Media Watch honors three activists for contributions to public awareness (02/18/96)

Media Watch honors three activists for contributions to public awareness

by Andrij Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - Media Watch Ukraine, a local watchdog group formed in late 1994, scored points for public relations on February 4, as it honored three high-profile activists for "accomplishment in the media and a contribution to the public's awareness and understanding of Ukrainian issues."

The honorees, dubbed "Ukrainian Media Leaders," included filmmaker Yurij Luhovy, researcher and government gadfly Lubomyr Luciuk, and renowned investigative journalist Victor Malarek.

About 75 people attended the luncheon fund-raiser, held in the Queen's York Rangers Officers' Mess of the Fort York Armory on Toronto's lakeshore. As the tribute's host and MWU chair Stepha Dmytriw explained in her remarks, the site was particularly appropriate, as it was probably used for processing interned Ukrainian Canadians and others designated as "enemy aliens" during the first world war.

Among those in attendance was Dr. Jean Augustine, member of Parliament for Etobicoke-South and parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. She commended Media Watch Ukraine for paying tribute to the trio. "Too often we wait until others honor the worthy or until after they have passed on to recognize their work," Dr. Augustine said.

MWU's choices were tailor-made for an interesting afternoon, as Mr. Malarek and Dr. Luciuk are easily among the top 10 most outspoken Ukrainians on the continent.

Victor Malarek, journalist

Introducing Mr. Malarek, Ms. Dmytriw briefly recounted his rise from the streets of Lachine, Quebec, to the press room of Toronto's Globe and Mail, to his current position as co-host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's television news-journal "Fifth Estate." She also mentioned that the Montreal native had recently been nominated for a Gemini Award (Canada's equivalent of an Emmy) for merit in journalism.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Malarek said that within a few weeks after he'd switched over to television in 1990, he thought he'd "made a big mistake." Sitting in the executive producer's office, expecting to quit, he was told his first assignment would be to prepare a Chornobyl fifth anniversary program. That changed his mind, and sent him on his first visit to the land his grandparents left.

Mr. Malarek's trip brought him up against "the same patent lies and half-truths dished out by Soviet hacks" he confronted when on assignment in Vienna in 1986, in the immediate aftermath of the explosion at the nuclear facility.

Mr. Malarek said his experience as a reporter on occupational health and safety issues for the Globe taught him that it often takes 10 to 15 years for cancerous malignancies and other serious problems to appear after exposure to various hazards, and warned that the worst was still to come in Ukraine.

The award-winning journalist called on the West "to wake up and take notice of the lingering effects of one of the deadliest disasters ever," and assume a collective responsibility for limiting the damage it can still cause to the European and planetary environment.

Mr. Malarek then recounted vignettes from his most recent sojourn in Ukraine, in the summer of 1995, when he gave seminars on investigative journalism.

He said that fellow honoree Dr. Luciuk traveled with him to points in western and eastern Ukraine, and everywhere introduced him as "Victor Malarek from the 'Fifth Estate,' " which seemed to produce long and strange stares. Mr. Malarek related with a wry smile that "fifth estate" in Ukraine refers to membership in the "mafia," and said people probably turned out to see the Canadian journalist with mob connections.

"I was disheartened by the pathetic level of journalism in Ukraine," Mr. Malarek continued. He found that 85 percent of his counterparts accepted bribes by their own admission. When he asked politicians, they suggested the number was closer to 98 percent.

He said when he confronted journalists with such figures, most journalists answered with whining rather than outrage, saying things like, "Hey, we have to make a living." Mr. Malarek rejoined, "Well, so do prostitutes, but at least they're just doing their job, and better."

However, the CBC host said he did meet several young reporters who believe in the public's right to know, and expressed optimism that "they will win the battle for the public mind."

Sounding like a true "Media Leader," Mr. Malarek said it was "vitally important that North Americans identify those who are willing to pay the price of integrity" and assist them.

