UCCLA Media Release Ottawa - For Immediate Release (25 May 2007) The Ukrainian Canadian community has welcomed the Government of Canada's announcement that Wasyl Odynsky will not be denaturalized and deported, despite a decade of unfounded allegations about his wartime activities. In a 2001 ruling, Federal Court Judge W Andrew MacKay reaffirmed that Mr Odynsky had never been a Nazi and that there was no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on his part during the German occupation of Ukraine. Despite those findings Mr Odynsky still faced the prospect of being denaturalized and deported because it was alleged that he must have misled immigration screening officials when he resettled in Canada after the war, concealing his role as a sentry at the Trawniki labour camp. Mr Odynsky repeatedly swore that he was never asked about his wartime service, had been press-ganged into an auxiliary guard unit, and was never involved in a war crime. By all accounts he has lived an exemplary life in Canada. Commenting on the Canadian Cabinet's decision, Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, director of research for the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said: " Previous Liberal governments ignored our community's principled position on dealing with the alleged presence of war criminals in Canada. We have always insisted that any and all war criminals found in Canada, regardless of their ethnic, religious or racial origin, or political beliefs, should be brought to trial in a Canadian criminal court, where an individual's guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Thankfully, the new Conservative government of Canada, under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has recognized that the Odynsky case, like so many others, was built up on hearsay and emotional rhetoric rather than any compelling evidence of wrongdoing. We applaud this government for undoing the harm done by previous administrations and now call upon the Minister of Justice, the Honourable R Nicholson, to either forgo denaturalization and deportation proceedings altogether, which would be sensible given how deeply flawed the process is, or else apply it to any and all suspects, given that justice can not be selective. Taking the latter course would mean initiating proceedings against those individuals now living in Canada who have admitted that they voluntarily served in the Soviet secret police, the NKVD, SMERSH and KGB, organs of state repression whose undeniable record of atrocities is unrivaled in 20th century Europe. We are sure all Canadians agree that our country should not be a safe haven for Communist killers and enablers. Unfortunately, it still is."

UCCLA, For immediate release (12 February 2007) (Ottawa, Ont.) On Friday, 16 February 2007, the Honourable Jason Kenney, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, will be meeting with designated representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian community to continue negotiations to secure a timely and honourable settlement of claims arising out of Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-20. On Saturday, 10 February, a meeting was held in Toronto, attended by activists from across Canada, who reconfirmed the community’s position on redress and the appropriate commemorative and educational initiatives needed to honour the memory of the internees. Speaking after the meeting, UCCLA's president, John B. Gregorovich, said “We appreciate how Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mr. Kenney, are taking steps to move this matter forward.  We have a united community position on redress which was reconfirmed in a letter the Secretary of State will be receiving later today. That document reiterates what our requests have been, and remain. “The delegation therefore expects to have a frank and open dialogue with Mr. Kenney that will lead to a timely and honourable settlement of this matter, bringing long-overdue closure to an historic injustice while the last known survivor of the internment operations, Mary Manko, remains alive and so able to bear witness to this reconciliation.”

By Jim WilkesStaff ReporterMon., Jan. 1, 2007 https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/01/01/historic_oakville_statue_stolen.html For a long-dead poet and artist, it was the unkindest cut of all. A 5-metre bronze statue of iconic Ukrainian Taras Shevchenko, erected in an Oakville park named for him in 1951, has been chopped off at the feet by vandals and carted away. Why? The president of the foundation that administers the park and a downtown Toronto museum dedicated to Shevchenko's life fears it's as simple as thieves hoping to cash in on the value of the statue for scrap metal. Maybe $10,000, maybe more. "It's a terrible tragedy, not only for the Ukrainian-Canadian community, but for Canada as a whole," said Bill Harasym. "He was one of the greats of recent cultural history. "He was born in feudal slavery and orphaned by the time he was 11 years old, but he rose to become the greatest son of Ukraine and is considered the father of the modern Ukrainian language. "He was a humanist, someone who could have lived in the lap of luxury with his talent, but he never deserted his people. He lived a very frugal, hard life." In July 1951, 90 years after Shevchenko's death, more than 20,000 people gathered at the park, on Dundas St. W. near Fourth Line, to see the Soviet-made statue unveiled.

