Local artist displays Ukraine photos on canvas

A local resident, Lyn Tretiak, will be displaying her paintings based on photos she took in Ukraine over the past 8 years.

Lyn began to paint canvases from those photos just this year. She will be one of the artists presenting at "Art in the Park" in Maple Ridge June 27-29.

Several of Lyn's 15 canvases about Ukraine will be for sale, as well as prints and cards of all the images. There are also a few non-Ukrainian subjects.

Here's a sample of her work...

Student dancers at Novaya Khokova Fine Arts School on the Dnipre River. 18 x 24 inches, oil. $500 unframed. (Image copyright retained by Lyn Tretiak.)

Profit from sales and orders taken during this show will support two schools in Hytusko and Turianske villages, about 50 miles east of Lviv.

In recent years Lyn and her husband have been providing "extras" for these schools such as excursions, computers, repairs, and supplies.

Come out and help Lyn support these village schools!

Ukrainian Canadian answer to rising food prices

This recent article gives me a feeling of déjà vu... and admittedly a bit of a smug feeling.

Canadians are trimming down on their food, lifestyle and travel habits as costs rise, says a new poll.

Three-quarters of the Canadians surveyed said they've noticed the price of food increasing in the last three months, and almost half of respondents said they were already buying cheaper products in place of more expensive items. ...

The survey, conducted by Harris-Decima on behalf of Investors Group, also reported Canadians are looking at trimming down how they eat and shop for food.

Eighty-seven per cent said they would be eating at home more rather than going out for a meal. Forty-six per cent want to grow their own vegetables and about 40 per cent said they would be eating less meat. ... (Full article here.)

A very popular (altho not with me) past prime minister once suggested that "If you can't afford lettuce, then eat cabbage." I distinctly recall him saying that back when it actually happened, although on Google I could find no historical reference to it whatsoever (which made me wonder if I stepped into the Twilight Zone). So I'll have to resort to my good old-fashioned reference librarian.

Anyway... back to my déjà vu. Since Trudeau made that comment, I have mellowed considerably and now in fact regard it as very good advice. IMHO, generally speaking we Canadians have become far too extravagant and wasteful. So I see a "back to our gardens and kitchens" movement as a good thing, actually.

In my younger days I used to have a freezer packed with food that eventually got freezer-burned and thrown out. Not exactly a responsible way to recycle. Then I got smart, and bought an upright freezer and a Food Saver.

Now that I have the freezer (more or less) under control, I am turning my focus to my refrigerator. I don't grow my own vegetables (although I have chives in my flowerbed) and have no intention of ever getting a cow and chickens for my own dairy products. However, I am paring down the "staples" in my fridge and learning how to cook more frugally as well as efficiently.

One of the things that is helping me is Sylvia's recipes, which can be heard on Nash Holos. We are compiling a cookbook of the recipes she has shared with listeners over the years, and I am trying out a lot of them lately. :-)

Not that they are new to me ... like many Ukrainian Canadians, I grew up on these dishes. But over the years I got away from them, experimenting with different cuisines and developing new favourites.

Interestingly, as I've re-discovered and begun to re-incorporate Ukrainian standards from buckwheat to borshch in my diet, I am finding myself feeling healthier. Of course, weaning myself off potato chips no doubt helps, so maybe it's just coincidence. But, maybe not. Only time will tell, as we say in Radioland.

As for cabbage, it is now a staple in my crisper. I sauté it often and make lazy cabbage rolls to keep in the freezer for a quick meal. Yum!! And I have created my own wonderful coleslaw using shredded cabbage, chopped green onion or chives, and a sprinkling of celery seeds tossed with a little cold-pressed (unrefined) sunflower oil imported from Ukraine. Double yum!!

Cabbage is amazingly healthful, and truly delicious. You will find many excellent cabbage (and other) recipes in our cookbook, which I hope to release by late summer.

Ukrainians wrote the book on frugal cooking ... ever hear the saying "cheap like borshch"? So our little contribution may well help you fight rising food costs. :-)

And incidentally, frugal certainly doesn't mean boring. The book has a combination of incredibly elegant as well as deliciously earthy recipes. Sylvia never fails to surprise me on Ukrainian Food Flair!

If you would like to advance order a copy of our cookbook, (tentatively) titled Try it... It's Ukrainian!, please let me know. Otherwise, stay tuned!

