By Walter Kish

The Canadian Government is once again poised to sacrifice its principles and integrity for the sake of scoring some dubious PR points. I refer, of course, to the sad case of Wasyl Odynsky, the latest victim in the government’s misguided Denaturalization and Deportation process. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has referred the case over to the “Governor in Council” with the recommendation that Odynsky’s citizenship should be revoked and he be deported. This comes at the conclusion of a lengthy investigation headed by Federal Court Justice Andrew MacKay which determined conclusively that there is no evidence "that Mr. Odynsky participated personally in any incident involving mistreatment of prisoners or of any other person during his service".

Despite the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever that Odynsky did anything illegal, the Court concluded that “on balance of probabilities” he may not have been totally honest about his background as a camp guard when he applied to immigrate to Canada after the war. This therefore justifies the revocation of his citizenship. There is of course no evidence or proof that this in fact happened. Odynsky claims he was never asked about the details of his wartime experiences. The prosecution alleged that he must have been asked and subsequently lied, though they have no records or evidence to substantiate this one way or another. What all of this boils down to is that no crime was committed, there is no evidence that any wrong-doing legal or administrative occurred, yet because someone assumes “on balance of probabilities” that something dishonest must have happened, a Canadian citizen with an exemplary life here in Canada is given a life sentence of exile and unwarranted hardship. Bringing justice into disrepute is an understatement as far as this case is concerned!

Aside from the serious infringement of our rights and liberties as Canadians, this case strongly underscores the fact that the Ukrainian community in Canada carries little if any clout with the Canadian government. By contrast, the government’s persistent effort to root out suspected “Nazi” war criminals, is strong testimony to the influence and effectiveness of the lobbying efforts of Canada’s Jewish community. I cannot but admire their zeal and dedication in seeking justice for their cause.

But what about justice for the millions of Ukrainians that died as a result of the genocidal efforts of Russian Communists? Will the Canadian government devote the same amount of effort at rooting out from amongst the tens of thousands of Russian immigrants to Canada, former KGB officers and apparatchiks that were responsible for the oppression, imprisonment and deaths of Ukrainians over the past eighty years? Even closer to home, what about justice for the thousands of Ukrainians that were robbed of their assets and imprisoned in Canadian concentration camps during the First World War because of thinly veiled bigotry that labeled them as “enemy aliens”?

Unfortunately, justice here is selective; it goes first to those with money, power and influence. The Jewish community knows how to marshal these assets to achieve their goals. The Ukrainian community sadly, does not.

The Canadian government can safely ignore what protest does emanate from the Ukrainian community in Canada, because it knows that the community is divided and cannot organize any significant coordinated, political action. It knows also that those organizations such as the UCC or the UCCLA, despite the quality of their leadership and the reasoned, well crafted protests that they may publish, is representative of only a small activist minority of all those Canadians of Ukrainian descent.

Until these organizations can gain the support, trust and involvement of that vast mass of second, third and fourth generation of Ukrainians born in Canada, they will have little influence or clout with the political establishment in Ottawa. Gaining that support and involvement will require a different type of leadership and significantly altered priorities from that currently found in the elitist and ideologically bent Ukrainian organizations of today. Sad to say, until we start focusing on becoming and acting like a united community, we will continue to be victimized.