UCCLA, For Immediate Release (Ottawa - 19 December 2006) A trilingual bronze plaque honouring the First World War Ukrainian Canadian hero, Corporal Filip Konowal, VC, has been stolen from the facade of Branch #360 of The Royal Canadian Legion, 326 Queen Street West, in Toronto. The Branch, popularly known as "CLUB 360"  [Canadian Legion Ukrainian Branch] was particularly active in recalling the valour of this Canadian veteran, installing similar historical markers in places across Canada associated with Cpl Konowal's life, including Richmond, British Columbia (The Royal Westminster Regiment), Ottawa (The Governor General's Foot Guards), and on their own building, in Toronto, in 1996. Plaques were also unveiled in Kudkivtsi, Ukraine (Konowal's home village), in 2000, and near the site of the Battle for Hill 70, Lens, France (2005). A trilingual booklet detailing Konowal's life was published by the Branch and distributed widely across Canada to public libraries, schools and universities. Members of the group were likewise instrumental in rescuing Konowal's VC, which now stands permanently on display in the new Canadian War Museum. Commenting on the theft, Branch #360's president, John B Gregorovich, said: " Our building was seized, without just cause, by the Ontario Provincial Command, with the sanction of Dominion Command of The Royal Canadian Legion, in June 2005. While this matter has yet to be resolved by the courts, the fact is that our property is currently in the charge of Ontario Provincial Command. Their stewardship leaves much to be desired, for, on their watch, a valuable bronze plaque honouring a Canadian soldier has been stolen. When our Branch was active that plaque was safe and sound. It was only after Ontario Command padlocked our premises and expelled us from our Branch, over the protests of our members, that this outrage took place. We have called upon the Ontario and Dominion Commands to file a police report about this theft and to contact their insurance providers to arrange for an exact replica of the Konowal plaque to be made and reinstalled. We expended considerable time and resources in doing the good Legion work of honouring Filip Konowal, one of our Great War veterans, and now that effort is being undone because of the actions of Ontario and Dominion Commands. They have a moral and legal duty to redress this situation. We are also asking anyone who has any information about the theft of this plaque to come forward and help us recover it. It is a sad day indeed when memorials to Canadian heroes become prey to petty thieves."

For Immediate Release November 24, 2006 Etobicoke – Liberal M.P. Borys Wrzesnewskyj praised Liberal Leadership Candidate Gerard Kennedy for his pledge earlier today that under his leadership the Liberal Party of Canada would extend an apology to Canadians who were affected by exclusionary immigration policies and by past wartime measures. “In making this apology, we will emerge as a stronger nation, more complete and more worthy of emulation by the international community,” said Kennedy. The apology would accompany the introduction of an Apology Act – legislation similar to that which has recently been implemented in the province of British Columbia that enables apologies to be issued by governments without fear of being mired in liability issues. Under Kennedy, the Federal Government would work with affected communities to recommend suitable community educational and commemorative projects. Joining Kennedy for his announcement were Liberal MP’s the Honourable Raymond Chan, the Honourable Navdeep Bains and Borys Wrzesnewskyj. Following the announcement Wrzesnewskyj underscored the importance of providing closure to the affected families and communities, including the Ukrainian Canadian community: “The Ukrainian Canadian community was the victim of Canada’s first national internment operations. From 1914 to 1920 over 5,000 Ukrainian Canadians were interned and forced into hard labour. The example of Ukrainians from the St Michael the Archangel Parish in Montreal is gut wrenching. Members of this parish were herded up and transported by box car north to Spirit Lake. There they were forced into labour for the profit of their gaolers on the grounds of a large experimental farm. Sadly, due to the conditions in the internment camp, many died and were buried in the adjacent forest. Today, the site of this graveyard – this consecrated land – has been ‘desecrated through ambivalence’ with only two crosses still standing. It is a poignant example of the separation, humiliation, suffering, and finally desecrating neglect of their final resting place that has befallen Ukrainian Canadians who suffered unjustly under Canada’s internment policies. It sadly demonstrates what happens when we don’t properly acknowledge, commemorate and educate Canadians on the dark episodes in our past. Through this announcement Gerrard Kennedy has shown he understands the at times difficult episodes of our collective history and respects the contributions our multicultural communities have made for Canada.”

