| The League of Ukrainian Canadians in Canada [message #993] |
Sat, 01 November 2008 11:46 |
 kava
Messages: 190
Registered: November 2007 |
Senior Member |
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With the end of World War II, an unprecedented displacement of Ukrainians from
their homeland took place. Among the displaced were tens of thousands of
people who either supported or were active in the Ukrainian liberation
movement of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian
Insurgent Army, and most of whom had been victims of Nazi and Soviet
repression. They constituted the backbone of the third wave of Ukrainian
immigrants to reach the West after World War II. They were highly motivated
political immigrants fresh from the resistance frontlines of Ukraine.
About 40,000 of these political immigrants came to Canada, renewing and
strengthening within the established Ukrainian Canadian community the bond
with their homeland, and exposing it directly to the new historical and
political realities enveloping Ukraine. Against this historical and political
background, a large number of Ukrainian newcomers to Canada considered it
their life-long duty to maintain an awareness of their nation's struggle for
independence. As a result, the Canadian League for the Liberation of Ukraine
and the Women's Association of the Canadian League for the Liberation of
Ukraine were established.
The founding conference of the Canadian League for the Liberation of Ukraine
took place on December 25, 1949, at which time the name, constitution, aims,
goals and program of activities for the new organization were ratified and
adopted. These documents reflect an intuitively accurate insight into what
Canada is all about: a country with a developing socio-political system
conducive to unhindered political, social, cultural and economic activity and
integration into Canadian society through the existing mosaic of ethnocultural
communities, each free to preserve its own identity, heritage and ties with
its homeland. The wartime experience and motivation of the nationalist-minded
new immigrants quickly coalesced into an organizational vision which, in turn,
was translated into swift growth and dynamic activity evident to this day.
After the organizing stage was over, and both organizations became established
in Canada with their basic tenets accepted by the mainstream Ukrainian
Canadian community, on May 8, 1959 the League and the Women's Association
formally joined the Ukrainian Canadian Committee, the umbrella organization
for Ukrainian Canadians. In the late 1960's, the League was also a founding
member of the World Ukrainian Liberation Front and the World Congress of Free
Ukrainians.
An aggressive membership drive and a dynamic program of political, social,
educational and cultural activities ensured a steady growth of the League and
the Women's Association. The two organizations supported private heritage
schools for children, helped to establish the Studium Research Institute and
the Association for the Advancement of Ukrainian Culture, and continued to
organize annual celebrations and commemorations of important events and
figures in Ukrainian history, culture and politics.
The League's community-oriented activities were intended to preserve and
qualitatively raise the level of Ukrainian consciousness among its membership
and within the community in general. Thus, publishing became a key aspect of
the League's activities. Most significantly, its membership founded a weekly
community newspaper, called Homin Ukrainy (Ukrainian Echo). Among other mass
media endeavours, seventeen of the League's branches have, at one time or
another, sponsored weekly Ukrainian-language radio programs. In addition, the
League established some 20 community centres for its more than 50 branches.
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