Browsing: Canada

OTTAWA – On March 9 on Parliament Hill, Yvan Baker, member of Parliament for Etobicoke Center, Ontario, was elected chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliame­ntary Friendship Group (CUPFG) during its annual general meeting. The CUPFG is one of Canada’s largest and most active parliamentary friendship groups, with over 100 members representing all political parties.

The purpose of the CUPFG is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between Canadian parliamentarians and their counterparts in Ukraine, and to promote and enhance the political, economic and cultural relations between Canada and Ukraine.

OTTAWA – Most film directors prefer to tell their stories through their cinematic creations and would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it. But a real-time drama, filled with tragedy, conflict and a relatively happy ending, made Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov the unwitting subject of what has become the greatest story of his life, thus far.

Arrested at his home in Symferopol, Crimea, in May 2014, Mr. Sentsov – who three years earlier had released his first feature-length film, “Gamer,” shot at a real computer-game tournament – was charged, in part, with plotting a terrorist attack against railway bridges, power lines and public monuments, and was accused of being a radical right-wing extremist. During his July 2015 trial, speaking from the prisoner’s box, behind bars, Mr. Sentsov claimed the charges against him were “fabricated and political,” based on claims from “two suspects whose testimony was obtained through torture.”

TORONTO – The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) honored Roman Waschuk, former Canadian ambassador to Ukraine, and his spouse, Oksana Smerechuk, for their contributions to public service and Canada-Ukraine relations at a special tribute gala in Toronto on February 1.

Due to the generosity of sponsors and supporters, $100,000 was raised to support the Roman Waschuk and Oksana Smerechuk Fund, within the UCC Charitable & Educational Trust, which funds the UCC Parliamentary Internship Program, as well as the UCC Community Development Fund that supports important community programming initiatives.

OTTAWA – Over the past quarter-century, an eclectic congregation has transformed the liturgical nature and enlivened the parish life at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Shrine in Ottawa.

This mainly young group of people – none of whom are ethnic Ukrainian and many who were not raised Catholic – has breathed new life into not only the shrine community, but the overall Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church in Canada.

KINGSTON, Ontario – A stone sculpture by Nick Leniuk was unveiled at City Hall in Kingston, Ontario, on December 6, 2019, to honor the Ukrainians who made this city their home.
Titled “Enduring Roots” and commissioned by the Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston, the sculpture depicts an oak tree, whose strong roots are nourished by the Christian faith and national identity of the Ukrainians of Kingston, represented symbolically by a stylized cross, the Ukrainian tryzub (trident) and a Canadian maple leaf.

TORONTO – Patriarch Sviatoslav, primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), on December 8 presented the highest distinction awarded by the UGCC – the Order of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky – to the Institute of Eastern Christian Studies named after Metropolitan Andrey.
The Sheptytsky Institute is an autonomous academic unit of the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. The ceremony was held at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia.

OTTAWA – Arguably the most influential member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet as his foreign affairs minister during his Liberal government’s first term in office, Chrystia Freeland now serves as his chief lieutenant following her November 20 appointment as Canada’s deputy prime minister – a role unlikely to dramatically shift the Ukrainian Canadian parliamentarian’s attention away from her ancestral homeland, according to the Canadian-based president of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC).
“She understands Ukraine and Russia better than any Western politician globally, and is viewed by other foreign ministers as the key point-person on Ukraine,” said Paul Grod in an interview. “She has a deep interest in Ukraine, and has expressed to me that she will still have a role in the Canada-Ukraine relationship – but to what extent, we’ll see.”

Former president emphasizes: ‘Don’t allow Putin to destabilize us’

OTTAWA – Ukraine will regain Crimea, which is temporarily lost to Russia, but needs global support in its fight against Russian aggression in the Donbas, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told a recent international conference on foreign affairs and defense held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“When Ukraine protect[ed its] territorial integrity and our sovereignty – and voluntarily gave up the third-biggest nuclear arsenal in the world and expected global solidarity to protect our territorial integrity, nobody stopped Russia, except Ukraine,” he said about the Russian war in eastern Ukraine, in which, he angrily noted, President Vladimir Putin has denied any involvement.

OTTAWA – Mary March figured something was up when her friend and fellow Ukrainian Catholic cantor Larisa Galadza was warmly greeted by fellow Ukrainian Canadian, then-Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, at the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’s recent triennial congress in Ottawa, where Ms. Galadza was given a front-row seat in a group photograph taken at the conference on November 2.
The next day, Ms. Freeland announced that 48-year-old Ms. Galadza had been appointed Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine, its 10th representative since Ukraine gained its independence in 1991.

TORONTO – After an extensive global search, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) announced the appointment of Mariia Kupriianova as its executive director.
In her new role, which began November 1, Ms. Kupriianova will be responsible for leading UWC’s operations, managing staff and supporting volunteer-led committees. In collaboration with the UWC Board and Executive Committee, she will represent and advocate the UWC’s positions to global stakeholders, including governments, civil society and supporters.

OTTAWA – The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) welcomed the adoption by the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia of Bill M225, Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day Act.
The bill, introduced by BC Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, passed its third reading unanimously on October 29. Royal assent was expected later that week.
“Thank you to Mr. Weaver for introducing this act, which recognizes the Holodomor as a Genocide of the Ukrainian people, and officially establishes the fourth Saturday of November as the Holodomor Memorial Day in British Columbia,” stated Natalie Jatskevich, president of the UCC’s British Columbia Provincial Council. “We commend the government of BC and all members of the BC Legislative Assembly for their support of this important recognition. Through honoring the millions of victims of the Holodomor, let us work together to ensure that such horrendous crimes are never repeated.”

OTTAWA – Danny Schur has, over more than 15 years, put his creative and emotional heart into telling the story of a Ukrainian immigrant who became a pivotal figure in his account of Canada’s most famous labor strike 100 years ago. But it was Mr. Schur’s physical heart that nearly felled the Ukrainian Canadian award-winning music composer and producer before the culmination of much of his life’s labour hit the big screen.
While playing in goal in a pickup-hockey game on the evening of September 30 in his hometown, Winnipeg, Mr. Schur, 53, suffered a heart attack. It was as surprising as it was scary.