Ukrainian Heritage Day
at the Provincial Legislature
By Walter Derzko
September
6 (TORONTO) – In 2011 the Ontario Provincial Legislature declared
September 7, as the first Ukrainian Heritage Day. And once again, on
this warm, sunny, early fall day, the Ukrainian community in Ontario
gathered to celebrate the third annual Ukrainian Heritage Day on
Friday, September 6th, 2013, exactly 122 years, on
September 7 when Ivan Pylypiw and Vasyl Eleniak first arrived in
Canada from Ukraine.
The celebration was chaired by the MC, Steve Andrusiak, the president of the Ontario Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). The festivities were opened by prayers from both Catholic and Orthodox priests, a presentation of bread and salt and music from Dmytro Bilan and bandurist sensation, Borys Ostapienko, which was heard throughout the hour-long event.
Oksana Rewa, the Toronto Branch president of the UCC introduced the Consul General of Ukraine in Toronto Anatoliy Oliinyk, one of over 200 Ukrainian diplomatic representatives abroad. Oliinyk stressed from the start that the Ukrainian diaspora represents Ukraine in the world and has a key role to play, as much as the official diplomatic core and brought warm greetings from the Ukrainian government on the occasion of Ukrainian Heritage Day. He noted that the Ontario government acknowledges the strong contribution of Ukrainian immigrants in the development and growth of Ontario and Canada. As he spoke, cold borsch and korovaj bread was passed around to the audience.
Next
Liberals, Donna Cansfield – MPP Etobicoke Center and Dipika Damerla
– MPP Mississauga East-Cooksville brought greeting from the Premier
of Ontario. “Those of Ukrainian decent have deep roots in our
community,” read Kathleen Wynne’s message.
Donna Cansfield, reminisced about her own Ukrainian roots, stressing today that we are celebrating the contribution of our seniors, welcoming our new immigrants, educating our children, especially about the Holodomor and everyone else gets to be Ukrainian for a day.
Provincial NDP, MPP Cheri DiNovo, from Parkdale-High Park, echoed previous greetings and sentiments about the importance of the Heritage Day Bill and the Holodomor Bill, which was the first unanimous, tri-party bill in Canadian history. “So Ukrainian are still making history,” emphasized DiNovo. She then thanked the thousands of Ukrainians in her riding and the many that came before across Canada for “making this country, for creating the Canada we know, for farming the prairies, for adding to our culture, for serving in our armies and for fighting for freedom. You have done all of that, both as Canadians, as Ontarians, as Torontonians and as members of my riding. It was one of the first ridings that Ukrainians came to when they came to Canada and were welcomed here, without having to leave culture and language behind and were able to keep that culture and pass it on. It’s so Canadian of you and so Ukrainian of you. In so many cultures, it’s more of a melting pot then it is a mosaic. Celebrate yourself and thank you for teaching us.”
MP
Ted Opitz, the Chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship
Group, and MP Wladislaw Lizon from Mississauga East-Cooksville spoke
next, bringing greetings from the Prime Minister of Canada. “The
Ukrainian community is one of so many communities in Canada but you’d
be hard pressed to find one that has contributed so much to the
Canadian fabric in terms of science, history, sports and so many
other areas, so you have a lot of reason to be very proud.”
reaffirmed Opitz. He then reminded the audience that the Honorable
John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, offered medical treatment
for Yulia Tymoshenko in Canada, the week prior, at Ukrainian
Independence Day celebrations at Centennial Park.
After Dr. Marko Robert Stech read three short poetry extracts, Dr. Marta Dyczok, Associate Professor at the department of History and Political Science at Western University in London, Ontario, reflected on growing up Ukrainian on Ontario.
“On this wonderful day, we are celebrating our heritage, but what do we see around us? We see governments who use chemical weapons against their own populations, we see governments who imprison people who hold different political views or choose alternative life styles. And we are so fortunate to live in a society based on democracy, tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism. Those of us who are part of the Ukrainian community here, are part of the larger community, whether it was someone like me, who was born and raised here, had the opportunity to study here; my mother, who came as a immigrant, or my nephew, who is just beginning to think what to do with his life. We have all benefited from the values that this society is based on and we have also contributed to these values. It’s an interactive process,” said Dyczok. “We also face a challenge….should we focus on what we do here in Canada or focus on Ukraine? I think we have to do both,” concludes Dyczok. “We have so much to offer and so much to learn from people in Ukraine. Our cultural heritage is enriched through contacts. “
Also
Marek Jozef Goldyn from the Polish community and the European Club of
Canada, offered personal greetings near the end of the program.
After the celebrations, MC Steve Andrusiak invited all the attendees to come inside the Provincial Legislature for a reception, hosted by the Liberal Caucus. As part of the 50th anniversary, St Vladimir Institute on 620 Spadina, continued the celebrations with an open house in Friday afternoon, followed by a BBQ on Saturday Sept 7th. An enthusiastic crowd showed up on Saturday, despite the rain and were entertained by songs sung by the Kosa Collective and bandurist Borys Ostapienko.
PHOTOS
L. to R.: Iven Choly, Stefan Andrusiak, Fr. Mykola Sidorskyj and Fr. Michael Loza
1 – L. to R.: MPP Donna Cansfield, MP Ted Opitz, MP Wladislaw Lizon and former MPP Yuri Shymko with the Ukrainian community
2 – Bottom Row L. to R.: Lesya Sawchuk, Daria Hryckiw, Olya Sheweli, Marta Dyczok, and MPP Dipika Damerla; Top Row L. to R.: Walter Kish, Marko Robert Stech, Stefan Andrusiak and Anatoliy Oliinyk;
3 – Kosa Collective sings at St Vladimir Institute on Sept 6th
4 – Fun activities on Sept. 7th at St. Vladimir Institute’s BBQ
5 – Bandurist Borys Ostapienko