UCCLA – Canada's Ukrainian community has welcomed the launch of a major new community development tool, the web site of the national executive of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, located at <http://www.ucc.ca>

Launched on 25 December 1999 the site is already being extensively used by members of the community, media and government. It consists of ten separate sections, one of which, what is the Ukrainian Canadian Congress? Is immediately available, with another nine to come on line over the next several months. There are also two very useful LINKS sections, one to the UCC's six provincial councils and several branches, the other to additional sources of information about Ukraine and the Ukrainian Canadian community.

Commenting on the launch of this new UCC web site, the chairman of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Mr John B Gregorovich, said: " We are delighted that Lydia Shawarsky, the national executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, has seen this project through, and that the UCC has now followed UCCLA onto the Internet. We have always believed that there are many Canadians of Ukrainian heritage who, while they may not necessarily belong to any of the formal or traditional groups in our community, nevertheless wish to be informed about the projects and issues that we are working on, perhaps to get involved or otherwise give support. As well, given the ignorance that we have so often endured when we have tried to explain what our positions are on various issues, like redress, or bringing war criminals to justice, or educating Canadians about why there should be an inclusive Canadian Museum of Genocide in our nation's capital, the existence of this site, which anyone anywhere in the world can get to at any time, will make it impossible for anyone to say that they could not find out where we stand. This site, linked to UCCLA's, which is located at http://www.infoukes.com/uccla/ will be yet another important source for authoritative and up to date information on what concerns our community has, and what positions it is taking. We urge all MPs, Senators, the media, government, students and the general public to bookmark these two site. Turn to them regularly for accurate information on our views. We believe that the Ukrainian Canadian community of the 21st century will, in very many respects, finally be able to act in a co-ordinated fashion at the local, regional, provincial, national and even international levels because of the empowering nature of the Internet. Today we are witnessing the beginnings of the future of the Ukrainian Canadian community."