U.S. Holodomor Committee Webinar Series. March 15, 2021. 7 PM ET Join Professor Lubomyr Luciuk for his reading and commentary. Register for this webinar at https://bit.ly/304Vkyv

Join the Canmore Museum Book Club in a virtual conversation with guest speaker Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, and an expert on Internment of Canadian Ukrainians during the First World War. Join the Canmore Museum on January 14th, 2021 at 4 PM MT and 6 PM ET. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/stories-of-canmore-topic-deep-dive-tickets-133482424525

THURSDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2020 5:00 P.M. (MST) 7:00 P.M. (EST) Zoom registration (click here) The lecture will be also live-streamed on the CIUS Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/canadian.institute.of.ukrainian.studies) Professor Lubomyr Luciuk will discuss How People Live in Soviet Russia: Impressions from a Journey, Mendel Osherowitch's account of his visit to Soviet Ukraine in 1932 at a time when millions of Ukrainians were dying of starvation. Professor Luciuk edited the volume, newly translated from the Yiddish, which has been described as "one of the most penetrating and moving accounts of daily life in Ukraine during the famine." Sponsored by the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta) and the Writers' Union of Canada.

UCCLF For immediate release (Calgary, June 19, 2020) On Saturday, June 20, 2020, Canadians will mark the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of the internment operations of Ukrainian and other Europeans that began during the First World War and continued for nearly two years after the war ended. More than a century ago, thousands of “enemy aliens” were arrested, then herded into camps scattered across this country, from Halifax, N.S., to Nanaimo, B.C. The internees were forced to do heavy labour for the profit of their jailers, and suffered other state-sanctioned indignities, not because they had done anything wrong, but because of who they were and where they had come from. All this month, culminating tomorrow, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil liberties Foundation (UCCLF) and the broader Canadian Ukrainian community have hallowed all victims of this injustice. To help commemorate, UCCLF spearheaded a postcard campaign reaching thousands of Canadians, recalling the internment operations and calling attention to the importance of this date, and it has also placed informational advertisements in the national news media to help educate and commemorate the event to the broader Canadian public. Commenting, UCCLF’s chairman, Borys Sydoruk, said: "Six years ago, we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the start of internment operations in Canada with CTO, where we unveiled 100 plaques across the country." “This year, we remember the 100th year since the final prisoner, unjustly arrested in a country to which he or she was invited, was finally paroled. On Saturday, June 20, 2020, please join us in remembering these men, women and children. Only in knowing and learning from Canada’s darker historical episodes can we help prevent future such injustices from happening again.”

For immediate release (Calgary, May 1, 2020) Given the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic in England and around the world, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation (UCCLF) and its partners have postponed the unveiling of a memorial stained-glass window in London, originally scheduled for May 8, 2020 – the 75th anniversary of V-E (Victory in Europe) Day. Over the past several years, the UCCLF team has worked hard to ensure that the service and sacrifices of the thousands of Ukrainian Canadians who served overseas during the Second World War, and Ukrainians who did likewise in the armed forces of the other Allied powers, would be recalled on this historic date. Commenting, UCCLF’s chairman, Borys Sydoruk, said: "Obviously, we are disappointed at not being able to witness the unveiling of this commemorative stained-glass window on May 8. Other possible dates are now being considered, public health and safety considerations permitting. In the meantime, we will be reaching out to surviving veterans and their families by mailing some 3,500 postcards across Canada and internationally, calling attention to the importance of this date and the contributions of Ukrainian Canadians in uniform. We have also organized publication of a half-page notice in the May 8 edition of The Globe and Mail, recalling how these men and women volunteered for service overseas, demonstrating their loyalty to Canada by defending our way of life. Some veterans then remained in Europe for several more years, helping to save Ukrainian Displaced Persons (DPs) from forcible repatriation to the Soviet Union. Those victims of Nazi and Communist tyranny were eventually resettled across the free world, helping to strengthen the Ukrainian diaspora we are part of today, whether we live in England, the USA, Australia, western Europe or here in Canada. And many of us are the children and grandchildren of the very same political refugees these Canadian Ukrainians rescued. Simply put, we would not be here today if it were not for the men and women in uniform who saved the DPs. So, on May 8, the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, V-E Day, we call upon our friends and supporters across Canada, and indeed around the world, to remember the Ukrainian Canadians who were the 'heroes of their day'." For more information about the Heroes of their Day project, or to donate in support of this initiative, please go to: https://www.ucclf.ca/heroes-of-their-day The artist's image of the commemorative stained glass window to be installed at St. James's Parish, Paddington, London, England, once conditions allow.

