By Walter Kish

At the recent national convention of the Congress of Ukrainian Canadians, there was a particularly interesting presentation made by statistician Oleh Wolowyna, of Informed Decisions Inc. analyzing Canadian census data from 1971 through 1996 insofar as it relates to Ukrainians and the prevalence of the Ukrainian language in Canada.

Some of the data confirmed much of what we already know, namely that Ukrainians as an ethnic group have shrunk in relative terms as a percentage of the total Canadian population, and that usage or knowledge of the Ukrainian language has dropped dramatically over the decades. Although, some 1,026,470 Canadians reported at least partial Ukrainian ancestry in the 1996 census, between 1971 and 1996 there was a drop of 42.9% (from 580,660 to 331,680) in persons identifying themselves as being of Ukrainian ethnic origin. In effect, fewer Canadians recognize themselves as “Ukrainians” regardless of the extent of their roots.

The statistics relating to the Ukrainian language are even more dramatic. Between 1971 and 1996 the number of people claiming Ukrainian as their “mother tongue” fell from 309,860 to 159,084, while those reporting Ukrainian as the primary language used in the home fell from 144,755 to 40,455. In 1971, of all those claiming Ukrainian ethnic origins, some 25% also reported Ukrainian as the primary language of the home. By 1996, this had shrunk to 12%. More important, the median age of those identifying Ukrainian as the primary language of the home in 1996 was 64. Of all persons of Ukrainian ancestry under 30 years of age or less, only 2 % declared Ukrainian as their mother tongue. Bottom line, knowledge and usage of the mother tongue among Canadians of Ukrainian origins is rapidly becoming negligible, particularly among the younger generations.

For Ukrainian organizations, there are two ways of looking and dealing with these statistics. We can be fatalistic and assume that assimilation is an established fact, that the Ukrainian community as such will eventually disappear, and there is not much we can do about it, or, we can learn the appropriate lessons and change our focus, strategies and programs to take these cultural, linguistic and demographic realities into account.

There is after all, some encouragement to be drawn from these statistics. While it is true that only some forty thousand Canadians actively use the Ukrainian language in the home, there are still over a third of a million Canadians who still see themselves as being “Ukrainian”. They obviously still attach some importance and value to their ethnic roots and properly approached and cultivated could be active members of our Ukrainian Community.

Few of this group are currently members of existing Ukrainian organizations, and I would submit that they are not for two main reasons. First, they lack Ukrainian language capability, and Ukrainian is still the dominant working language of most of these organizations. For this reason, it is imperative that all our broad-based Ukrainian community organizations become fully, functionally bilingual.

Secondly, the organization’s activities and programs are not relevant to their needs and interests. Most second and third generation Ukrainian Canadians are primarily interested in the preservation and development of the Ukrainian identity and culture here in Canada. Their focus is more on artistic, cultural, educational, social, recreational, business and sporting pursuits within a Ukrainian context than on the political agendas that tend to dominate most organizations current activities.

If we are to attract and keep these people in our organizations, we must focus more of our efforts on the “bread and butter” activities and programs that make belonging to any club or organization enjoyable and personally rewarding. Belonging to the UNF or any other Ukrainian organization should be fun and not just a patriotic “duty”. Our Ukrainian halls should become multi-purpose facilities with services, resources and attractions that will draw people in on an on-going regular basis, because they want to come and not because they have to. For too long being Ukrainian has been a cross we have had to bear, rather than something we could enjoy and celebrate. It is time to change our perspectives and priorities and adopt a different approach towards how our organizations should run.