Starr Power

By Volodymyr Kish

This past weekend, the Durham Region Branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress hosted a gala banquet in Oshawa commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the birth of a truly great Ukrainian Canadian – Michael Starr.  Born Michael Starchevsky in the little mining town of Copper Cliff just outside of Sudbury to a poor Ukrainian immigrant family, few would have thought that he would become the most successful and prolific politician of Ukrainian origin that Canada has ever produced.

His schooling was limited to finishing high school in the blue collar manufacturing city of Oshawa, subsequent to which he went to work as a clerk in a metal fabrication plant.  He was interested in politics from an early age and got involved by becoming a translator and liaison person for incumbent politicians in dealing with the large Ukrainian population that had settled in the Oshawa area.

This was during the 1930s, the height of the Great Depression, and Michael was moved to help out those in the community that were victims of the rampant unemployment and poverty that was prevalent at that time.   Through his connections, he got appointed to the city’s Welfare Board and became active in the city’s relief efforts.  Encouraged by his friends and with the financial support of his employer, he ran for City Alderman, losing a number of times before finally being elected in 1944.

From that point his political career really took off.  He was elected Mayor of Oshawa in 1949 and initiated an impressive program of public infrastructure building and expansion that made Oshawa a modern city.  In 1952, he was elected as a federal MP for the Progressive Conservative Party, the first of six consecutive federal election victories.  In 1957, he was appointed Minister of Labour by then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, the first Ukrainian Canadian to ever achieve cabinet rank.  During his tenure he was responsible for a number of significant achievements, including instituting the first minimum wage legislation, and the creation of a nationwide system of vocational community colleges. From 1965 to 1968, after Diefenbaker was defeated, Starr served as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons.

In 1968, he was appointed a Citizenship Court Judge, a position he held until 1972.  In 1973, Ontario Premier William Davis appointed Starr Chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Board.  Over the next seven years, Starr transformed the Board which had been plagued with controversy and a poor reputation, into an effective and service oriented agency.

Throughout his life and regardless of his political stature, Starr made a point of maintaining close ties with the Ukrainian community in which he was raised.  He was head of the Parish Council of the St. John’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Oshawa and was one of the founders and first President of the Ukrainian Professional and Businessmen’s Club in Oshawa.  Shortly after being elected to Canada’s Parliament, he made one of the first broadcasts of the CBC’s shortwave foreign language service in Ukrainian to his compatriots behind the Iron Curtain in Soviet Ukraine.  After Ukraine became independent in the 1991, Starr was instrumental in helping arrange a twinning agreement between the City of Oshawa and the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk.

Michael Starr is as fine an example of Ukrainian Canadian achievement as you will find in the 120 year history of Ukrainians in Canada.  It is proper and fitting that his legacy should be celebrated and the proceeds from the fund raising gala banquet that was held on November 19 will go towards creating a Michael Starr Scholarship at two post-secondary institutions of higher learning in Durham Region – Durham College and University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).  It should be noted that what started out as a Ukrainian event initiated by the UCC, soon mushroomed into a commemoration involving the broader community at all levels – municipal, provincial and federal.  The keynote speaker at the banquet was former Premier of Ontario William Davis, a good personal friend of Michael Starr’s.  As word of the event spread, many notable politicians and dignitaries asked to attend and be included in the ceremonies.  Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was one of the notable speakers at the banquet, as well as our well-known Ukrainian Canadian MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj.

I fervently hope that this is the start of a broader effort by the UCC as well as other Ukrainian organizations here in Canada to recognize the achievements and accomplishments of Ukrainian Canadians in our adopted land.  This is particularly fitting as we approach in 2011 the 120^th anniversary of the first arrival of Ukrainians to this great country of ours.  Ukrainians have made major contributions to Canada’s success and progress and we should ensure that all Ukrainians as well as the broader Canadian community be made aware of their deeds.  Whether it is in politics, sports, culture, literature, academia or the arts, Ukrainians have contributed far beyond their proportion of Canada’s population.  It is time to promote and publicize that fact.

Anyone interested in contributing to the Michael Starr Scholarship Fund should contact the anniversary committee by e-mail: michaelstarr100@gmail.com