Kingston, Ontario — Andriy Shevchenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Canada, honoured a local man and unveiled a piece of art celebrating the Kingston Ukrainian community in Kingston on Friday. Lubomyr Luciuk, 66, a professor of political geography in the department of political science and economics at Royal Military College, received the Cross of Ivan Mazepa, a state award of Ukraine, at a reception Friday evening at the River Mill Restaurant. The presidential award is given out to citizens or non-citizens of Ukraine for significant contributions to the revival of national interests such as cultural, artistic, spiritual, architectural, military and historical heritage, among other contributions. Luciuk, who was born in Kingston, is the 103rd recipient of the medal since it was first awarded in 2009. “It’s a high honour,” Luciuk said in an interview. “It was unexpected. I had no idea it was coming. I was quite taken aback and pleasantly surprised.“It’s meant to recognize people who made outstanding contributions to promoting the Ukrainian cause generally.” Mazepa (1639-1709) was a Ukrainian political statesman and military leader. He was also head of the Cossack State in Left-bank Ukraine. He fought for the independence of Ukraine and in the late 17th century and early 18th century led a revolt against Moscow. “The cross being named after him really recognizes people who contribute to the ongoing struggle to preserve Ukraine’s independence, whether articulated or defended,” Luciuk said. “This was a serious individual who recognized that Ukraine had to fight for its freedom.” Luciuk has also defended Ukraine’s right to freedom and independence through the years through his many books, newspaper commentaries and public appearances on the subject. He’s also organized dozens of projects across Canada and overseas focused on the political geography of Ukraine in the 20th and 21st centuries. Luciuk has been behind such projects as securing funding in 2017 for a memorial walk at Loos-en-Gohelle, France, honouring Cpl. Filip Konowal, a Ukrainian Canadian soldier of the First World War whose valour at the Battle of Hill 70 earned him a Victoria Cross. Luciuk also oversaw the unveiling of the world’s first English, Ukrainian, Hebrew and Yiddish plaque in New York City, in 2018. He also worked to secure official acknowledgement and symbolic redress for Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914 to 1920, leading to the creation of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, which supports dozens of educational, cultural and commemorative projects across Canada, including a permanent exhibit within Fort Henry. He’s also written 31 books on Ukrainian history and its people’s plight. “I was born in Kingston, my parents were political refugees, so they inspired me and my sister (Nadia) and many others to never forget where we came from,” Luciuk said. He said Ukrainians came to Kingston to enjoy the freedom that Canadians enjoy and set up roots in the Limestone City. “The Ukrainians who came here, whether they were economic migrants or political refugees, were struggling to achieve the same thing for Ukraine,” he said. The country has been independent since 1991 but is still fighting against Russia to protect its independence. “One of my life’s works has been to make sure that books about Ukraine are available,” he said. Luciuk helped publish accounts of Ukrainians who survived the Holocaust, the famine and other struggles they faced. “I’ve had lots of support, lots of friends and colleagues that have worked, everyone from my sister and my daughter Kassandra to the people I’ve worked with (from) the Ukrainian-Canadian Civil Liberties Association and others too many to mention,” he said. “I wouldn’t be who I am if it hadn’t been who my parents were.” On Friday at 4:30 p.m. in City Hall, Shevchenko revealed the sculpture Enduring Roots, created by artist Nick Leniuk of Peterborough. The sculpture depicts an oak tree and its roots spreading in the ground. “The sculpture shows strong and mutually supportive roots sustaining a tall and growing tree whose branches spread all about and above, recalling how the Ukrainians who began immigrating to Kingston over a century ago were nourished by their Christian faith (symbolized by the stylized Ukrainian cross), by their cultural and political heritage, and through their commitment and loyalty to this country,” Luciuk said. “Whether they arrived in Kingston as economic migrants, or found asylum here as political refugees, they all made Canada their ‘home and native land’ and this city their own.” Carved in stone, the sculpture is mounted on an oak base, surrounded by a carved wooden frame. The sculpture was commissioned by the Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston to mark the 50th anniversary of the Lviv, Ukraine, pavilion at Folklore and the 50th anniversary of the Ukrainian Maky Dance Ensemble while underscoring how a small Ukrainian Canadian community has existed in Kingston for well over 100 years. “Overall, this sculpture speaks to our community’s endurance and to its strong and healthy roots while recalling the many different paths our people took to come to Kingston and make this city our home.” https://www.thewhig.com/news/local-news/ukrainian-ambassador-bestows-honour-unveils-sculpture-in-kingston

