Ukrainian Diaspora’s Struggle for Canadian Multiculturalism (1962–1971)

Author

Krukovskyi Vitaliy

A student at World Ukrainians Department of Historical Faculty of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University

Ukrainian Diaspora’s Struggle for Canadian Multiculturalism (1962–1971)

Abstract

The introduction of multiculturalism policy in the state has become the turning point in the Ukrainian Diaspora integration into the social, political and cultural life of Canada.  The delegates of the VII Congress of Canadian Ukrainians in 1962 have appealed to the state authorities to promote the equalization of the rights of Canadian Ukrainians with those of the Anglo-Canadian and French-Canadian communities in the fields of education, culture and art.  The problem of introduction of Ukrainian language study at Canadian schools and universities to increase the number of Ukrainian students has been raised in the forum resolution.

On July 19, 1963, the federal government of Canada has appointed the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism to investigate the problem of confrontation exacerbation of Anglo-French Canadians and suggest ways to solve it.  Since the commencement of its work, the CUC has deployed brigades, which have represented and defended in all Canadian centers, insisting that multiculturalism characterizes better the real situation in the country.  And its society is formed not only by two ethno-cultural communities.

On March 3, 1964, in the upper house of the federal parliament, Senator Paul Yuzyk has enounced the speech Canada: a Multicultural Nation.  He has noted that the state in the ethnic sense consists not only of Anglo- and French-Canadians, but also of the third element: it refers to allophones – representatives of national minorities of the country, who live mainly in western regions.

The first success of the Canadian Ukrainians Committee consists in the understanding with the provincial government of Quebec when the Ukrainians have recognized the French community as the settlers in the area and agreed to French as a state language.  Meanwhile, the prime minister of the province, Jean Lesage, on October 3, 1965, at a meeting with the CUC leaders in Winnipeg, has supported officially the position of Canada as a rather multicultural than bicultural state, thereby introducing Ukrainian-language teaching in primary schools, where the corresponding number of students is taken.

In December 1968, at the initiative of the Senator and his Committee on Cultural Rights, with the support of the federal government, the Provincial Government of Ontario and several interethnic organizations, a Conference on Cultural Rights Blocks has been convened in Toronto. The delegates have rejected decisively the biculturalism concept as incompatible with the idea of the society with equal rights, and called the Canadian government to recognize officially the multicultural nature of Canada, a corresponding redirection of funding for public cultural organizations.

Thanks to the persistent work of the CUC and other public organizations, the Ukrainian community has reached a decision assumption based on its interests.  In 1970 the provincial parliaments of all steppe provinces, in particular Manitoba and Alberta, have decreed laws enabling school councils to introduce bilingual English-Ukrainian education.  On October 8, 1971, prime minister of Canada P. Trudo has stated the foundations of a new policy of multiculturalism in the House of Commons.  At the X Congress of Canadian Ukrainians, held on October 8–11, 1971, he has emphasized the importance of policy principles not only for Ukrainians in Canada, but also for the entire Canadian society on the whole, emphasizing the fact that the CUC representatives have contributed to the country transformation into a multicultural state.

Keywords

multiculturalism, Committee of Canadian Ukrainians, the third element, allophones, Royal Commission of Bilingualism and Biculturalism, national minority, onomastic bilingualism.

References

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