1991: A LOOK BACK: Canada's reasons to celebrate (12/29/91)

1991: A LOOK BACK

Canada's reasons to celebrate

Canada, a country which boasts over 1 million citizens of Ukrainian descent, enjoyed a year full of stirring events. In addition to celebrating the centennial of Ukrainian immigration to Canada, Canada was the first Western country to recognize Ukraine and one of the first to open a consulate in Kiev.

In a January 15 interview with The Weekly, Nestor Gayowsky, the newly appointed Canadian consul-general to Ukraine and Moldova, said, "I am looking forward to seeing the nature of the renaissance taking place in Ukraine today. I have a good knowledge of Ukraine's history, both contemporary and past...I am looking forward to my stay with immense anticipation. I think I have the best job in Canada, except that it happens to be in Kiev."

The road to a consulate was a little shaky, however. Even after Mr. Gayowsky was appointed, there were rumors that the consulate was going to be canceled. In April, it was announced that the plans would continue, but the consulate would operate on a smaller scale. Whereas Mr. Gayowsky had said that he hoped at least nine Canadian officers would be working at the consulate, as well as about 20 locally engaged Ukrainians, the staff was reduced to two Canadians and 15 Ukrainian citizens.

By August, the consulate was still not opened, prompting criticism from the Ukrainian community. Finally, 20 months after Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had announced that Canada was planning a Kiev consulate, it was opened on September 9. Canada's External Affairs Minister Barbara McDougall officially opened the consulate, defending accusations from Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Dmytro Pavlychko that Canada was being "too slow" in recognizing Ukrainian independence.

On December 2, Canada recognized Ukraine and began to plan the establishment of diplomatic relations. "We expect the process to go quite smoothly," said Mark Entwistle, spokesperson for the Prime Minister's office.

Ukrainian Canadians began celebrating the centennial of Ukrainian settlement in Canada during 1991. Centennial celebrations, organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Centennial Commission (UCCC), opened on August 29 in Edmonton and will continue through October 1992, coming to a close in Winnipeg, Manitoba during the conclave of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Official opening ceremonies featured addresses by Canada's Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Both dignitaries paid tribute to the first Ukrainian pioneers, Ivan Pylypiw and Wasyl Eleniak, who emigrated from western Ukraine to western Canada in 1891, and saluted the significant contribution of Ukrainians to Canada in all spheres of life.

In his speech, Prime Minister Mulroney noted that there were three great waves of immigration: 170,000 Ukrainians came to Canada before World War I, almost 70,000 during the interwar period, and up to 40,000 more after World War II. Altogether, nearly 1 million Canadians today are of Ukrainian ancestry.

Both heads of state, as well as other guest speakers, focused on Ukraine's independence, noting that the centennial celebrations are taking place at a historic moment in Ukraine's struggle for independence. "Today," - Prime Minister Mulroney said - "Ukraine and the other republics of what once was an empire, can chart their own course to democracy and to freedom...Canada believes that the pace of change in Ukraine will be established by the Ukrainian people themselves. And Canada pledges to respect the free and democratically expressed wishes of the Ukrainian people..." The Prime Minister extended an invitation to President Leonid Kravchuk to visit Ottawa.

Canada issued commemorative stamps to mark the Ukrainian centennial. A set of four 40-cent stamps, issued on August 11 by Canada Post Corporation, featured images from the painting "The Ukrainian Pioneer" by renowned Ukrainian Canadian painter William Kurelek.

Ukrainian Canadians were able to toast the centennial celebration with a commemorative vintage - the "Edna Star," - a dry white table wine named for the first permanent settlement in Alberta in 1892. The centennial wine, commissioned from Andres Wine Ltd. by the UCCC, was officially unveiled at the company's winery in Winona, Ontario, on July 18.

Finally, a symposium, organized by the UCCC and the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, and attended by 100 Ukrainian Canadian academics and intellectuals, was held at the University of Toronto on November 30. The symposium concluded a two-year series of seminars looking at the social dynamics of the 1 million-member Ukrainian Canadian community, one of Canada's largest. It discussed the Ukrainian role in Canadian multiculturalism, the community's ties to the homeland and its future direction.