Harper Holding Back 10-year-old Plan to Build Ukrainian Museum

Edmonton Community has Worked Diligently, but still Lacks Federal Support

By Borys Wrzesnewskyj

Edmonton Journal, March 21, 2010

It has been more than 10 years since plans were announced to provide Edmonton with a museum that could truly do  justice to the deep historical imprint of the Ukrainian-Canadian communities in our country. Over that time, elected representatives from all levels and political parties have expressed nothing but support for such a worthy project. Yet here we are, 10 years later, with all the will in the world and indeed a great deal of the money required to build this museum, but there’s just one missing partner in the final push to get the job done: Stephen Harper’s government.

It’s hard to understand why the federal government has not stepped up to support the cost-effective and innovative plan for the Ukrainian Museum. By choosing the Lodge Hotel and Brighton Block properties on Jasper Street, the site of a former hotel that is almost a century old, and by moving forward with an award-winning design, the new museum would contribute greatly to the economic vitality of the downtown core and honour Edmonton’s architectural heritage.

Above all, the Ukrainian Museum would, at long last, accord the appropriate respect to a community that did so much to make Edmonton into the city it is today, and played a critical role in nation building by settling Canada’s Prairies.

The Harper government’s absence is puzzling when you consider the level of dialogue and the fundraising initiatives for the museum that have occurred over the years. The board members of the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum of Alberta (UCAMA) have done their level best to keep the momentum going for financial support, but after a decade of work and successful events, it is getting more difficult to go back to those organizations that have been so kind and supportive in the past, such as the Koziak Family Foundation, the Servus Credit Union and the Ukrainian Bookstore. Consider the generosity of individuals like renowned artist Peter Shostak, who donated $100,000 worth of his prints for sale in support of the building fund, or Natalka Yanitski and members of her family, who sponsored a “mini-window” in memory of her husband Walter.

All of these gestures are powerful reminders of the deep cultural memory of the Ukrainian Canadian experience  here, and it should serve notice how much this new museum means to the community. These donors and the Ukrainian Canadian community can justifiably ask why such a worthy project is meeting with these intransigent delays.

They need not look to the city, of course. Mayor Stephen Mandel and his city council know full well the crucial role this new museum could play in the city’s ongoing economic and cultural development. They also understand that the museum, with its plans to bring in Ukrainian artefacts from Europe, will attract an entirely new audience and broaden the network of visitors to Edmonton from around the world.

The Province has done its part as well, bringing the museum to the cabinet table and ensuring that funding was secured with a three million dollar grant. Such a strong gesture of support was instrumental in the city council approving matching funding, which in turn made it easier to seek an additional $5 million endowment fund to help defray operational costs.

So the question that naturally comes to mind here is - why the stonewalling and delays from the federal government?

As Nestor Makuch, Vice President of UCAMA’s founders said, in his keynote speech for UCAMA’s thirty-fifth anniversary dinner, “Our time has come not merely to serve as custodians of their work, but to carry our heritage proudly into the future. It is time to see our legacy not only as Ukrainian Canadians, but as part of the larger fabric of Canadian society. We helped to build Edmonton and Alberta into what they are today, and we will continue to build for tomorrow.”

To Mr. Makuch’s words all I would add is that this is important for Ukrainian Canadians across Canada, for Ukrainian Canadians were not only the builders of Edmonton and Alberta.

As a community, we also helped build Canada. It is why federal leadership and support is so vitally important for Edmonton’s Ukrainian Museum, which would document the contributions of another of our great country’s “founding peoples.” Last year, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff affirmed that the Liberal Party of Canada is committed to providing the federal funding required so that the story of the Ukrainian pioneers is told through the museum’s collection of artefacts and archives. Today, I speak for the Liberal caucus when I state that our Leader’s commitment is unanimous and strongly seconded by all members of our caucus.

Borys Wrzesnewskyj is the Liberal MP for the Toronto-area federal constituency of Etobicoke Centre