For Immediate Release (Ottawa, 17 November 2006) A small Ukrainian Catholic cemetery located near La Ferme, Quebec, site of the Spirit Lake internment camp from 13 January 1915 to 28 January 1917, is in danger of disappearing entirely unless the federal government takes immediate steps to protect and restore what many Ukrainian Canadians regard as a sacred place, worthy of designation as a national historic site. During a one-day symposium organized by the Spirit Lake Camp Corporation, on Wednesday, representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian community - Andrew Hladyshevsky, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, and Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, director of research for the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association - visited the cemetery, located in the adjacent boreal forest, at some distance from the main internment camp site. Commenting, Dr Luciuk said:  " In 1999, many of the internee crosses were still standing, and, while obviously neglected, this cemetery was surrounded by a small picket fence and marked with a wooden sign describing it as the final resting place of some of the men, and possibly children,  held here during Canada's first national internment operations. Most were Ukrainians who had been herded up from the St Michael the Archangel Parish in Montreal, then transported north by box car, here forced to labour for the profit of their gaolers on the grounds of a large experimental farm. Today only two crosses still stand, the picket fence is down, the site is almost lost in the bush, and with it the memory of what happened here. While we endorse the work that the Spirit Lake Camp Corporation has been doing to establish an interpretive centre where the camp once stood, we are alarmed at the lack of any care being shown for the cemetery. For years now we have been asking Ottawa to step in and protect the site. They have ignored our requests. We would do this ourselves if we had the resources but, unfortunately, despite all the promises made to us over a year ago not a penny of the pledged funding has been received to date. We have today written to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Bev Oda, asking her to immediately provide us with the resources we need to acquire, restore and protect in perpetuity this hallowed ground. Innocents are buried there, far from their families and the communities they once knew. They are the only Ukrainian Canadians left at La Ferme. That they lie here only because of their needless imprisonment as "enemy aliens." Those who so branded them have a moral duty to make sure that their final resting place does not itself end up being buried by the bush, neglected, forgotten, and finally lost."

