UCCLA Media Release For Immediate Release (Ottawa, 21 November 2008) The Ukrainian Canadian community today expressed its thanks to the Government of Canada for recognizing officially that the 1932-1933 famine in Soviet Ukraine was genocidal. Bill C-459 established a Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day in Canada, marked annually on the 4th Saturday of every November, recalling the many millions of Ukrainians who perished during a famine orchestrated by the Stalinist regime of the USSR. Commenting, Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, chairman of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said: " It is now widely understood that many millions of Ukrainians perished during the genocidal Great Famine of 1932-33 in Soviet Ukraine, a crime against humanity arguably without parallel in 20th century Europe. We are grateful to the Government of Canada for showing solidarity with Ukraine by sending the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, to Kyiv, where he will take part in an international memorial service tomorrow marking the 75th anniversary of this catastrophe. Tomorrow, here in Canada, we will join them in recalling the many millions of victims of Communism in Ukraine." ____________________

For immediate release (Ottawa) 14 November 2008 Canada should immediately denaturalize and deport any resident who was once a member of any Soviet secret police organization, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) said Nov. 14. Responding to an article in the Nov. 12 Vancouver Province (www.canada.com/story.html?id=dc14dabd-680c-4878-a133-0cf3997abddf), the UCCLA is calling on federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan to immediately send any former Soviet secret police veterans found in Canada back to their home states. "Canada should not be a haven for former members of any communist state's secret police forces, regardless of whatever duties they may claim they performed," said the UCCLA's chairman, Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk. "Simple membership in the NVKD, SMERSH or KGB should be sufficient grounds for excluding such a person from Canada, whether they made application for admission as an immigrant or refugee." Residents of Canada who served in the NKVD, SMERSH and KGB enabled the Soviet regime to indulge in the mass imprisonment, murder and enslavement of millions of innocent men, women and children. These secret police forces spied upon, exiled, tortured, murdered and oppressed their fellow citizens, not only in times of war but also during times of peace. Any person who was a member of these formations, or affiliated ones, simply by assisting in their functioning, made it possible for such war crimes and crimes against humanity to be perpetrated. Regardless of an individual's ethnic, religious or racial heritage or the period or place during which they served or what they claim to have done, they should not be in Canada, nor should they be allowed to establish roots here, individually or as members of a family. "Anyone who served in such a secret police body would have known of its actions, past and present, and should not have allowed himself/herself to be used for the criminal purposes carried out by an authoritarian state," said Dr. Luciuk. The UCCLA has called upon the government to take immediate steps to deport any veterans of the NKVD, SMERSH and KGB who are in Canada and to make it clear to Canada's immigration officials that such persons should always be excluded from admission into Canada, with no right of appeal. The UCCLA also invites the relevant authorities to investigate who the immigration consultants or lawyers were who allegedly advised ex-KGB veterans that former membership in such an organization would not affect their chances of entry into Canada.

UCCLA - October 13, 2008 Efforts to preserve and enhance cultural assets can provide important economic benefits and opportunities for greater social cohesion, reinforcing a common identity and strengthening socio-economic aspirations. By treating our cultural heritage as a capital asset and preserving it via the Internment Historical Marker Program throughout Canada, Canadians can then hold that heritage in trust for future generations. The plaques that have been placed at the internment camp sites across the country serve to mark the spot, make a claim on the history of that part of Canada, remember the victims of the camps, and share the history with tourists and passers-by. Prior to UCCLF obtaining formal charitable status, its members have worked with the communities in which internment camps operated throughout Canada to install commemorative plaques and statues. These plaques identify the camp and their prisoners and are located at 20 of the 24 camp sites throughout Canada. Installation of the existing 20 plaques has taken approximately 20 years to accomplish with countless voluntary hours of UCCLF members working with individuals from each community, including municipal and town officials to secure permission from landowners, historical society members to ensure accurate placement of the markers, and generous individuals who have donated the materials for the plaques. UCCLF members have also worked with Parks Canada to have the trilingual interpretive panels installed at the Cave and Basin site near Banff, Alberta. Outstanding camp sites include: Eaton, Saskatchewan; Lethbridge, Alberta; Montreal, Quebec; and Halifax, Nova Scotia. UCCLF is striving to ensure the final plaques are installed in 2014, prior to the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first camp. If you would like to help us accomplish this goal, please Donate Now or Volunteer.

