday afternoon.