Ethnocultural council leader expects more from new officials (03/03/96)

Ethnocultural council leader expects more from new officials

by Andrij Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - Canada's Secretary of State for Multiculturalism Sheila Finestone and Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy were both demoted from their Cabinet posts in Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's mid-term executive shuffle in late January.

But the Canadian Ethnocultural Council and its president, Dr. Dmytro Cipywnyk, are not sad to see them go. They expect better things from Hedy Fry, who takes over from Ms. Finestone, and from Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps, who has already made her mark as the new heritage minister by giving Canada's global broadcaster, Radio Canada International, a reprieve from the chopping block.

Dr. Cipywnyk said that although Ms. Finestone always insisted she strongly represented the concerns of Canada's "ethnic" or non-French or Anglo-Celtic population in Cabinet, in public it was quite a different matter.

However, the CEC president, who recently announced he will step down later this year to concentrate on his work as president of the Ukrainian World Congress, conceded that Ms. Finestone's low-key approach could have been part of the initially non-confrontational federalist strategy prior to the Quebec referendum of October 30.

The entire Liberal government was evasive on questions of multiculturalism, for fear of alienating French Quebeckers, Dr. Cipywnyk said. But he pointed out that this led to certain inconsistencies when the "no" to separation side won by about one percent.

"[Before the referendum], they asked us to stay quiet," Dr. Cipywnyk said, "After, [Ms. Finestone] asked us why we hadn't spoken up, gotten more involved."

As the veteran community leader related, "We protested that we had been told to keep a low profile, say nothing." When Ms. Finestone asked, "Who told you to do that?" the assembled ethnocultural activists answered: "You did."

Dr. Cipywnyk told The Weekly that Ms. Finestone had always been "willing and available for meetings" but as a result of the government's drift away from a commitment to multiculturalism, they were rarely if ever touched with agreement.

Dr. Cipywnyk said Ms. Finestone presided over drastic cuts in funding for the CEC, in which over 100 organizations are represented. The CEC president recalled that Ms. Finestone would often repeat that the federal government no longer wished to support "unicultural organizations," that made up the CEC, such as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, as it had in the past.

"That's not such a bad idea," he conceded. "It should send both the CEC and many of its member-organizations back into their communities to look for hard support."

On the other hand, he is happy that the CEC's position paper, "The 42 Percent Solution: Making Equality a Reality," prepared in response to the federal government's decision to formally define its multiculturalism policy, will now land on Ms. Fry's desk.

"I think Ms. Fry may have a better sense of the broader ethnic community in Canada than her predecessor," Dr. Cipywnyk said. He was recently given reason to confirm his optimism, as Ms. Fry was the keynote speaker at a conference called "Ethnocultural Diversity: A Source of Competitive Advantage," held February 15-16 in Toronto.

Dr. Cipywnyk said the CEC had, as of early February, made no plans to contact federalism's new point man, Prof. Stéphane Dion, the new minister for intergovernmental affairs.

"We struck a Unity Committee to deal specifically with the issues arising in the aftermath of the referendum, notably the singling out of the 'ethnic' vote [by former Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau], but we haven't prepared a specific strategy that we could present to Dr. Dion yet," the CEC president said. "But it's definitely a good idea. We should strike while the iron is hot."

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