Year End Musings

By Walter Kish

Another year has come and gone, and as is tradition for most editorial columnists, it is time to look back at some of the highs and the lows, the good news and the bad, as well as the sublime and the ridiculous that has transpired over the past twelve months.

As always, the folly that is Ukrainian politics has dominated the pages of The New Pathway throughout 2007.  The former, once shining “Orange Knight” of Ukraine, President Victor Yushchenko, continued to baffle, frustrate and anger Ukrainians, both here and in the Homeland, with his waffling ineptitude and incomprehensible policies and vision or should I say lack thereof.  The only positive move he made all year was to dismiss a Parliament and Cabinet that was openly emasculating and ridiculing both his power and authority. 

The subsequent elections brought about a tenuous revival of the Orange Coalition which succeeded in winning a majority by the slimmest of margins.  Incredibly though, after winning such a hard fought and needed victory, Victor then proceeded to try and throw it away by once again proposing a “grand coalition” with his nemesis Former Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions minions, showing everyone that his head is not only up in the clouds, but probably stuck on the dark side of the Moon! 

Fortunately, wiser and more determined heads prevailed and Yulia Tymoshenko will get one more chance in 2008 as Prime Minister to start cleaning out the fetid mess that characterizes the Ukrainian government.  One can only hope that Ukraine survives the remaining several years of Yushchenko’s Presidency without too much further damage.  Strong leadership is now more important than ever, as it has become quite clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin is now openly seeking to restore the Russian Empire to its former glory, and that can only mean trouble for Ukraine.

On a more positive note, the Ukrainian economy continues to grow robustly with inflation under control and unemployment abating somewhat.  This is a mixed blessing as most of the benefit has flown not to the toiling and hard-pressed Ukrainian masses, but mostly to the obscenely bulging pockets of an elite, rapacious, oligarchic mafia.  The pillaging of the country’s resources continues, particularly in the coal sector where, it seems, a hundred miners die every few months because the voracious mine owners invest more in their Mercedes and BMW’s than in upgrading the safety of their mines.

Here in Canada, the Ukrainian community continued to be snubbed by the ruling Harper Conservative government on the internment and famine genocide issues, continuing a long tradition of broken promises by all governments in recent decades regardless of their political stripes.  At the same time, Canada’s long established acceptance and support of Multiculturalism as a national ideal is being increasingly questioned by a vocal and reactionary conservative minority.  So far, Canada’s various ethnic communities, including the Ukrainians, have been slow to respond.

Within the UNF, the recent convention elected a new Board of Directors that hopefully will breathe new life into an organization that has been somewhat in the doldrums for the past decade.  Along with a dynamic new and relatively young President in the person of Taras Pidzamecky, a whole slew of new faces from a younger generation of successful and capable professionals were elected that promise to bring new vision and energy to the UNF system of organizations.  A key priority will be the revival and rejuvenation of the youth wing, the UNYF.

On a more personal note, I returned to Canada after spending close to three years in Ukraine, and have discovered that the readjustment to Canadian society, norms and environment are proving to be harder than I anticipated.  My time in the land of my ancestors had a much more profound impact on me than I had anticipated, and I miss it immensely.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my loyal readers wherever they may be.  I have been fortunate to meet many of you at various events over the past year and have been overwhelmed by your kind words and encouragement.  I promise to keep writing this column and hope that it continues to meet with your interest and approval.  As always, I would love to hear from you and you can write to me care of The New Pathway or through e-mail addressed to:  walterkish@hotmail.com.  Merry Christmas and may this new year bring us more good news and good fortune than the past one.