For Immediate Release (Canmore, Alta.) Oct. 5, 2008 The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) recently concluded its annual conclave for 2008 in Canmore, Alta. For three days at the end of September, members of the non-profit group from across Canada gathered in the Rocky Mountains to spent a few hours touring Banff’s Cave and Basin, the site of an internment camp for Ukrainians and other east Europeans during Canada’s First National Internment Operations during and after the First World War. While there, the group received a short presentation by Rob Harding of Park's Canada. He detailed his department’s plans to spend the $2.5 million it received from the federal government in 2008 to commemorate the details of the internment operations, including the building of an interpretive centre near the site of the actual camp. The UCCLA was pleased to learn that Parks Canada's work towards the development of an interpretive centre and museum at the Cave and Basin in Banff is proceeding well. The UCCLA further discussed the nature of the endowment that was received by the Ukrainian community from the Government of Canada during a briefing from the Shevchenko Foundation, and was brought up to speed on developments with the Spirit Lake Corporation's plans for a separate internment interpretive centre in the Abitibi, Que. The UCCLA also discussed the presence of alleged Soviet War Criminals in Canada, and laid down plans for the further pursuit of justice regarding Soviet war crimes. The UCCLA also made preliminary plans to install memorial plaques at the four Canadian internment sites that have not yet been commemorated: Edgewood, B.C., Lethbridge, Alta., Montreal, and Halifax. Plans were laid preliminarily for holding next year's UCCLA conclave at Vernon, B.C.

For immediate release (May 8, 2008) ­ Toronto; Ottawa. On Friday, May 9, designated representatives of the Ukrainian community will meet with the Hon. Jason Kenney, Canada's Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, to sign a funding agreement, a vital first step in securing an honourable settlement of claims arising from Canada's first national internment operations of 1914 to 1920. A party to the negotiations and the first group to take the lead on the issue more than 20 years ago, the UCCLA is pleased to announce that significant progress has been made on a "Recognition, Restitution and Reconciliation Accord" between the federal government and Canada's organized Ukrainian community, thanks in part to the office of Mr. Kenney. As a sign of that progress, a technical document, which will be used to account for about $10 million in future discussions, will be signed Friday by Andrew Hladyshevsky of the Taras Shevchenko Foundation and Mr. Kenney in Toronto. "This is, finally, a tangible, positive accomplishment, one that we hope will bring us a step nearer to closing a dark chapter in Canada's wartime history," said Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, President of the UCCLA. "While we have, over the last 12 months, lost both Mary Manko and Mary Hancharuk ­ the last two known survivors of the interment operations, may they both rest in peace ­ we nevertheless hope that thousands of their descendants and all Canadians who have immigrated from other lands can bear witness to a reconciliation." --------------- 30 ----------------- Event: Signing of a Funding Agreement between the Taras Shevchenko Foundation and the Government of Canada for $10 million. Date: May 9, 2008, at 11 a.m. Location: Stanley Barracks, Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds, Toronto, Ontario A major event will follow June 20 in Ottawa with the Prime Minister of Canada. About the internment operations More than 80,000 Ukrainians were branded "enemy aliens" during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914 to 1920. In addition, almost 5,000 Ukrainians, including men, women and children, were interned as forced labourers in 24 Canadian concentration camps during and after the First World War. More than 8,000 people were interned in total. People were interned not because of anything they had done, but only because of where they had come from, who they were. There was no evidence then, nor has any been found since, of divided loyalties on the part of the victims of these internment measures.

For Immediate Release (Edmonton, 26 April 2008) In recognition of the 75th anniversary of Ukraine's Great Famine, the Holodomor, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation (UCCLF) has announced two separate writing competitions for Canadian students. Valued at $500, the High School Civil Liberties Award will be given to a high school student who submits a research essay based on a Holodomor theme. The winning essay will be determined by a selection committee consisting of Ukrainian Canadian community members. Judging will be based solely on the quality of essay content. Submission deadline has been set at 30 June 2008. The Civil Liberties Opinion-Editorial Award will be given to a high school or post-secondary student whose Holodomor-based opinion-editorial will appear in a major Canadian newspaper prior to the 1 October 2008 deadline.  The value of this award has been set at $1,000; however, this is subject to change in the event that an op-ed from more than one student appears in a major Canadian newspaper.

