President Yushchenko in Canada

[sjoyce]

May I just say how pleased we are that President Yushchenko and his wife are visiting Canada. He was a great hit in our parliament, receiving a long standing ovation. They have been well received wherever they have gone, and last night in a ceremony in Ottawa received the Holodomor torch after it had traveled across our country.
He brought a large entourage, who are consulting with our various ministries on ways we can help our great friends in Ukraine. There are over 1.2 million Ukrainian Canadians in Canada second only to the diaspora in Russia!!! Keep to your chosen path. It can be tough, but worth the work!

[bm-21Lemko]

very true, most ukrainians immigrated to the U.S. and Canada. If i'm not mistaken Canada has more ukrainians outside of ukriane than any other country.

Do you have a lot of ukrainian communities in your city or town?

[stepanstas]

I like Canada, so silent yet so good at everything. Just wanted to mention it.

If i am not mistaken durring the elections most spectators came from Canada.

[sjoyce]

Canada has a very large community of Ukrainian people. Family members who emmigrated to the U.S. were encouraged to shorten their names. In Canada we just learned how to pronounce them, and we learned to love pyrogy, borscht and other delecasies. Canada has many outstanding Ukrainian people. Our Governor General (representative of Queen Elizabeth) was Ukrainian. I live in western Canada and we have been very diligent in remembering our heritage and customs. A beautiful replica Ukrainian village has been built outside Edmonton depicting village life when the first settlers came here. Our young people have been taught the old songs and dances. The tradition lives on.

Yes, Canada sent many election observers. We were also the first western country to recoginze Ukraine independence. And so hopefully we move forward in a positive way. Right now my friends are volunteering to bring medicine and supplies into 50+ villages. All of the team are Ukrainian Canadians. They are able to help the villages their ancestors came from.

[is5512]

I *saw* that village (I drove to Alaska when I was a beardless boy) and it is Awesome! As is what you're doing. My hat's off to you.

[Kathy]

Originally Posted by sjoyce

In Canada we just learned how to pronounce them, and we learned to love pyrogy, borscht and other delecasies.

That isn't exactly 100% accurate. There was a great deal of prejudice against Ukrainians in Canada, even into the early 1960's.

But, there was a difference in the pattern of emigration to Canada. When Ukraine's first immigrant, Ivan Pylypiw, went back to Ukraine to gather his family, he started telling other Ukrainians they would receive a quarter section of land, for free, on emigration. He thought it was a good idea for whole villages to emigrate, so that the immigrants would not be lonely. Ivan was jailed by Polish authorities for about six months for sedition, as the "pans" were not happy at losing this cheap labour. That is how whole villages ended up emigrating. So, for a long time, in the regions of northeastern Alberta, whole towns were Ukrainian, and that is how the language was preserved. Every town had at least one church, sometimes two - a Catholic/Uniate and Orthodox Church. The iconography in these churches is amazing. Sadly, as demographics have changed, many of these churches are in disrepair. There is now a book on the lost churches of this region, as many of the churches may not survive.

Most of the preservation of Ukrainian culture in Canada is attributable to post WWII emigres, particularly priests. Almost all Ukrainian dance in Canada is a direct result of the work of Vasyl Avramenko. In Alberta, almost all of today's Ukrainiain dance can be traced back to the work of Chester Kuc, who was a leading figure in starting dance programs and one of Avramenko's students.

[Kathy]

Originally Posted by is5512

I *saw* that village (I drove to Alaska when I was a beardless boy) and it is Awesome! As is what you're doing. My hat's off to you.

My great, great grandfather's house is in that village.


The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village Guided Tour