Ottawa, November 29, 2019 It is with regret that we bear witness to the continued activities of Holodomor deniers in Canadian society, individuals who insist that genocides like the Holodomor or the Holocaust are nothing but hoaxes, fabricated by one or another group for political purposes. Despite all the eyewitness testimony, contemporary news articles, international commission reports, and ample documentary evidence culled from the archives of Great Britain, The Vatican, Germany, Romania, Poland and post-Soviet Ukraine, confirming not only that the Holodomor happened but was, in the opinion of Dr Raphael Lemkin, “the father of the UN Genocide Convention”, a “classic example of a Soviet genocide against Ukraine,” there exist “useful idiots” who pretend otherwise and indulge in defamatory, provocative, unfounded and illiberal speech, then hide behind their right to free speech. We remain committed to protecting the right to free speech in Canada. That said we call upon those who donate to The University of Alberta to reconsider whether they wish to support an institution that provides employment for an individual who has indulged not only in the defamation of a former Chancellor of that institution, and other graduates, but has, with his words, mocked the memory of the millions of victims of a Stalinist genocide and their descendants.

Ottawa, November 2, 2019 UCCLA Board Member, Borys Sydoruk, was awarded the Taras Shevchenko Medal for Community Development, the highest form of recognition that can be granted by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Mr. Sydoruk received this award at the Ukrainian Canadian Congress XXVI Triennial Congress Award Ceremony in Ottawa on November 2, 2019. The Shevchenko Medal recognizes individuals of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian descent, as well as institutions and organizations, for their outstanding national contribution towards the development of the Ukrainian Canadian community. Outstanding achievement is measured by the recipients’ level of excellence and initiative, their sustained body of work, peer recognition and the recipients’ broad impact inside and outside the Ukrainian Canadian community. Shevchenko Medals may be awarded in the categories of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Education, Sport, and also in the category of Public service. Borys Sydoruk played a vital role in the campaign for recognition and redress of Canada’s First World War Internment Operations and has overseen the installation of many historical markers and statues across Canada that raise awareness about internment. He has made significant contributions to national and international campaigns on Holodomor awareness, and facilitated campaigns to honour and promote the legacy of Ukrainian Canadian war heroes. Alexandra Chyczij, UCC National President awards Borys Sydoruk with the Taras Shevchenko Medal.

For immediate release (St. Paul, Alberta -- Edmonton -- Ottawa: September 30, 2019) Members of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation (UCCLF) and its activist counterpart, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA), on Sat. Sept. 28 unveiled Canada’s newest monument dedicated to remembering the country’s first national internment operations, in St. Paul, Alta. Titled 21 Strands, the monument is unique, composing not just a trilingual educational (English-French-Ukrainian) plaque, but also an image of internees standing behind 21 horizontal lengths of Canadian barbed wire. Well over 100 people attended the unveiling ceremony, presided over by Caroline Yewchin from the local Ukrainian community. Among those who spoke or laid wreaths were St. Paul Mayor Maureen Miller, Chairperson of Champions for Change Penny Fox, a representative of the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, as well as delegates from the Edmonton Chapter of the League of Ukrainian Canadians. Special thanks to Rev. Fr. Peter Haugen of the All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and Fr. Andrij Nykyforuk of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church. “We’re very pleased with the evocative appearance of the monument, as well as the local turnout for the unveiling,” said newly elected UCCLF chair Borys Sydoruk. “I’d like to thank the St. Paul community, particularly Dr. Amil Shapka and his son Tanis for their extraordinary efforts in making this monument possible. We couldn’t have done it without them and so many others, and we hope to do similar educational and commemorative projects throughout Kalyna Country, and elsewhere in Canada.” Members also discussed near future initiatives, including a project title "Heroes of Their Day," which will honour the Ukrainian Canadian men and women who volunteered for overseas duty during the Second World War, some of whom helped rescue and settle Ukrainian displaced persons from war-torn Europe to Canada. This project will involve the unveiling of a commemorative stained-glass window in London, England in the spring of 2020. The public is invited to financially support this project and others by donating at www.ucclf.ca For more information, please contact info@uccla.ca