UCCLA, October 14, 2007 The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association cordially invites you to the Toronto launch of Marsha Skrypuch’s newest novel: Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk Spirit Lake, Quebec, 1914 (Scholastic Canada) when: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 7:00 PM where: The Library Royal Canadian Military Academy 426 University Ave. (South of Dundas on the WEST side of University Ave. St. Patrick Subway Station) Books will be available for sale and autograph. Proceeds donated to UCCLA

Oct. 1, 2007 For immediate release (Montreal, Ottawa) Delegates from across Canada and a special representative of the Association of Ukrainian Canadians (AUGB), Volodymyr Muzyczka, gathered in Montreal this past weekend for the eighth annual conclave of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA). On Saturday, 29 September, a trilingual memorial plaque was unveiled in Montreal's Stanley Street YMCA building, recalling the educational and humanitarian aid provided by the YMCA to Ukrainians and other Europeans imprisoned unjustly during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920. Following up on a proposal tabled by Anne Sadelain, a member of the Descendants of Ukrainian Canadian Internees Victims Association (DUCIVA), the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, Ukrainian Canadian Congress and Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko acted to realize this initiative, and so recognize the help. Wreaths were also laid by these organizations and representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian community of Montreal, witnessed by a large audience. Many UCCLA members voiced their dismay over the lack of any significant progress on securing a redress settlement despite the government's legal obligation to negotiate, as provided for by Bill C 331 – the Internment of Personns of Ukrainian Origin Act, which received Royal Assent 25 November 2005. Letters were posted to the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and to Mr Jason Kenney, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, expressing the Ukrainian Canadian community's disappointment over this situation. Delegates also were informed about the resignation, 20 August 2007, of Mr John B Gregorovich, from the post of UCCLA’s chairmanship. Commenting, the newly-elected chairman, Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, said: "Mr Gregorovich has served the Ukrainian Canadian community for decades with great skill and intelligence and has been responsible for many of our successes over those years. He was one of the initiators of the Ukrainian Canadian redress campaign. Understandably frustrated over the lack of any real progress, John decided that he can no longer lead the UCCLA's ongoing campaign to secure justice in this matter." Other issues discussed included the launch of a campaign aimed at securing information about the presence of alleged Soviet war criminals in North America, providing educational information about the genocidal Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine to school children in Ukraine, further exposing the complicity of New York Times journalist, Walter Duranty, in covering up the Holodomor, and planning for the installation of additional internee plaques across Canada, the next to hopefully be unveiled at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Working with the British Ukrainian community, UCCLA also intends to initiate several projects in the UK to honour the Ukrainian Canadian men and women who served overseas with the Allied forces during the Second World War.

For Immediate Release (Ottawa, 12 September 2007) The eighth annual conclave of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association will be held this year in Montreal, Quebec, from Thursday, 27 September to Saturday, 30 September. Whereas the conclave deliberations are private, the public is invited to the unveiling of a trilingual bronze plaque recalling the help offered to Ukrainian and other European internees by the YMCA's Military Service Department, under the direction of Mr F S Shepard. During Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920 YMCA educational and recreational  services were provided to internees at the Fort Henry, Petawawa & Kapuskasing camps in Ontario, at the Spirit Lake in Quebec, at  the Morrissey and Vernon camps in British Columbia and the camp in Amherst, Nova Scotia. It is likely that other camps were also visited by the YMCA's Internment Camp Work committee. The plaque is being unveiled in North America's first YMCA, 1440 Stanley Street, Montreal, on Saturday, 29 September 2007, at 11 am. The public is cordially invited to attend this event which will be followed by a reception and the launch of Marsha Skrypuch's most recent book, Prisoners in the Promised Land The Ukrainian Internment, Diary of Anya Soloniuk (Scholastic Canada, 2007)

For Immediate Release (Ottawa, 4 September 2007) Following the recent death of the last known survivor of Canada's first national internment operations, Mary Manko Haskett, 98, who was only six years old when she and the rest of the Manko family were confined at the Spirit Lake concentration camp, in Quebec's Abitibi region, her daughter, Ms. Fran Haskett, has agreed to take on her mother's role as honourary chair of the National Redress Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.    Commenting on Ms Haskett's willingness to take on this responsibility, UCCLA's chairman, John B. Gregorovich, said: "We have always been conscious of how important it is to take into consideration the sentiments of the descendants of those unfortunates who were interned without just cause during Canada's first national internment operations. They were forced to do heavy labour for the profit of their jailers and suffered other state-sanctioned indignities, including the confiscation of their wealth and disenfranchisement. For several years two survivors of that unfortunate episode in Canadian history were the co-chairs of UCCLA's National Redress Council. Now that the last known survivor has passed away, without a timely and honourable settlement having been reached, we are very pleased that Mary's daughter, Fran, has stepped up to assume this role. Fran has been a consistent supporter of UCCLA's campaign for recognition, restitution and reconciliation and so we welcome her involvement in this role. We hope this government will soon meet its legal obligation to negotiate a settlement with our community's designated representatives, as they are required to do under the terms of Bill C 331 - The Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Recognition Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2005."