The alternative is dire. "Otherwise," Mr. Malarek said, "Ukrainians will continue to be spoon-fed by a pack of liars that will keep the country mired in the status quo - and go nowhere."

Mr. Malarek also told The Weekly he was planning a return to Ukraine in late May or early June to conduct another series of instructional seminars, sponsored by the Canadian Board of International Education.

In conclusion, the hard-boiled pro thanked his mother, Jennie, in attendance at the event, for her support.

Yurij Luhovy, film-maker

Although the most low-key of the trio of honorees, Montreal-based film director and producer Yurij Luhovy is no less deserving of tributes, as Ms. Dmytriw's introduction made plain. He played a pivotal role in the crafting of "Harvest of Despair," the award-winning documentary on the famine of 1932-1933. He tenaciously pursued the project of "Freedom Had A Price," a study of the internment of Ukrainian Canadians early in this century, and secured its airing on CBC's Newsworld channel.

Mr. Luhovy also substantially affected broader Canadian discourse with another award-winning documentary, "Kahnesatake: 270 Years of Resistance," which dealt with native attempts to solidify their land claims in the Cornwall area.

Ms. Dmytriw also said that Mr. Luhovy has been working on a film about the issue of Ukraine's new currency, the hryvnia. "That must mean that it will soon be introduced," Ms. Dmytriw said to general mirth.

In his remarks, Mr. Luhovy mentioned the historical significance of the Fort York Armory as a "triage" or processing center for Ukrainian internees in 1914-1917.

The filmmaker also offered accounts of the discoveries made during the filming of "Freedom Had A Price." A chance meeting with a foreman of the crew cleaning up the last vestiges of the Spirit Lake internment camp in Quebec led to a find of lost photographs.

Although Mr. Luhovy said the film is "less about redress and more about Canadian history," he credited co-honoree Prof. Luciuk for his persistence in keeping the issue alive. He also confided that one of the motivations for embarking on the project was the suffering endured by his grandparents in the Soviet gulag.

Mr. Luhovy reflected positively on the difficulties faced in getting the CBC to broadcast the documentary. "It proves that persistence works. After daily harassment, they cracked," the filmmaker said.

"You're all taxpayers," he told the assembled, "and you have a right to see programming that reflects your community's experience."

In conclusion, Mr. Luhovy congratulated the MWU for its work, and thanked his wife for her collaboration and support. He also gave thanks to the Ontario government and the Toronto-based Ukrainian Research and Documentation Center for their grants that made his latest production possible.

Lubomyr Luciuk, scholar

Ms. Dmytriw introduced Dr. Luciuk by reading off excerpts from the entry about him in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, and relating some of the successes he has achieved in securing permanent commemoration of World War I internment sites in Canada, his dogged work in lobbying Canada's federal and provincial governments, and his frequent contributions to the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and the Ottawa Citizen on matters of concern to Ukrainian Canadians.

Dr. Luciuk said it was "an honor to share the podium with Victor and Yurij - the brightest and the best in our community."

Dr. Luciuk averred he decided to accept the award largely in order to pay tribute to three men (now all deceased), who had "guided, cajoled and prodded" him: Andrij Bandera, Stanley Frolick and Gordon (Bohdan) Panchuk.

He also praised his colleague, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association Chairman John Gregorovich, who, Dr. Luciuk said, "has done more for the Ukrainian Canadian community than any individual I know."

Then it was time to get down to brass tacks. The Kingston-based academic expressed outrage at the CBC's foot-dragging in airing Mr. Luhovy's "Freedom Had a Price." He crowed about the satisfaction he had in rebuking CBC executive Vince Carlin for writing that the documentary would "never be shown" on his network. (It was, in February 1995.)