Nash Holos Ukrainian Language School Final Exam

If you are a regular listener to Nash Holos, you are automatically enrolled in Nash Holos Ukrainian Language School. :-)

The first (and possibly only) "school" year has flown by, but we have completed the curriculum, consisting of Ron Cahute's series of "teaching" CDs ... Barabolya, Tsyboolya, Booryak and Borscht.

And to wrap things up, we'll naturally have to have a graduation ceremony. Everyone is welcome to attend the grad, of course. But those "students" who wish to graduate with a Diploma and be eligible to receive a special graduation gift, will have to take the Final Exam.

There are 50 multiple choice questions based on the lessons in the CDs, so if you've been paying attention throughout the year, there is no reason you wouldn't ace the exam! (Although, if you haven't but are the type that likes a challenge, you should take it anyway.)

No time limit on the "exam" itself, although they'll to be completed by June 25. Just fill in your name and the city where you live, and go to it. If you pass (passing score is 50%) you will get your Diploma right on the spot.

Log on to take the exam here.

Good luck, and have fun!

Vancouver audio archives updated to June 15

Audio archives for Nash Holos are updated to June 15 ... tune in for

• a recipe for apple almond strudel
• new info on visas for Russia
• a biblical perspective on dealing with change
• an interview with Svitlana Kominko of the BCIT School of Business
• proverb of the week
• community events
• and plenty of great Ukrainian music!

Oh, and for students on Nash Holos Ukrainian Language School, the Final Exam is available here.

Holodomor - the next step?

The Edmonton Journal today published an article that argues for the perpetrators of the Holodomor to be brought to justice.

Problem is, of course, that few of them would likely be alive today. It was, after all, 75 years ago, and the perpetrators would be over 100 years old... older, even, than any surviving Nazis.

So there will likely be a raging debate as to whether or not there is any point in pursuing them.

Some will say that if even only one of those monsters remains alive, they should be pursued to the ends of the earth and made to account for their crimes.

Others will say that it is a waste of resources after all this time, and better to just "learn from history" and move on.

It's a very emotional issue and a perplexing situation. Just what is the "right thing to do"?

Twenty years ago, Ukrainians the world over celebrated a millenium of Christianity in Ukraine. It was before the fall of communism, and naturally the (atheist) Soviets in Moscow tried to appropriate the event in the public discourse and all the photo ops that went with it. The western media fell into slavish step and did its best to accommodate them.

But I digress. My question is, would it serve Ukrainians better to consider calling on those 1000 years of Christian heritage and come up with a better solution?

I imagine this call to pursue the perpetrators of the Holodomor will resonate with contemporary native Ukrainians (especially since 80 years of official atheism have come between them and that heritage).

It resonates with me, too. Although I'm Canadian-born (as are my parents) and didn't have any immediate family perish in the Holodomor, this genocide deeply grieves me. I had kin there. Distant, sure. But I still had a bloodline connection to those who did perish. And so does everyone on this planet with even a drop of Ukrainian blood in them.

But might forgiving and not forgetting perhaps be a better solution than executing extremely elderly criminals?

Knowing Ukrainians as I do, I don't really even need to ask that question. It's done. And I think the author of that article knows that, too. After all, he just spent the last 20 years fighting on behalf of survivors of the WWI Canadian internment operations who didn't ask for money or even an apology. All they wanted was that the world remember and acknowledge what what was done to them, and learn from the past so it is never done again to anyone else.

In light of the breathtaking denial of the Holodomor still happening in western and post-soviet academic and media circles, remembering and acknowledging this horrific genocide is the least the world can do. Isn't the fact that genocide is still happening somewhere in the world as you read these words reason enough to learn from the past?

As for the perpetrators of the Holodomor, the Christian way is to forgive and leave any retribution to divine forces. If any of these criminals are still alive they wouldn't have many years left anyway. For them to leave this earth in disgrace, knowing they will forever be remembered as monsters, and that their evil legacy will not live on, may be the worst punishment the world could offer.

As in the Canadian example, Ukrainians have never asked for much. Just that the world remember, and acknowledge.

After 75 years of denial, it's time to do the right thing.