UCCLA MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release (15 July 2007) – Ottawa The last known survivor of Canada’s first national internment operations of 1914-1920, Mary Manko Haskett, died yesterday at a senior’s residence in Mississauga, Ontario. She was 98. Born Mary Manko, in Montreal, she was only 6 years old when she was transported to the Abitibi region of north-central Quebec, to the Spirit Lake concentration camp. So-called “enemy aliens,” mostly Ukrainians who emigrated to the Dominion from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were held there not because of anything they had done but only because of who they were, where they had come from. Most internees were forced to do heavy labour for the profit of their jailers, had their wealth confiscated, and were subjected to other state-sanctioned indignities, including disenfranchisement. Mary’s younger sister, Nellie, died at the Spirit Lake camp. For years, Mary served as the honourary chairwoman of the National Redress Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association. She was committed to ensuring that what happened to her and thousands of other innocents would be remembered. Despite being a victim, Mary never sought an apology for the wrongs done to her, nor personal compensation for herself or any of the descendents of the internees. Instead she asked the community to try and secure an acknowledgement of what happened and a restitution of the contemporary value of the internees’ confiscated wealth and forced labour, that money to be placed in a community-managed endowment fund to be used for educational and commemorative initiatives to help ensure that no other Canadian ethnic, religious or racial minority would ever again suffer what Ukrainians once did. Although Royal Assent was given to Conservative MP Inky Mark’s Bill C 331 – The Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Recognition Act, 25 November 2005, the Government of Canada has not yet met its legal obligation to negotiate a unique Ukrainian Canadian Redress and Reconciliation Settlement. Commenting on Mary Manko’s passing, UCCLA’s director of research, Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, said: “ We always hoped we would secure a timely and honourable redress settlement that Mary could bear witness to as the last known survivor of Canada’s first national internment operations. We grew especially hopeful after Stephen Harper, then Leader of the Opposition, and now the Prime Minister of Canada, endorsed Bill C 331 in the House of Commons in March 2005, saying that he too hoped Mary would be alive to see this matter resolved. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, that did not happen. But we remain committed to Mary’s cause. Negotiations toward a settlement should begin when we meet with the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Bev Oda, and the Secretary of Sate for Multiculturalism, Mr Jason Kenney, on 30 July. We are calling upon the Prime Minister to intervene and make sure that our deliberations lead to the kind of settlement Mary always hoped we would secure. It is truly sad that she won’t be with us to see how the wrongs done to her, and so many other Europeans, are finally undone. But at least she knew that we will never give up until that just end is reached.”

UCCLA, For Immediate Release (Toronto, 15 June 2007) Ukrainian Canadians have rejected the Government of Canada’s proposed Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP), which  received Treasury Board approval Thursday. The $24 million historical recognition program would oblige ethnocultural communities to apply for funding for projects aimed at recalling past government wrong doings. This fund is to be administered by the Ministry of Canadian Heritage. Over 80,000 Ukrainians were branded as "enemy aliens" during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920. Almost 5,000 Ukrainians, including men, women and children, were interned as forced labourers in 24 Canadian concentration camps during and after the First World War. "People were interned not because of anything they had done, but only because of where they had come from, who they were. There was no evidence then, nor has any been found since, of divided loyalties on the part of the victims of these internment measures," said Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, a director of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association. In an article published in The Toronto Star yesterday, the Ukrainian Canadian community called upon the Prime Minister to personally intervene to right this historical injustice:  “We are disappointed that the Government of Canada has ignored its obligation to negotiate a settlement with the Ukrainian Canadian community,” Paul Grod, vice-president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, said. The Ukrainian Canadian community has called for a series of commemorative, educational and cultural initiatives to be funded through a community administered foundation, with an endowment based upon a determination of the present day value of the economic losses suffered by the community (approximately $47 million).  Under the approved CHRP framework, in contrast, Ukrainian Canadians would, in effect, said Dr. Luciuk, "be required to go cap in hand to ask Ottawa to give back some of the money they took from the internees, under duress. Forcing us to do so is unconscionably paternalistic and we have said so, repeatedly, for years." “We call upon the Prime Minister to immediately intervene to ensure a timely and honourable settlement, as mandated by the Internment of Persons of Ukrainian Origin Recognition Act, to which he gave his support in the House of Commons in March 2005, and which received Royal Assent in November 2005,” said Andrew Hladyshevsky, QC, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, a body created in 1963 through an Act of Parliament. He went on to say: "We would like to secure the Prime Minister’s personal assistance so that we might together craft a reconciliation settlement while the last known survivor, Mary Manko, is still alive. We believe that will reflect well upon this government's record, as did Prime Minister Mulroney's much-lauded Japanese Canadian Redress Settlement."