UCPBF announces winners of 2001 Nation-Building Awards (09/30/01)

UCPBF announces winners of 2001 Nation-Building Awards

OTTAWA - The Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation (UCPBF) has announced the four winners of the 2001 UCPBF Nation-Building Awards. They are: Dr. Dmytro Cipywnyk, in the category of Friend of Ukraine; James Temerty, in the category of Business Achievement; Alexis Kochan, in the category of Professional Achievement; and Leon Kossar (posthumously), in the special category of Lifetime Achievement.

The Nation-Building Awards, inaugurated at the 1997 UCPBF Biennial Convention in Calgary, were created to recognize the contributions of Canadians in building Canada through their local, national or international endeavors, and are presented every two years at the biennial convention of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation. Previous recipients of the Nation-Building Awards include: Lloyd Axworthy, minister of foreign affairs; Roy Romanow, premier of Saskatchewan; Ivan Fecan, president, Baton Broadcasting; and Jon Tomas, past president, Ukrainian Canadian Students Union (SUSK).

Dr. Cipywnyk is a Sakatoon psychiatrist retired from active practice who is currently the chairman of a Cabinet-appointed Advisory Committee on Saskatchewan-Ukraine Relations. The committee works closely with the Saskatchewan government, the community, and business and professional sectors in advancing Saskatchewan/Ukraine projects.

Significant successes have been achieved in Ukraine's agricultural sector where a beef and forage project is expanding into the development of a national extension/support service based on the Saskatchewan model. Dr. Cipywnyk's committee also played a key role in developing medical/nursing curricula for Ukraine and has, with the cooperation of three Ukrainian and three Saskatchewan ministries, developed a model for a national health system for Ukraine. This model has been highly acclaimed by the World Health Organization, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and Ukraine's neighbouring countries, which would like to use the model for their own health systems. Dr. Cipywnyk's committee has also been active in supporting the joint production of documentary and other films by Saskatchewan and Ukrainian film companies.

Dr. Cipywnyk has served as president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Canadian Ethnocultural Council and the Ukrainian World Congress. In the latter capacity he successfully promoted working relationships between Ukrainians in the diaspora and the newly independent Ukraine.

He has also been honored with an Order of Canada Award, the Ukrainian President's Award, and the Golden Trident Award from the International Association of Ukrainian Business People.

Ms. Kochan, was born and raised in Winnipeg. A powerful artist and producer of Ukrainian music, she excavates ancient songs from the deepest layers of Ukrainian tradition and, along with her ensemble, Paris to Kyiv, breathes new life into this old music.

Her live performances have been recorded for broadcast by CBC Radio and Television, by WNYC in New York City and WGBH in Boston. Her music is played regularly on the CBC, the BBC and National Ukrainian Radio. Television and film rights to her music have been recently acquired by the CBC for "Canada: A People's History" and by the popular television series, "Psi Factor."

Ms. Kochan has been presented in concert across Canada and the United States - from the ruins of a Trappist Monastery on the Canadian prairies to the du Maurier theatre in Toronto, from Symphony Space in New York City to the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. She will tour Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, in the fall of 2002.

Numerous Canada Council Grants have helped Ms. Kochan continue to produce her unique "Canadian" music. Recently, she was awarded a juried prize to assist her to set up a comprehensive Internet presence (alexiskochan.com), which has had 150,000 visits in the first year of operation.

Besides masterclasses and workshops about the Ukrainian folk song, which she conducts regularly, one of Ms. Kochan's most important projects is titled "Night Songs From a Neighboring Village" which is a concert program exploring the commonalities and contrasts between Ukrainian and Jewish music and musical traditions. To date, "Night Song" has been performed in New York City, Toronto, Hollywood and Berlin.

Mr. Temerty was born in Ukraine and came to Canada with his parents after World War II. His active participation in the affairs of the Ukrainian Canadian community as a student and young adult in Montreal and throughout his life makes him a perfect role model for young Canadians, whatever their heritage.

He started his career at IBM Canada, rising to the position of vice-president. His subsequent move into his own computer business led to his ownership and management of the largest group of Computerland stores in the world. His next move was to become president of Northland Power, one of Canada's independent electrical power producers, with plants in Iroquois Falls and Kirkland Lake.

While building his business empire, he still managed to find time to work on the Darnytsia power plant in Kyiv and other plants in the Czech Republic and Turkey, and on other undertakings in China, Colombia and Venezuela.

He contributes generously to institutions such as St. Demetrius Care Center in Toronto, Canadian Ukrainian Opera Association, Children of Chornobyl Nadia Project,Kyiv Conservatory Choir, and the Kyiv Vydubychi Chorus. Finally, because of his business position in Canada, he was able to influence the Royal Ontario Museum to bring the Scythian art exhibit from Ukraine to Canada earlier this year.

Mr. Kossar (1929-2001) was born in Saskatoon, on February 11, 1929, two years after his parents arrived from western, Ukraine. His father was president of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada for many years. Thus, Mr. Kossar grew up in a home which was the nerve center of the federation, with all its attendant dynamics.

He was a co-founder in 1968 of Toronto's International Caravan, a festival of the city's different cultures. Rather than concentrating the festival pavilions in a single location, the pavilions, each named after a well-known city, were dispersed throughout Toronto. Caravan became an instant cultural and commercial success, attracting at its height more than 50 pavilions and 2 million visits. Mr. Kossar and his wife, Zena, worked as a team to ensure the commercial and cultural success of Caravan as it had become known.

The idea for the Caravan festival may have had its origins in 1967, when Mr. Kossar was drafted from his employment at the Toronto Telegram to assist in planning Canada's Centennial Celebrations which were carried out at Expo '67 and throughout Canada, spotlighting Canadian diversity. Starting in the 1950s he produced some major shows for television and the Canadian National Exhibition, where he created the memorable Nationbuilders Extravaganza. He served on the board of the National Arts Center in Ottawa, was a founder of the Canadian Folk Art Council, and was a co-producer of the Canadian Arts and Cultural Program at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

Mr. Kossar, through his promotion of Canada's diverse cultural heritage, has made substantial contributions to national unity and pride. He was a role model for future generations of Canadians. Mr. Kossar died on August 4.

The National-Building awards will be presented at a special awards ceremony to be held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Penthouse Gallery) at 7 p.m. on October 4. This celebratory evening will be one of the special events of the 2001 Convention of the UCPBF.

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