TV coverage of Ukrainian presidential visit to Canada

Watch the State Visit of President Yushchenko to Canada on KONTAKT TV

• Greeting at Rideau Hall
• Ottawa press conference with PM Harper
• Eternal Flame Holodomor on Parliament Hill
• Speech to Economic Club of Toronto
• Old Mill meeting with Toronto Ukrainian Community

Wednesday June 4 at 1 pm and Thursday June 5 at 9 am on Channel M (Vancouver).

Yellow journalism serves no one well

What is it about the mass murder of Ukrainians in the 1930s Holodomor that inspires yellow journalism even 75 years later?

First there was the infamous New York Times reporter who received a Pulitzer Prize for his yellow journalism back in the 1930s ... and principled journalists who reported the true facts were either ridiculed and fired from their jobs (like Malcolm Muggeridge) or ended up dying mysteriously at an early age (like Gareth Jones).

By the 1980s, as more information became available, unabashed deniers came out of the woodwork (and, incidentally, got a lot more press than new evidence implicating the Soviet govt in the Holodomor). It didn't take very long to discredit them however ... reputable scholars quickly exposed them for the crackpots they are.

Then just yesterday, Canada's self-styled "national" newspaper took up where the NYT left off. The Globe and Mail, for some reason decided to reprint an article by the Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He says that the Holodomor was not a genocide but a fairytale.

... [I]t did not occur to anyone to suggest to the zealous activists of the Communist Party and Young Communist League that what was happening was the planned annihilation of precisely the Ukrainians. The provocative outcry about "genocide" only began to take shape decades later - at first quietly, inside spiteful, anti-Russian, chauvinistic minds - and now it has spun off into the government circles of modern-day Ukraine, who have thus outdone even the wild inventions of Bolshevik agitprop.

To the parliaments of the world: This vicious defamation is easy to insinuate into Western minds. They have never understood our history: You can sell them any old fairy tale, even one as mindless as this.

I have no argument with newspapers publishing op-eds critical of the government's actions. Its keeps politicians on their toes (and also sells papers). But in this case, there is the little matter of timing vis-a-vis the topic.

Solzhenitsyn's op-ed was printed in the Boston Globe on April 5. So why reprint it nearly 2 months later, and right on the heels of the Canadian government's official declaration of the Holodomor as a genocide? And couldn't they find a Canadian writer/historian to do the job to their satisfaction?

(Full article here.)

This letter to the editor from a Boston Globe reader (and Harvard University history professor) reminded me that Solzhenitsyn has long been at the top of the MSM's list of approved anti-communists, and perhaps sheds some light on why.

... Solzhenitsyn's assertion that the treatment of the famine of 1932-33 as a genocide is the product of "spiteful, anti-Russian, chauvinistic minds" can be understood only if one equates the Communist government and the Russian people. Solzhenitsyn spent a good part of his life arguing that Communism and Russia were incompatible. His op-ed raises the question of whether he still believes in this.

To me, it raises the question of whether he ever did.

But the issue here isn't so much Solzhenitsyn's commitment (or not) to anti-communism as the yellow journalism employed by mainstream newspapers to discredit Ukrainian aspirations to sovereignty.

Could this reprint be a swipe at Yushchenko and his diaspora supporters?

Could it be an attempt to influence public opinion in order to weaken the democratic movement in Ukraine by driving a wedge between its supporters here in Canada?

You decide.

But if some interpret this curiously-timed genocide-denying article reprint as anti-Ukrainian yellow journalism, could you blame them?

And can you blame readers for abandoning traditional newspapers peddling propaganda and turning to the internet to find the news, and the truth, for themselves?

Canada declares Holodomor a genocide, sets national day of remembrance

Selkirk-Interlake MP James Bezan has expressed his thanks to the Senate for unanimously supporting his Private Members Bill C-459 to establish a Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day and recognizes the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 as an act of genocide.

“I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to all parties for the support that I received," said Bezan. "I would also like to thank Senator Raynell Andreychuk, who sponsored my bill in the Senate and expedited its quick passage.”

On Tuesday in the House of Commons, in one motion moved by Bezan, the bill was deemed to have been read a second time, considered in committee, reported, concurred in, read a third time and passed. The bill then went the Senate, where it passed all stages on Wednesday. The bill received Royal Assent today (May 29, 2008) at Rideau Hall.

