Category Archives: canada

Conservatives calling for ‘national folklore costumes’ at rallies

Last month, Conservative MP Jason Kenney was caught using ministerial letterhead to raise money by targeting areas for the ‘ethnic vote’, now Etobicoke-Centre Tory’s campaign staffers for Tim Opitz have been e-mailing:

“Do you have any cultural groups that would like to participate by having someone at the event in an ethnic costume? We are seeking one or two people from your community,” the email signed by Zeljko ‘Zed’ Zidaric said.

The email stated that the Etobicoke Centre campaign was seeking to create a “photo-op about all the multicultural groups that support Ted Opitz our local Conservative candidate and the Prime Minister.”

“The opportunity is to have up to 20 people in national folklore costumes which represent their ethnic backgrounds,” the email said.

Ted Opitz’s campaign spokesperson Patrick Rogers confirmed that Zidaric is a campaign staffer.

The email quickly drew criticism as it made the rounds on blogs and via emails on Wednesday.

Mouamar compared the photo-op to asking people to come to “a Halloween party.”

The Conservative government cut off more than $1 million in funding to the Canadian Arab Federation after the president expressed “hateful sentiments” toward Israel and Jews, according to then immigration minister Jason Kenney.

“So suddenly now we exist as props for a photo op?” said Canadian Arab Federation president Khaled Mouamar. “This is hypocrisy.”

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the Liberal incumbent who has represented the west-end Toronto riding since 2004, said he was stunned to learn of the email.

“It’s really unfortunate,” said Wrzesnewskyj. “My goodness, we’re not in the 1950s here… Canada is a global village and Toronto is especially so.”

The Conservative Party has aggressively courted the ethnic vote in hopes of wresting ridings from the Liberals and gaining a majority. Outreach efforts have been spearheaded by Kenney.

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Etobicoke-Centre has been a Liberal immigrant-concentrated riding for quite some time:

About 44 per cent of the riding’s residents are immigrants. Most come from Europe, specifically from the eastern and southern parts of the continent. However, almost half (47.7 per cent) of Etobicoke Centre’s most recent immigrants hail from Asia and the Middle East.

Since 1993, Etobicoke Centre has been decisively Liberal. Incumbent candidate Borys Wrzesnewskyj has served as MP since 2004, and in 2008 defeated Conservative contender Axel Kuhn by more than 10 percentage points. The Wrzesnewskyj-Kuhn race had been identified by Stephen Harper as one that could see a Conservative breakthrough. This time around, Wrzesnewskyj will face Conservative candidate Ted Opitz, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Canadian military. Also in the race are Ana Maria Rivero for the NDP and Katarina Zoricic for the Greens.

Weekend watching: Ukrainian dancing doc in Roncesville & Bigfoot in Ukraine

Saturday at 4pm at the Revue Cinema of Roncesville (just south of Dundas West TTC station), UNF is showing an encore of the Ukrainian dancing documentary Folk!:

Folk! is a documentary that explores the unique underground and acrobatic world of Ukrainian folk dancing through the eyes of narrator/filmmaker Roxy Toporowych. Featuring the legendary ballerina and choreographer Roma Pryma Bohachevsky and the Syzokryli Dance Ensemble of New York, “Folk!” is relevent to anyone trying to balance ties to one’s heritage and culture. Also featuring the Virsky National Dance Company of Ukraine, the Kashtan School of Ukrainian Dance in Cleveland and The Voloshky Dance Ensemble of Philadelphia, Folk! is the first film to be a joyful embracement of Ukrainian culture and dance in North America today.

You can get more information on their Facebook page

Also a quirky video coming out of the internets, as someone in Ukraine claims to have identified the legendary Big Foot:

MSN doesn’t allow embedding of their videos, click the picture to go to the video

September 7th is Ukrainian Heritage Day in Ontario

Members of Provincial Parliament from the Liberals, Conservatives and NDP made into law September 7th as Ukrainian Heritage Day in Ontario, in honour of the 120th anniversary of Vasyl Eleniak and Ivan Pylypiw – the first Ukrainian immigrants to Canada in 1891. There are now over 360,000 Ukrainian Canadians in Ontario, over 1.2 million in all of Canada:

A private member’s bill introduced by Cambridge MPP Gerry Martiniuk has been passed into law. The bill proposed that Sept. 7 be proclaimed as Ukrainian Heritage Day.

Bill 155, An Act to proclaim Ukrainian Heritage Day, was co-sponsored by Donna Cansfield, MPP for Etobicoke Centre, and Cheri DiNovo, MPP for Parkdale-High Park.  It got unanimous support from all members present in the legislature.

In prefacing his remarks in Parliament, Martiniuk dedicated the bill to his parents Timko and Helen Martiniuk.

“My mother was born here, but my father moved here and became a Canadian citizen. Both were very proud of their Ukrainian heritage,” he said.

The first official Ukrainian immigrants arrived in Canada on Sept. 7, 1891. Today, Ontario is home to more than 336,000 Ukrainian Canadians.

