November 18, 2010
PRESS RELEASE
UWC PRESIDENT PARTICIPATES IN XXIII CONGRESS OF UKRAINIANS IN CANADA
The President of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) Eugene Czolij participated in the XXIII Congress of Ukrainians in Canada that took place in Edmonton from November 5 to 7, 2010. More than 300 delegates and guests took part in the proceedings that marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, including representatives of federal and provincial governments, diplomatic representatives from Canada and Ukraine and well-known community activists.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) is one of the oldest, strongest and most influential UWC member organizations. UCC represents the interests of more than a million Ukrainian Canadians and is active in protecting the rights of Ukraine and Ukrainian people.
During the official opening ceremony on November 5, the UWC President congratulated UCC on the occasion of its seventy year anniversary, thanked the organization for decades of fruitful cooperation with UWC and recognized the organization’s dedicated work for the good of Ukrainians in Canada and Ukraine. The UWC President noted UCC’s excellent reputation and relations with the Government of Canada. He referred to Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper’s official visit to Ukraine in October, 2010 as a good example of appropriate governmental reaction to current events in Ukraine.
Speaking during the banquet on November 6, Eugene Czolij provided an overview of UCC’s seven decade history noting some of its greatest achievements including: lobbying the adoption of multiculturalism as official policy, securing reparations for the unjust internment of Ukrainian Canadians during the First World War andrevealing the inequities of the government’s denaturalization and deportation policies. He also noted Canada’s recognition of Ukrainian independence, the participation of Canadian observers in Ukrainian elections, Canada’s parliamentary recognition of the 1932-33 Holodomor as an act of genocide of the Ukrainian people and the provision of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
The congress program included plenary sessions and roundtables that addressed the issues of preserving Ukrainian national heritage in Canada, the role of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in Canadian society and priorities for dealing with Ukraine under its current government. The prestigious Shevchenko Medals and Ukrainian Canadian Youth Leader Awards were presented to their recipients during the congress.
Elections were held on November 7 for the UCC Board of Directors and President; Paul Grod was re-elected to lead the organization.
The following day, Eugene Czolij joined congress delegates and laid a memorial wreath from UWC to the Monument of Holodomor Victims.
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UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS
145 Evans Ave., Suite 207
Toronto, ON
M8X 5X8 Canada
Tel. (416) 323-3020
Fax (416) 323-3250
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.ukrainianworldcongress.org