November 11, 2006 I met many of them. Most were soldiers or air crew, others were with the navy or merchant marines. Some suffered wounds. All spoke, quietly, of those who did not come home. They did not always get along after the war, or maybe even during it, yet they got a lot done. As one of them — Flight Lieutenant G R Bohdan Panchuk, OBE, wrote — they were the “heroes of their day.” They set up a Ukrainian Canadian Servicemen’s Association, in Manchester, later moving UCSA’s HQ to London, where they ran a club at 218 Sussex Gardens, a “home away from home” for the thousands of Ukrainian Canadians voluntarily serving overseas. That became the nucleus around which a postwar British Ukrainian community formed. It was also where the Central Ukrainian Relief Bureau took root, helping Displaced Persons — my own parents amongst them — find asylum, rather than being tossed back into the maws of their Communist foes. These warriors wanted to perpetuate the fellowship they knew overseas. They were young then – idealistic, able, and willing — and their simple gospel, as Panchuk recorded it in his diary, was “Do something!” They knew interwar Ukrainian Canadian society had been rent between competing religious and political factions. They wanted none of that. These veterans hoped the comradely sentiment — “we’re all in this together” — could be replanted and nurtured “back home.” At first, they weren’t sure whether it would be better to maintain what they had known, UCSA, or instead join The Royal Canadian Legion. Many recalled encountering prejudice when enlisting, how others mocked them for having “unpronounceable names,” (I can empathize!). But, having proven their loyalty and mettle in battle, they insisted that never again would they accept being dealt with as anything other than the equals of all other veterans, of all other Canadians. So a majority opted for the Legion. They set up Branch #360, in Toronto, on Queen Street West, not then the trendy downtown neighbourhood it is now. They named their post after a First World War hero, Corporal Filip Konowal, whose valour at the Battle of Hill 70, near Lens, France, earned him a Victoria Cross. They would erect trilingual historical plaques honouring him across Canada, then in his home village in Ukraine, and, finally, in France. And thanks to Branch #360’s members Konowal’s long-missing Victoria Cross was recovered. It is now on permanent display in the Canadian War Museum. When they bought a building they were also prescient. A time would come, they knew, when their ranks would thin, when they would falter, when what they would sow would have to be reaped. So the founders laid plans. They crafted a trust document stipulating that what wealth remained after their passing be dedicated for research, commemorative and educational projects within the Ukrainian Canadian community. They trusted the Legion to honour this testament. Most of Branch #360’s founders are gone now. The members left were not prepared for the gaggle of Legion bureaucrats who swooped down upon CLUB 360 û Canadian Legion Ukrainian Branch — in June 2005, alleging violations of their charter, padlocking the premises, perhaps hoping to so secure for the Legion’s benefit a building whose location alone makes it a multimillion dollar asset. And so a Ukrainian Canadian community centre that veterans bought, and improved over decades, has stood empty for more than a year. Branch #360’s members still meet, sadly elsewhere. Meanwhile, the memory of all the good Legion work they did fades away, even as they do. Most other veterans do not know what happened. Legion Magazine has not published a word about Branch #360’s forced liquidation. Have other branches suffered a similar fate? Would other veterans approve of how Branch #360 was treated if they knew? At least the Legion will not soon, if ever, be enriched, for Branch #360’s case is now before the courts. Veterans suing the Legion is how this story will end, no matter the outcome. I doubt that is what anyone fought for. I have chaffed at the boors who do not stop on Remembrance Day to hallow the fallen. At Vimy Ridge, and elsewhere, I have paused to pray for those who sacrificed their futures for ours. For as long as I can remember I have bought and worn a poppy. And this year you will find me, as always, standing in silence with all who respectfully mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when the Great War ended. But if I am wearing a poppy it will only be if I find one that has fallen off someone else’s lapel. I will not put a penny into the coffers of the Legion, for it has broken faith with those who died. Professor Lubomyr Luciuk remains a member of Branch #360.