Read the article

You can read the entire bill here:

Bill 155 2011

An Act to proclaim Ukrainian Heritage Day

Preamble

The first official Ukrainian immigrants, Vasyl Eleniak and Ivan Pylypiw, arrived in Canada on September 7, 1891. Soon afterwards, Ukrainian immigrants began arriving in Ontario in larger numbers and today Ontario is home to more than 336,000 Ukrainian Canadians. There are over 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian descent across the country.

Many Ukrainians fled their homeland to find freedom from oppression and a better life in Canada. Both Ontario and Canada, by way of the Holodomor Memorial Day Act, 2009 and the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day Act (Canada), have recognized the genocide by famine that occurred in Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 under the Soviet Communist regime of Joseph Stalin. On August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian parliament declared Ukraine as an independent democratic state from the Soviet Union. Canada was the first nation in the Western world to recognize Ukraine’s independence.

Ontarians of Ukrainian descent have left and continue to leave a historic mark on our province. Their contributions span communities across Ontario and are reflected in our economic, political, social and cultural life. Ukrainian Canadians have played an important role in the development of Ontario into one of the most desirable places in the world to live and have contributed to making Canada the great country that it is today. It is important to recognize and celebrate these contributions.

Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Ukrainian Heritage Day

1.  September 7 in each year is proclaimed as Ukrainian Heritage Day.

Commencement

2.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

3.  The short title of this Act is the Ukrainian Heritage Day Act, 2011.

 

92 year-old Ukrainian Canadian track star Olga Kotelko made famous again on BBC

Looking for Olga’s interview on the CBC’s Sunday Edition?

The BBC is running a video on 92 year-old Saskatchewan track star Olga Kotelko – the oldest long jump competitor in the world, holding 23 world records and considered one of the world’s greatest athletes:

BBC doesn’t allow embedding of their videos, click the picture to go to the video

We last heard from Olga when we covered her as an Olympic Torch bearer in Vancouver’s Winter Games last year. At around 1:17 in the video, she mentions her parents are Ukrainian.

Here’s a quick run down of the Women’s world records she holds:

  • 200 metres
  • High Jump – 2
  • Long Jump
  • Triple Jump – 2
  • Shot Put
  • Discus Throw – 3
  • Hammer Throw – 3
  • Javelin Throw – 2
  • Weight Throw
  • Throws Pentathlon – 2
  • 4×100 metres relay

It’s also worth nothing her birthday is March 2nd, 1919 – making her 92 and not 91 as the BBC article states, which I wasn’t at all impressed with:

perhaps most remarkable is that most people Olga’s age consider it an accomplishment – and exercise – simply to be breathing in and out

I hope it’s not a sign to come as the BBC deals with massive cuts.

Founder of the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre, Wasyl Janischewsky, passes away at 86


Sad news as the President and founder of the UCRDC which researches and documents the Holodomor and other notable Ukrainian causes, passes away in Toronto at 86 years old:

Janischewskyj, an internationally recognized scientist and authority on lightning strikes, the long arm of Toronto’s landmark tower became his laboratory. He’d stroll or cycle along city streets between the tower and his office at the University of Toronto, this keen-eyed, lanky man with his signature goatee and wispy grey locks peppering the air behind him. He even had “sky” in his name. He died on Feb. 16 after a brief illness. He was 86.

Wasyl Janischewskyj was born Jan. 21, 1925, into a Ukrainian émigré family of professionals living in Prague. His mother, Hanna Janischewskyj, was an accomplished physician who was also active in the Ukrainian women’s movement.

His father, Ivan Janischewskyj, was an engineer and lieutenant-colonel in the Ukrainian army. His grandfather had been deputy minister of health in the government of the Ukrainian National Council and his grandmother had a PhD in history.

His family was committed to Ukrainian statehood and on the run from Stalin.

In 1982, Janischewskyj took a surprising leap into historical research. He and two other Ukrainian-Canadian men wanted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Holodomor, or artificial famine, imposed by the Soviet regime in 1932 and claiming seven million Ukrainian lives.

As founder and long-time president of the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre in Toronto, he contributed significantly to gathering archival materials including oral histories, memoirs, photographs, and government documents.

He also worked on two internationally acclaimed films: Harvest of Despair, about the forced famine, and Between Hitler and Stalin, detailing the plight of Ukrainians caught and struggling between these two dictators during the Second World War.

“[Janischewsksyj] was a product of émigré circumstances,” said historian Oriest Subtelny. “He was born in Prague but very committed to Ukrainian statehood … he has always remained true to that, but at the same time he was a very objective and productive scholar.”

Janischewskyj retired from the university at age 65 because they made him. But he never stopped working. His son, Markel, visited his father at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital a few weeks ago. “Call me at the university,” said Janischewskyj. Reminding him that he was actually in the hospital, his father eyed a sheaf of files and with a smile said, “Yes, yes, as I said – call me here at my office at the university!”

With an unquenchable thirst for reading, Janischewskyj got through the entire Stieg Larsson Millennium series last month, said his daughter, Roxolana Martin. And on his birthday they moved a couple of card tables into the hospital room for an impromptu bridge tournament. He won.

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