UCCLA Delegates Disappointed over lack of Redress Settlement

Delegates from across Canada and a special representative of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB), Volodymyr Muzyczka, gathered in Montreal, September 28-30, for the eighth annual conclave of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA). Many UCCLA members voiced their dismay over the lack of any significant progress on securing a redress settlement despite the government’s legal obligation to negotiate, as provided for by Bill C 331 – the Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Act, which received Royal Assent November 25, 2005. Letters were posted to the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and to the Hon. Jason Kenney, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, expressing the Ukrainian Canadian community’s disappointment over this situation.

Delegates also were informed about the resignation, August 20, 2007, of Mr. John B. Gregorovich, from the post of UCCLA’s chairmanship. In comment, the newly-elected chairman, Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, said: “Mr. Gregorovich has served the Ukrainian Canadian community for decades with great skill and intelligence and has been responsible for many of our successes over those years. He was one of the initiators of the Ukrainian Canadian redress campaign. Understandably frustrated over the lack of any real progress, John decided that he can no longer lead the UCCLA’s ongoing campaign to secure justice in this matter.”

Other issues discussed included the launch of a campaign aimed at securing information about the presence of alleged Soviet war criminals in North America, providing educational information about the genocidal Great  Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine to school children in Ukraine, further exposing the complicity of New York Times journalist, Walter Duranty, in covering up the Holodomor Famine Genocide, and planning for the installation of additional internee plaques across Canada, with the next one planned to be unveiled in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Working with the British Ukrainian community, UCCLA also intends to initiate several projects in the UK to honour the Ukrainian Canadian men and  women who served overseas with the Allied forces during the Second World  War.