Klein Signs Agreement with Lviv Oblast

LVIV–Alberta’s Premier Ralph Klein, during his recent mission to Ukraine, signed an agreement on cooperation with the Governor of Lviv oblast Petro Oliynyk on June 19.

At the signing ceremony, Klein announced the establishment of an Alberta-Ukraine genealogical research project, which will enable over 300,000 Albertans of Ukrainian ancestry to access their family records in Ukraine without having to leave Alberta.

The agreement provides for the opening of a Centre of Genealogical Research at the M. Rylskiy Ethnology Institute in Lviv, which will conduct research on Ukrainians who settled in Alberta.

“Over 100 years people originating from Ukraine have been living in Alberta. People want to know their background. This is the reason behind the decision to open the centre,” said Klein in an interview with Ukraine’s Kommersant newspaper.

Over three years, $200,000 will be allocated for the centre’s work.

Other programs for enhancing ties between Alberta and Lviv announced in the agreement include scholarships for student exchanges between Canada and Ukraine and a program for the development of the Ukrainian language in Alberta.

The two provincial leaders also discussed the possibility of cooperation in energy conservation and assistance to small and medium-sized business and with municipal-service reforms.

Governor Oliynyk said, in an interview with Kommersant, that a favourable investment climate for Canadian investors should be created. “We intend to further develop an agricultural development program.  In particular, we would like to expand the farmer-experience-exchange program,” said Oliynyk.

Alberta is reportedly interested in finding ways to enhance the training of a workforce for its oil industry.

A day later, Premier Klein was scheduled to travel to Ivano-Frankivsk to meet with local officials and open a photo exhibition in Ivano-Frankivsk at the Museum of Regional Ethnography. The exhibition, which features materials from the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, focuses on the first wave of immigration from Ukraine and the role of Osyp Oleskiv.

Premier Klein was accompanied on the mission by Alberta's Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky.

Alberta has a long history of involvement with Ukraine through its participation in agricultural and other business programs and exchanges.

In 2004, Alberta’s exports to Ukraine were worth $1.6 million and have fluctuated around the $1 million mark annually. Imports from Alberta to Ukraine averaged $10 million between 2000-2004, consisting mostly of iron and steel pipes, metals and minerals, and sports equipment.