While it was Bezan's bill, it was truly a team effort. I for one found it deeply gratifying to witness the solidarity and goodwill between the Ukrainian community and so many of Canada's elected officials to see this bill go through. Equally (if not more) gratifying was the unity displayed between members of Canada's Ukrainian community on all sides of the political spectrum. A sign, perhaps, of the maturity and latent strength of the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

Amazingly (and shamefully), consent was being blocked on Tuesday by a number of government MPs. So, in an admirable spirit of non-partisanship and goodwill, Opposition MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Lib., Etobicoke Centre) crossed the aisle to work alongside Mr. Bezan on a series of intense negotiations with the Hon. Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity). As a result of these negotiations, amendments were agreed to and an agreement struck to pass this historic bill at all stages.

“Discussions have taken place this afternoon among all parties and in the spirit of those two words, БІЛЬШ НІКОЛИ - “never again”, at the end of today’s debate there will be an unusual display of goodwill among all parties and respect for the millions who perished,” said Wrzesnewskyj.

It's not common (nor likely very easy) for politicians to put aside partisan differences. But in this case, they did, in order to focus on doing the right thing. And for that they are all to be commended.

“This bill is about recognizing a historic wrong ignored by the West," said Bezan. "The communist ideology of Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin targeted and exterminated millions of Ukrainian men, women and children through forced famine.”

The Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day Act not only establishes every fourth Saturday of November a memorial day commemorating this atrocity, but also recognizes the Holodomor as a genocide.

“It is important that this bill be recognized by Parliament and the Government of Canada, which will allow us to honour the victims and survivors of the Holodomor that are in Canada, Ukraine and around the world. It will also let Ukraine and the International community know that Canada supports calling Holodomor, a genocide,” said Senator Andreychuk.

Ukrainian President, Victor Yushchenko has been visiting Canada this week and had asked for Canada’s support in recognizing the Holodomor as genocide. Bezan met the President and personally discussed the bill with him on Monday during the President’s state visit to Ottawa.

The bill was introduced last year as Ukrainian-Canadians and the international community marked the start of the 75th anniversary of one of the most heinous crimes in modern history - the state-sponsored Famine-Genocide of 1932-33 perpetrated by the communist regime under Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin against the Ukrainian people.

Well done, Canada!

Article on Ukrainian president paints realistic portrait

This article in the Toronto Star paints a very good, IMO, picture of Ukraine's president. It depicts Yushchenko as the statesman that he is, and reminds readers that if he hasn't been as strong as some would have liked him to be, he had a legitimate reason. He was poisoned, and physically weakened as a result.

A pragmatist, Yushchenko is clearly a tortoise to Yulia's hare (pardon the pun). He has no illusions of being able to create, much less any intention of trying to deliver, a utopia disguised as democracy to the Ukrainian people. This assuming all his rivals are sincere and merely trying misguidedly to deliver that grand vision to the Ukrainian people. And you have to admit that is a highly unlikely probability.

The author of the article also pins down a political situation in Canada that no doubt has the thugs at the helm of whatever the old KGB has morphed into gnashing their teeth. In which case, I am happy for their dentists.

Yushchenko has very nice things to say about Canada and the Ukrainian community here. Hopefully, despite the dashed hopes of the Orange Revolution, his visit and kind words will energize the community and give it a renewed focus. He really is a statesman. Perhaps that explains the endless standing ovation in Parliament (recorded here) by Canadian politicians.

Read the article here.

Video clip of Yushchenko's visit to Canada

For those who, like me, were not able to see Ukraine's President Yushchenko in person or hear him speak, here's a video with clips of his parliamentary address as well as Canadian Prime Minister Harper's. The editing is a bit choppy in spots, and the text commentary is redundant (to say the least), but otherwise I enjoyed the opportunity to see and hear what was said in our parliament. It was very nice to hear.



The original from CPAC is here. More clips at CTV and CBC. And of course, lots at UkrainaTV here.

That Eurovision song contest

Hello all, and thank you Paulette for the invite!

For my Canadian and American friends reading this, here in "Blighty" we don't take the Eurovision Contest seriously. We watch it to just laugh at how seriously everyone else takes it. So, for your benefit too, here is my tongue in cheek summary as follows for those who saw it :

Russia. I was waiting for the violinist to poke out the eye of the singer. Was he epileptic? Why didnt the singer want to get off his knees? The Ice skater looked like he had wandered onto the set from a dance competition in a neighbouring studio by accidcent. Why didnt the singer just push him, and that mental violinist of the stage?