For immediate release – Quebec City (Oct. 1, 2006): The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association kicked off its "Five Plaques to Go" campaign Monday, urging Canadians to pitch in and help the association complete its most recent project. The UCCLA wrapped up another successful annual conclave Oct. 1 in Quebec City, where the association placed the 18th and 19th of 24 memorials, commemorating internees who spent time at Valcartier and Beauport. On hand to help mark the solemn occasions was 15-year-old Quebecker Kim Pawliw, who read aloud a poem she dedicated to her grandmother Stéphania Mielniczuk. Mielniczuk, who died recently, was interned as a little girl at Spirit Lake, Que., near Val D'Or. With these plaques solidly in concrete, five Canadian internment sites remain to be commemorated by the UCCLA: Montreal; Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.; Edgewood, B.C.; Lethbridge, Alta.; and Halifax. The UCCLA urges Canadians to support the UCCLA's "Five More to Go" campaign. "Our goal is to have the 24 camps commemorated by 2010," said the UCCLA's chairman John Gregorovich. "This would be a remarkable legacy to the memory of the 8,579 men, women and children who were unjustly interned during this dark chapter in Canada's past. "We are a project-driven group," he added. "Every dollar raised will go towards the purchase and installation of permanent bronze plaques for the five remaining internment camp locations." The UCCLA has placed plaques at 19 of Canada's 24 First World War internment camp locations, from Valcartier to Nanaimo B.C. Evidence exists that the UCCLA's bronze trilingual plaques and statues are achieving their intended purpose of educating Canadians. Photographer Sandra Semchuk, who attended the two unveilings, said she learned of the internment operations by reading the UCCLA's bronze marker in Banff National Park at the foot of Castle Mountain off Hwy 1A. Since then, she has located and photographed every internment site and plaque. The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, the education arm of the UCCLA, gave Semchuk a grant to help finish her photography and publish a book on the topic. During its conclave, the UCCLA also pledged to continue its search for Soviet war criminals who evaded detection and currently reside in Canada. Time is running out to bring such criminals to justice, and the association vowed to redouble its efforts in locating them and bringing them to the attention of the RCMP. Besides members of UCCLA from across Canada, more than 50 citizens attended the unveilings in Valcartier and Beauport, including Quebec City's Michael Reshitnyk who acted as the master of ceremonies, Anne Sadelain of the Descendents of Ukrainian Canadian Internee Victims' Association, Ukrainian Canadian residents of Montreal and the Quebec City area, youth groups Plast and CYM, representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (Quebec chapter), President of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko Andrew Hladyshevsky and others.

UCCLA Media Release For Immediate Release - Toronto (Sept. 25, 2006) During CANADA'S FIRST NATIONAL INTERNMENT OPERATIONS of 1914-1920 thousands of Europeans were needlessly imprinted as "enemy aliens" in Canadian concentration camps under the provisions of the WAR MEASURES ACT. They were  forced to do heavy labour, had what little wealth they had confiscated, and many also lost the right to vote. A majority of those imprisoned were Ukrainian Canadians, including some women and children. On Saturday, 30 September 2006, two trilingual bronze plaques will be unveiled at the BEAUPORT ARMOURY (11h00) and at CANADIAN FORCES BASE VALCARTIER (13h30), in Quebec, recalling the use of those two federal installations as internment camps, the former between 28 December 1914 and 22 June 1916, the latter from 24 April 1915 to 23 October 1915. Since 1994, the UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CIVIL LIBERTIES ASSOCIATION and its supporters have erected dozens of commemorative plaques across Canada. Commenting on their work, UCCLA's director of research, Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, said: "We are determined to recover the memory of a still relatively unknown episode in Canadian history. Our association, a group of unpaid volunteers, has been working hard for well over a decade now to ensure that what happened to these innocent men, women and children is not forgotten, particularly as we can all appreciate how important it is to remain vigilant in defence of human liberties and civil rights in periods of international and domestic crisis." Although the government of Canada signed an Agreement in Principle with the Ukrainian Canadian community, in August 2005, and Bill C 331 - the Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act, received Royal Assent, in November 2005, none of the funding pledged for commemorative, research and educational initiatives has been provided to date. The public is cordially invited to witness the plaque unveilings.

UCCLA, For immediate release (Toronto, 2 May, 2006) The first-ever trilingual (Welsh-English-Ukrainian) plaque was unveiled today at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, honouring Gareth Richard Vaughan Jones, a journalist with The Western Mail.  Traveling surreptitiously in Soviet Ukraine, in March 1933, Jones, who spoke Russian fluently, soon thereafter wrote a number of articles about the man-made famine orchestrated by the Stalinist government in what had been the "breadbasket of Europe." He then himself fell prey to a determined effort to discredit his reporting. Many millions of Ukrainians perished even as the Soviet authorities denied that a famine was raging, and continued to export grain. They were joined in their cover up by some Western journalists, including the now notorious Walter Duranty of The New York Times. Commenting on the plaque unveiling, the UCCLA's director of research, Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, said: "Today we have hallowed the memory of the many millions of victims of a Stalinist crime against humanity, arguably the greatest example of genocide to befoul 20th century Europe. We have also paid tribute to a brave and honest journalist, Gareth Jones, who tried to expose the truth, only to fall victim to Stalin's men. He was, in some ways, the last victim of the Holodomor, the famine-genocide of 1932-33 in Soviet Ukraine. It is fitting that we could gather today in Wales, at the university where he studied, to honour a remarkable young man who paid such a heavy price for his commitment to being an honest reporter of the facts."

