Walter Kish

I am getting ready for my third annual meeting as President of this newspaper, and I cannot help but pause and reflect upon the events that have occurred during my tenure and the lessons I have learned. The experience has had both positive and negative aspects, though I have absolutely no regrets in having accepted this role in the first place.

I can look back and without hesitation, make the claim that the paper is a much better publication than it was three years ago in terms of quality, content, variety, relevance and value. The changes have been both significant and, according to the majority of the feedback, overwhelmingly positive. I do not discount the fact that the changes we have made have troubled some readers, particularly the few who have taken exception with the fact that we have introduced significant English language content into what used to be a “Ukrainian” paper. Though I can empathize with their concerns, I am convinced that in the context of current demographics, it was a necessary step to take if we are to be at all relevant to the vast majority of native-born Canadian Ukrainians who are not fluent in the Ukrainian language.

The statistics have proven this assumption to be valid – since the introduction of English content, the paper has succeeded in reversing a decade-long continual and significant annual decline in subscribership, and resulted in actual positive growth in new subscribers for the past two years. Although this growth has been modest, and insufficient in itself to reverse the paper’s deficit financial position, it has given reassurance to those of us that don’t believe that the decline and disappearance of this paper is inevitable. There is hope and there is a future for Noviy Shliakh.

The biggest lesson I have learned, is that the time has now passed when a Ukrainian newspaper here in Canada, or anywhere in the diaspora for that matter, can survive and thrive on subscriber and advertising revenue alone. Indirect government support of the ethnic press through generous advertising programs disappeared with the government’s “Multicultural” programs. Established Ukrainian organizations whose members one provided a solid loyal base of subscribers, are dying out. The traditional support base for Ukrainian newspapers is rapidly eroding away.

Ethnic newspapers can not, and should not be seen any longer as a “profit and loss” business, but as a vital and necessary part of an ethnic community’s cultural, political and educational infrastructure. As such they should be supported and subsidized by their respective communities.

Much as the CBC serves a vital and important function in fostering a sense of unity and community within Canada, so a newspaper such as Noviy Shliakh serves as a catalyst in preserving a sense of identity and fostering cultural and political awareness within the Ukrainian community in Canada. Without Ukrainian newspapers giving it a voice, the Ukrainian community in Canada would have little respect or influence in the country’s affairs or any kind of significant role in the social, cultural and political evolution of Canadian society.

Newspapers, properly utilized, can transcend generational, religious, ideological and even linguistic differences and become a powerful tool for preserving a community’s unity and coherence, stimulating positive change and development, and educating its readers on the effects and implications of both local and global events on their personal lives.

This paper has been a true “labour of love” for myself and a small number of dedicated individuals, who have devoted countless hours and much energy pro bono to rejuvenate it and give it a future. Yet it pains us to know that, despite the fact that the financial capabilities and potential of the large Ukrainian community in Canada are significant, the amount donated to support and assist as worthy a cause as this paper is minimal. Most contributions come from a handful of people and a few of the branches within the UNF system. Where are the bequests, endowments, and trusts? Where are the generous patrons and philanthropists that other ethnic communities seem to generate in significant numbers? Why does the Ukrainian community value its newspapers so little?

Without a change in attitude and appreciation, within the next five to ten years there will be no Ukrainian newspapers left in Canada. Let us not allow that to happen.