Serbia. Was there a lighting technician wandering around on the stage? One of the dancers looked like he had got lost. He kept approaching one of the singers as if to tweak something on their costume. Very strange. As for the song? Tried to pull of last years winner with another pseudo classical emotive mish mash. Minor key Balkan mountian side warbling. Rubbish. At least the singer was a bit prettier though.

Croatia. Ah now we're talking! Are they available for any Ukrainian zabavas?

Ukraine. Anilorak looked like she should have been in the strip bar across the road. Maybe she was earlier? Eurovision entry or pole dancing? Looked like a competition between her bottom and her face for most attention. Well, at least it will pump through the speakers of Mediteranean holiday resort clubs this summer. Those thighs could crush coconuts! Ouch!

Greece cute, but should have gone a bit further. You would bring this darling home to your Mum. Make your mind up. Put a pretty knee lengh drees on, or do an Anilorak, get it all off, and strut it.

Iceland. "Its my life and I don't want to change it?" What? Good, go back to Iceland and dont change it then. Who cares? Were the lyrics written by a two year old?

Poland. Polish girl impersonates anguished Essex girl. You got what you deserved, joint bottom with your new westernmost district, the UK. Anyone remember the Brit TV presenter Esther Ranzen? Cruel but tempted to say quite literally a bit long in the tooth.I can see the jokes coming here. Dressed in Blue. Long teeth. Blue tooth. Oops. Stop it.

France and Spain, and Boznia Hercegovina. at least had the courage to perform entries as ridiculous as the whole contest. You're slowly getting the joke boys and girls! Well done! Learning from Ukraine's entry last year. Now that was more like it!

Turkey. Nice enough chorus, but office clerks turned rockers for a night? Please.

Azerbajan? Artic frozen Robbie WIlliams impersonator or an angelic version of one of the X Men? What was that about?

Conclusion.
Cant remember the rest except it all being vaguely amusing. As everyone is so keen to sing in English the best thing the UK could do is "celebrate our multiculturalism" and submit an entry in Polish next year as there are enough of them over here now. That would "throw the cat amongst the pidgeons" for political voting!

Finally, although I am a bit of a night owl, Im not that much of one.
For any future blog reference, the post time displayed is your local time.
Its 11.27 am over here.

Stepan.
www.the-ukrainian.co.uk

Ukraine's President Yushchenko visiting Canada

President Yushchenko is on a 3-day visit to Canada, the first Ukrainian president to visit here in 14 years. He started out in Ottawa:

Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko told a joint session of Parliament Monday that his country is making quick progress on its democratic path and is working on overcoming remaining challenges such as corruption.

After brief remarks and an introduction by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Yushchenko began his speech by thanking Canada for welcoming so many Ukrainian immigrants and for being the first Western country to recognize Ukraine's independence in 1991. ...

Yushchenko thanked Harper for Canada's support in its bid to become a member of NATO, a contentious issue among some of the alliance's members. ... [He] also raised the issue of the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine known as the Holodomor. ... A private member's bill is currently before Parliament that calls on the Canadian government to officially recognize the famine as a genocide. ...

The president has a full itinerary for the rest of the day, including an awards ceremony where Senator Raynell Andreychuk and Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj will be given the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. ...

Full article here.

Speaking of awards, President Y. will be giving one in Toronto as well, to my writing mentor and role model...

[A]uthor Marsha Skrypuch hopes to snatch a few words with Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko when he gives her a state honour at a ceremony in Toronto on Wednesday.

Skrypuch will receive the Order of Princess Olha, Class III: the highest honour the country bestows on foreign citizens. The medal recognizes her books about the 1932-1933 Ukrainian famine, which killed up to 10 million people. ...

A writer of award-winning books for children and young adults, Skrypuch has carved a significant career crafting fiction from the facts of historic atrocities.

In 2000, she wrote Enough, a picture book based on a folktale about a young girl's attempts to save her village from starvation during the Ukrainian famine. The Holodomor also inspired her story called "The Rings", published in Kobzar's Children, a 2006 anthology of Ukrainian-Canadian writings which she also edited.

Full article here. More about Marsha here and here.

President Y. will visit Winnipeg as well, but his planned visit to Edmonton was cancelled (presumably his handlers felt time was just too tight for him to travel that far).

It's a thrill to have him here for any length of time. But hopefully he'll return to Canada soon, and spend some time out west.