UCCLA, For Immediate Release (5 April 2006 - Toronto) A report Tuesday confirmed that a plaque attached to the base of the statue dedicated to remembering Canadian internment operations was recently defaced (see attached image). On 12 August 1995 the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and its supporters unveiled a trilingual bronze plaque and installed a statue of an internee near the base of Castle Mountain, in Banff National Park. Entitled "Why?" the statue, sculpted by John Boxtel, was intended to remind passers-by and visitors to Banff of a "dark chapter" in the nation's history, Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920, when thousands of Ukrainians and other Europeans were needlessly imprisoned as "enemy aliens," not because of anything they had done but only because of who they were, where they came from. Internees were held near Castle Mountain and at Cave & Basin, both within the national park, and forced to do heavy labour for the profit of their gaolers, between 14 July 1915 and 15 July 1917. While the plaque and statue have become "must see" stop-overs for Park visitors, a report received yesterday has confirmed that the plaque attached to the base of the statue was defaced sometime in the last several weeks (see attached image). Commenting, the director of research for UCCLA, Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, said: "The statue we placed at the base of Castle Mountain bears a simple inscription, "Why?" - for we are certain that many of those rounded up during Canada's first national internment operations must have repeatedly asked themselves exactly that  - Why are we being held when we have done no wrong? Why are we forced to do heavy labour for the profit of others? Why were we separated from our families and communities? Over the years we have seen many visitors to Banff stopping along the highway to remember these innocent internees, even to lay flowers at the base of the statue. That has been very heartening. Our efforts, in effect, recaptured an episode in our national history that had long been forgotten, perhaps even suppressed. Now we must ask ourselves - Why would anyone carve a vulgarity onto a memorial plaque? Why are there those in our society who are so ignorant, so primitive, that they  indulge in such anti-Ukrainian prejudices? This is a blatant example of Ukrainophobia and racism. We condemn the perpetrators and invite other communities to do likewise. We are also asking Parks Canada officials in Banff to immediately repair the plaque and increase patrols in the area to prevent any similar outrages in future."

UCCLA, For Immediate Release (24 March 2006 - Toronto) Eight months after signing an Agreement in Principle with the Government of Canada providing for the funding of various educational and commemorative projects having to do with Canada's first national internment operations, representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian community met with the new Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Bev Oda, in Ottawa yesterday. Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, Mr Andrew Hladyshevsky, and Mr Ostap Skrypnyk represented the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress respectively. Commenting on the results of this first meeting between the community and the Minister, Dr Luciuk said: " We are very pleased that the Minister reconfirmed this government's commitment to honouring the Agreement in Principle we signed in Regina, 24 August 2005. We can now report that, once the government has determined the appropriate Terms and Conditions. no less than $2.5 million will be made available to the National Redress Council of the Ukrainian Canadian community. Those funds will then be used for commemorative initiatives that we believe will hallow the memory of all those who were subjected to various state sanctioned censures during Canada's first national internment operations and so help ensure that no other community ever has to endure what Ukrainians and other Europeans once did, in some future period of domestic or international crisis. We anticipate meeting again with the Minister, after Easter , to discuss the Terms & Conditions  that will apply to this funding and to begin negotiations towards securing a second, larger sum to be managed as an endowment dedicated to long-term educational, research, cultural and memorial efforts."