CUPP Builds Democracy

By Roman Tashleetsky

For 16 years the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (CUPP) has given students from Ukraine an opportunity to work as interns in the Canadian Parliament. I participated in the program as an intern in 2002 and as a student coordinator in 2003.

The CUPP selection process considers applicants' academic achievements and other accomplishments as well as their geographical location as the program aims to involve students from all over Ukraine. In addition, students with different majors are selected. Thus, not only law or political science students, but also future linguists, economists and managers can evaluate, first-hand, the advantages of a democratic society.

For most students, it is their first time visiting a country abroad, apart from former Soviet countries. Every CUPP session starts with a short stay in Toronto, where students adapt to Canada by living at St. Vladimir Institute.

 I remember the first day I arrived in Canada: it was as a completely different reality. The first thing that struck me was the multi-national character of the population. When I found myself in Chinatown, I felt as if I had visited another country within a city. There’s nothing of the kind in Ukraine!

The city’s financial centre also made a big impression. For me, the magnificent skyscrapers were evidence of a powerful economic life.  I then understood that, compared with Canada, the economy in Ukraine was stagnant, though previously it had seemed to me that it was doing quite well.

Every Ukrainian student also finds the University of Toronto impressive. I was struck by its openness. Everyone was welcome to make enquiries and receive information about the university and to use its facilities, like the internet,  while in Ukraine even students often fail to get necessary information from bureaucratic personnel.

In Ottawa, where the internships take place, students live in a hotel not far from Parliament Hill. Lodging is organized so that students are required to buy food and cook for themselves – it’s a good way to immerse students into Canadian life. Through the experience, students also learn how to budget their weekly stipend reasonably.

When I entered the building of the Canadian Parliament I couldn’t believe it – in Kyiv you are often not allowed to even photograph a governmental building, let alone enter it. We were all then introduced to our “personal” MPs in whose offices we were to work for about two months. It is impossible to overestimate the value of such an experience: it is one thing to observe a country as a tourist, completely another to work daily in an office on different assignments along with other staff members. When you leave the office at 5 pm, you feel like you could easily work in the Ukrainian Rada with more efficiency than the Soviet-type officials who have been wearing out the seat of their pants for decades!

Besides working in the House of Commons, students visit different institutions like the German or American embassies and have meetings and discussions with prominent politicians. I’ll never forget the hearty conversations we had with Ramon Hnatyshyn or the reception at Jean Chrtien’s residence. I even met Victor Yushchenko for the first time in Ottawa.

Of course, we visited Niagara Falls and the CN Tower. More importantly, we visited numerous Ukrainian institutions in Canada and were amazed how well they are organized. Furthermore, students from Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine at last believed that one can preserve one’s native language, even in the third generation.

The alumni stay in contact and meet regularly. We have an internet-list and exchange messages about job opportunities or other news. Often job postings end with the phrase “preferably a CUPP alumni” because employers know those who have completed the program are competent and reliable.

Many alumni have continued their educations abroad; others have found good jobs at leading companies. CUPP gives young people in Ukraine, whatever their future careers, a good start and an insight into the workings of a democratic country.