Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies receives grant for legislative education (05/26/96)

Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies receives grant for legislative education

EDMONTON - Canadian Cabinet Minister Anne McLellan announced on April 12 that the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta would receive a total of $2.2 million as the Canadian agency responsible for planning and implementing the Canada-Ukraine Legislative Education Project. The funding will be delivered through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

At a press conference held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Minister McLellan remarked that the CULE Project "is intended to support continuing economic and democratic reform in Ukraine by strengthening the decision-making capacity of that country's legislative and executive institutions" in order to develop "effective reform-oriented legislation and policies."

During the three-and-a-half-year term of the project, customized educational programs in six policy- or legislative-related areas will be organized for up to 120 Ukrainian legislators and government officials. The minister noted that the governments of the three prairie provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as the Speaker's Office of Canada's House of Commons, support the project and will participate in organizing workshops for the Ukrainian officials, among whom are members of Ukraine's Parliament and Cabinet of Ministers, members of their staffs, legal experts and local government officials.

The educational programs will be organized around policy or legislative themes indicated as priorities by Ukrainian participants in areas where Canada can make specific contributions. Training in two policy- or legislative-related thematic areas will be undertaken each year. A total of six training programs will be conducted over the project's lifetime.

The project originated with the recognition that democratic and market reforms in Ukraine would depend in large part on the polices followed by the Ukrainian government and the types of laws passed by Ukraine's Parliament, the Supreme Council. Much reform legislation still remains to be developed in order to support the development of a democratic, law-based state and market economy in Ukraine.

For instance, in the area of economic legislation, many laws remain to be passed that would stimulate economic activity in Ukraine, including foreign investment. Minister McLellan noted at the press conference that "the legislative and structural weaknesses within Ukraine's economic sector are cited time and again by Canadian firms as major barriers to economic investment in that country."

In Ukraine, CIUS's partner in managing the project will be the International Center for Policy Studies (ICPS). The ICPS, whose board of directors is chaired by Dr. Bohdan Krawchenko, former director of CIUS, is an independent, non-profit organization that was established by presidential decree in 1993 to assist the Ukrainian government in developing and implementing a market economic reform program. In its management duties, the ICPS will work closely with the Council of Advisors (COA) to the Parliament of Ukraine, whose board of directors is chaired by Dr. Bohdan Hawrylyshyn, professor emeritus and former director of the International Management Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.

The COA, which was created by the Presidium of the Supreme Council in March 1991, comprises 11 international personalities from Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States, who advise Ukraine's Parliament on legal and economic matters as well as on international politics.

The total cost of the CULE Project is estimated at $4 million, of which the largest part - $2.2 million - will be contributed by CIDA. The balance of $1.8 million will be raised through the support of individuals, corporations and foundations, as well as through in-kind contributions from the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, Ukrainian partners, the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as the Canadian Parliament's Speaker's Office and non-governmental bodies.

The project was developed by CIUS with input and support from provincial and federal politicians. Laurence Decore, MLA for Edmonton-Glengarry, the chair of the board of directors that will advise the CIUS on the project as well as facilitate contacts between government, community organizations and private-sector institutions that may wish to participate in the project, noted that the successful culmination of the preparatory work on the project required high levels of cooperation across party lines in Canada.

The board of directors includes Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats and Independents, and is composed of the following individuals: Stanley S. Schumacher, MLA for Drumheller and speaker of the Alberta Legislative Assembly; David Kilgour, MP for Edmonton Southeast and deputy speaker of the House of Commons; Len Derkach, minister of rural development, Manitoba; Raynell Andreychuk, senator for Regina, Saskatchewan; Walt Lastewka, MP for St. Catharines and chair of Parliament's Canada-Ukraine Friendship Association; Mr. Decore (chair), MLA for Edmonton-Glengarry; Ed Stelmach, MLA for Vegreville-Viking and deputy whip; Myron Kowalsky, MLA for Prince Albert-Carlton, Saskatchewan; Andrew Beniuk, MLA for Edmonton-Norwood; Wilson Parasiuk, international consultant with Quorum International of Vancouver; Dr. Hawrylyshyn; Michael Zwack, counsel for Ogilvie and Co. of Calgary; Ihor Bardyn, counsel for Mitchell, Bardyn and Zalucky of Toronto; Bohdan Onyschuk, counsel for Smith, Lyons, Torrance, Stevenson and Mayer of Toronto; and Dr. Zenon Kohut, director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta.

For more information on the project contact: CULE Project, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E8; (403) 492-4341 or 492-2972; fax: (403) 492-4967; e-mail: cius@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca.

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