By Walter Kish

Another year comes to an end, and I am trying hard to avoid the tendency common to most publications of reviewing the events of the past twelve months and attempting to predict what the new year will bring. I do not wish to add to the tidal wave of year-end reflections and “Man of the Year” journalistic clich?s.

As I sit down most weekends to write this column, I usually do not have much difficulty in selecting an issue upon which to comment, or pontificate as my wife prefers to see it. Events within Ukraine or the Ukrainian community here in Canada provide more than ample grist for this editorial mill. However, Christmas is a good time to take a break from serious politics, issues, crises and critical analysis.

As Christmas approaches, my wife and kids usually ask me to provide them with a Christmas gift wish list to make their holiday shopping easier. I would like to extend this concept and provide you with my own personal, irreverent and absolutely biased wish list as a concerned, Canadian-born Ukrainian:

I wish that that all those older Ukrainian nationalists would bury the hatchet, relegate the Melnykivtsi-Banderivtsi conflict to history and unite the UNF and League organizations into one inclusive organization.

I wish that all Ukrainian organizations that own those old halls, cultural centres and other buildings would sell off these assets, combine their resources and create useful and functional multi-purpose, Ukrainian community centres.

I wish that the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches would stop perpetuating the irrelevant and unnecessary differences that keep them apart, and unite as brothers and sisters of one God and one faith.

I wish that all those well to do, successful second and third generation Ukrainian professionals would devote even a fraction of what their Jewish counterparts do towards supporting their cultural heritage and helping their “homeland”.

I wish that all Ukrainian organizations in Canada would make it a priority to develop and run effective and interesting Ukrainian language courses for adult Ukrainian Canadians that do not speak the mother tongue.

I wish that the all those self-righteous Ukrainians that speak the language perfectly would resist putting down those of us who for whatever reason are not fluently bilingual, yet still want to be part of the Ukrainian community in whatever form.

I wish that all those who were once active in our Ukrainian youth organizations and have since disappeared, would forgive and forget old grudges, hard feelings and resentments and return to help revitalize the parent organizations.

I wish that our brothers and sisters in Ukraine would stop putting up with self-serving and corrupt politicians and kick the bums out in the next election.

I wish that we would stop being so deferential, supportive and respectful to all those “reformist” and “democratic” Ukrainian politicians that come over here and start holding them accountable and responsible for the disunity and anarchy that make the progressive political forces in Ukraine so ineffective.

I wish that the established Ukrainian organizations here in Canada would do more to welcome and help the newest wave of Ukrainian immigrants feel and become an active part of the community.

I wish that the Ukrainian community out there would realize the value and importance of a strong Ukrainian press (especially a bilingual Ukrainian-English one) and would both subscribe in greater numbers as well provide sufficient financial support to keep it relevant, modern and strong.

Lastly I wish that The New Pathway was profitable, had money in the bank and that I didn’t have to worry where the money was going to come from to pay the next payroll.

I thank you all for allowing me to speak my mind in this column over the past year, and for your many letters both complimentary and critical. Dialogue and an honest exchange of views are vitally important to any society. A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!