For immediate release (St. Paul, Alta., Edmonton, Ottawa, September 12, 2019) The All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Champions for Change, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA), and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation (UCCLF), invite you to attend the official opening of a new educational and commemorative exhibit marking Canada’s First World War internment operations. Located about a two-hour drive northeast of Edmonton, the site at St. Paul commemorates the four internment camps located in Alberta: Jasper, Munson (near Drumheller), Castle Mountain/Banff and Lethbridge. Spread across 24 camps across Canada, more than 8,000 men, women, and children, primarily Ukrainians invited by the Dominion government to settle the West, were unjustly interned as enemy aliens from 1914-1920 under the War Measures Act, their possessions taken, and not all returned. They and 80,000 others were forced to register semi-regularly with authorities. They suffered, not because of anything they had done, but because of where they had come from. Many long remained “in fear of the barbed wire fence.” The event will take place Saturday, September 28 at 11 a.m. (MT) at Lagasse Park in St. Paul, Alberta. (Driving directions). Following the unveiling, at 1p.m., UCCLA’s Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk will present on the internment operations, in the cultural centre of the All Saints Orthodox Church, 5601 – 51 Street. UCCLA worked collaboratively with Amil Shapka of the All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Town of St. Paul and others to create the new permanent exhibit, which features statues of interned men behind barbed-wire fencing, as well as interpretive panels. “There cannot be reconciliation without education,” said UCCLA’s Borys Sydoruk. “We are grateful to the hard work by the volunteers in this community and from across Canada in helping plan, design, create and consecrate this important memorial. The exhibit will educate as well as emotionally remind visitors to the park what happened in Canada a century ago, to minorities like Ukrainians and others, when the government implemented laws based on fear and hysteria and directed it at specific ethnic groups.” The affected communities included Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Croatians, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Italians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Serbians, Slovaks, Slovenes and others, of which most were civilians. Schedule of Events (subject to change) Opening Ceremony, 11:00 a.m., Lagasse Park, St. Paul, AB National Anthems Opening Remarks: Caroline Yewchin, Master of Ceremonies Consecration of Monument: Rev. Fr. Peter Haugen, All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church, St. Paul, AB Fr. Andrij Nykyforuk, Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Paul, AB Remarks: Maureen Miller, Mayor, Town of St. Paul Penny Fox, Chairperson, Champions for Change Borys Sydoruk, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation Laying of Wreaths: Town of St. Paul; St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Men’s Club; Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association; Affected communities Closing Remarks: Caroline Yewchin, Master of Ceremonies Complimentary Lunch Immediately After the Ceremony: All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Cultural Centre, 5601 – 51 Street, St. Paul, AB, (sponsored by the St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Men’s Club) Presentation at 1 p.m.: “Why we need to remember Canada’s first national internment operations:” Prof. Lubomyr Luciuk, Royal Military College, Kingston, ON For more information about UCCLA, please email media@uccla.ca, or visit: www.uccla.ca Twitter Facebook PO Box 57022 Somerset West PO, Ottawa, Ont., K1R 6P0 The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (L'Association ukrainienne-canadienne des droits civils) is a non-partisan, voluntary, non-profit research and educational organization committed to the articulation and promotion of the Ukrainian Canadian community's interests and to the defence of the civil liberties and human rights of Ukrainians in Canada and elsewhere.