Dr. Luciuk blasted current Progressive Conservative Party leader Jean Charest (then a government minister) for asserting there would "never be a sign" marking the internment camp sites in Alberta. (Plaques were placed near the Spirit Lake and Castle Mountain sites in the summer of 1995, in addition to those Dr. Luciuk helped secure at Old Fort Henry in Kingston, and in Kapuskasing, Ontario.)

In typically indecorous fashion, given Dr. Augustine's presence at the proceedings, Dr. Luciuk lambasted the Liberal government for having "lied" about the prospects for redress to the Ukrainian community for the internment and expropriations. But he drew applause.

Dr. Luciuk mentioned efforts to have Phillip Konowal, the first Canadian awarded the Victoria Cross, properly remembered (recently reclassified as Ukrainian rather than a Russian at the War Museum in Ottawa). Dr. Luciuk expects Mr. Konowal's grave will be rededicated with a Victoria Cross headstone in late June.

Setting his sights on Ukraine, Dr. Luciuk said that as a result of his trip in 1995, coupled with recent developments, he has learned "Ukraine is not the Ukraine we'd hoped for."

"Ukraine is independent, it is recognized internationally, but it is most definitely not free in terms of its media and its treatment of journalists." Dr. Luciuk added.

Brandishing a February 2 Reuters report, the UCCLA activist said he found it "most shocking" that the Ukrainian government and its intelligence services were cooperating in an international effort to have alleged war criminal Bohdan Koziy extradited from Costa Rica.

Dr. Luciuk denounced the effort as persecution of a member of the diaspora that has helped secure a positive international reputation for the newly independent country. He called for the community to ask Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty pointed questions about the proceedings during his upcoming spring visit to Canada.

In conclusion, the political geographer said the Ukrainian Canadian community must reorient itself to bring itself more in line with current political realities. "The community and the organizations that have survived are very much rooted in the past," Dr. Luciuk said.

"We have left our mark on the landscape," he added, "Now we must begin to take a more active role in shaping it. The community halls we built stand empty, silent monuments to the past."

MP Jean Augustine

It was obvious that Dr. Luciuk and Mr. Luhovy had gotten Dr. Augustine's attention, and she said she would be reporting on the Ukrainian community's concerns to Mr. Chrétien, Sheila Copps (the newly appointed heritage minister) and Hedy Fry (the new secretary of state for multiculturalism).

Of Caribbean ancestry, Dr. Augustine said she sympathized with Ukrainian efforts to "mainstream" their history as Canadians.

"In the debate over the merits of Canadian society, it is apt we talk about the history of Canada," the MP said. "It is important that our history is integrated into the history of the country; we demand and deserve recognition for the contribution we have made to the building of this country."

Congratulating the honorees, Dr. Augustine conveyed the best wishes of the Canadian government and said "Canada is enriched by your commitment to ensure that Canada's history is an integrative history."

CBS issue raised

During the question and answer period that followed, Dr. Luciuk once again turned heads with his graciousness to erstwhile opponents in the community. "When faced with a crisis, we as a community have a perception that the good guys out there in society will do things for us for free and that the [Ukrainian Canadian Congress] and the [Ukrainian World Congress] will take care of it."

"They [the UCC and UWC] are doing the best they can," Dr. Luciuk said. "But we need to put our money where our mouth is, support our organizations, get involved, make your individual voice heard."

He also called on the community to support MWU and "people like Yuriy Luhovy."

The rest of the proceedings focused on response to the catalyst that spurred the formation of MWU - the defamatory "Ugly Face of Freedom" segment of CBS's "60 Minutes," originally broadcast in October 1994.

Mr. Malarek revealed that "Fifth Estate" had been approached with the idea to do a story on "resurgent anti-Semitism in Ukraine," but had rejected it. Dr. Luciuk said the UCCLA had helped make things difficult for the offending broadcaster, since he had offered its services to provide balance to their research, but had received no reply.

In conclusion, Ms. Dmytriw thanked MWU members for their work, the UWC and the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation and Yurij Klufas of Kontakt Television for their support.

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