UCCLA Media Release: Ottawa (13 July 2019 - For Immediate Release) The General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation has declared the Toronto-based World Congress of Ukrainians to be an undesirable organization. Founded in the USA, in 1967 (and then known as the World Congress of Free Ukrainians) the website of the Ukrainian World Congress describes this non-governmental organization (NGO) as being a coordinator of the Ukrainian diaspora worldwide. The UWC’s current president is Paul Grod, a Toronto-based lawyer, formerly president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. A law on “undesirable organizations” was signed by the Russian Federation's Vladimir Putin in May 2015. Any NGO that, in the opinion of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, or his deputy, represents “a threat to the security of the state and the constitutional framework,” can be categorized as undesirable and prohibited from being active in the Russian Federation. After being listed as “undesirable” an NGO's accounts are frozen, all of its branches must be closed and violators of this law are subject to fines of up to 500 thousand Russian rubles ($10,000 Cdn) as well a period of imprisonment of up to eight years. Over 2 million Ukrainians are currently found within the borders of the Russian Federation, the third largest nationality after the Russians and Tatar source: https://ukrainian.voanews.com/a/svoboda-russia-recognised-world-congress-of-ukrainians-as-unwanted-organization/4996440.html?fbclid=IwAR2oq-HbVsfniHGw3ZCvbmcxwLeRavHH438bIaqCuks2fqmyJxFn8zHvd4Y For more information, please contact the Ukrainian World Congress: uwc@ukrainianworldcongress.org http://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org

For Immediate Release (Yoho, B.C, Calgary, Ottawa, 24 June 2019) A trilingual educational plaque and commemorative statue were unveiled and consecrated Saturday, June 22, 2019, to the civilian internees held in Yoho National Park’s internment camp during the First World War. More than 125 people from Calgary and the surrounding community in the British Columbia Interior attended the unveiling, near the Natural Bridge in the Park. The UCCLA, in co-operation with Parks Canada, as well as with the support of the Ukrainian community of Calgary and the region, unveiled a trilingual (English, French, Ukrainian) plaque and on the site where, from 1915 and 1916, some 200 men, mostly East and Central Europeans and mostly Ukrainians, were unjustly interned as enemy aliens under the War Measures Act. At the same time, the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund (CFWWIRF) unveiled a statue by sculptor John Boxtel, of an internee titled “Last Man Standing.” Consecrating the plaque and statue were Rev. Fr. Dr. Timothy Chrapko of St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Sobor, (Calgary), and Fr. Greg Faryna of St. Stephen Protomartyr Ukrainian Catholic Church, (Calgary). “The UCCLA has, over the decades, been steadfast in its commitment to memorialize each and every ‘concentration camp’ created by the government of the day,” said UCCLA’s Borys Sydoruk. “With thanks today to the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, as well as Park Canada, the statue and plaque consecrated in the heart of this country’s national parks system in Yoho means our work in permanently memorializing every site is ongoing, but successful.” Some 90,000 civilians were part of the machinery of Canada’s first national internment operations from 1914 to 1920, whether they were arrested, interned, dispossessed of their wealth, made to work, or forced to regularly register with the police. Yoho was the site of one of 24 internment camps in Canada, which housed more than 8,000 men, and in some cases women and children, during the First World War and for two years following, simply for being born or for having parents who were born in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The majority of those interned were Ukrainians, which were invited by the Dominion government to settle this country, and which the British government in London suggested were “friendly” aliens and recommended against interning. Canada went ahead anyway. UCCLA worked collaboratively with the CFWWIRF and the Government of Canada to create the new exhibit after the previous on the same site required extensive upgrading. The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (L'Association ukrainienne-canadienne des droits civils) is a non-partisan, voluntary, non-profit research and educational organization committed to the articulation and promotion of the Ukrainian Canadian community's interests and to the defence of the civil liberties and human rights of Ukrainians in Canada and elsewhere. For more on UCCLA, please go to: www.uccla.ca www.twitter.com/uccla www.facebook.com/TheUCCLA PO Box 57022, Somerset West PO, Ottawa ON K1R 6P0