Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake and speak in support of Bill S-210, a bill that aims to designate September as Ukrainian heritage month.
The first documented Ukrainian immigrants came to Canada in 1891 and settled east of Edmonton at Edna, which is now known as Star, Alberta. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians came to Canada during this first wave. They brought with them farming practices, culture, language and incredible resilience. During the First World War, while thousands of first-wave Ukrainians signed up to fight and defend Canada, thousands of Ukrainian Canadians from the Austro-Hungarian Empire were classified by the Government of Canada as enemy aliens and interned in camps across Canada. Throughout their time interned, they experienced large amounts of forced labour, building national monuments, like Banff National Park, that many Canadians enjoy today.
However, after World War I, there was a second wave of Ukrainian immigrants to Canada. At this time, the land in Ukraine had been used as a battleground, leaving entire communities destroyed and thousands of displaced Ukrainians. Many of these displaced Ukrainians were farmers, professionals and intellectuals who came to Canada so they could rebuild their lives. The already strong, rich, vibrant community of Ukrainian Canadians from the first wave of immigration, combined with similar farmlands, made Canada an ideal place for these Ukrainians to find a new home. The conditions were incredibly harsh, but Ukrainians came and they persevered. They created communities, built churches and schools and shared their culture with their new neighbours.
My great-grandparents came to Canada from Ukraine over 100 years ago in the second wave of immigration, and they homesteaded in Gilwood, Alberta, outside of High Prairie in northern Alberta. They faced tremendous hardships, like the many others who came to homestead in this densely forested landscape.
They survived in large part due to the relationships they were able to forge with local indigenous peoples, who showed them traditional harvesting of berries, hunting techniques and how to build homes so that they could survive the incredibly cold prairie winters. Early Ukrainian settlers in the Prairies relied on this traditional knowledge from the indigenous peoples in the region to survive and adapt to their new environment. In exchange, Ukrainians shared their beloved babushkas, flower-printed scarves now known by generations of indigenous people as kokum scarves.
These kokum scarves, tracing back to Ukrainian trade with local indigenous communities, have now been adopted into indigenous cultural practices, including in powwows, fashion and home wear. The floral scarf was found to have similarities to Cree, Dene and Métis beadwork, which led to the communities' sharing of knowledge and culture. The scarves then symbolized a shared history between the Ukrainian Canadian community and indigenous groups, and created relationships, trade opportunities and a welcoming of each other into their communities, an impression that lasted for generations to come.
One of the many symbols of Ukrainian resilience is the spread of a rich and strong Ukrainian Canadian culture through Ukrainian food, dance, newspapers, bilingual schools and monuments. Ukrainian dance has been a way for many young Ukrainian Canadians to connect with their culture and know their heritage. I was lucky enough as a kid to dance with the Fort McMurray Avrora Ukrainian Dancers community, the dance troupe that my son now dances with. It was an opportunity for me and for countless Ukrainians to learn about the culture, to learn about the community and to learn new traditions.
Beyond that, Ukrainian Canadians were instrumental in preserving the Ukrainian identity during times of Russian oppression. What some people might not understand is that the key and the theme of resilience in the Ukrainian community is so incredibly important because through history, Ukrainians have had to fight Russian oppression in so many different spaces and places. Ukrainian Canadians helped preserve their Ukrainian identity, ensuring this rich culture lived on. Over generations, Ukrainian communities kept the Ukrainian heritage and culture alive, even while Ukraine was suffering under Soviet oppression, at a time when Ukrainians were having their culture systemically stripped from them and erased by the Soviet Union.
One example of Ukrainian Canadians preserving Ukrainian culture is dance. Early immigrants brought their vibrant folk dances to the community. These dances were eventually professionalized with dance companies, such as the Shumka Dancers in Edmonton, which is a perfect example of the mark Ukrainian Canadians have left on Canadian society as a whole.
Shumka, which was established in 1959, is distinguished and world-class. It has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, prime ministers and presidents, and they shared the stage with figures such as Andrea Bocelli, Julie Andrews and countless Ukrainian artists. They have performed across Canada and in tours across the world, including in China and the beloved Ukraine. This goes to show that Ukrainian cultural expression in Canada is alive and strong, leaving a mark on our nation and around the world.
Having a strong Ukrainian community that is resilient and passionate was shown also in our strength and recognition of the Holodomor, a despicable and evil,man-made genocide famine by Stalin, which systemically tried to kill Ukrainians simply for being Ukrainian. The very first monument for the Holodomor in the entire world was built in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1983. It was built at a time when speaking of the Holodomor in Ukraine was not allowed, as they were still under Soviet rule. This was the very first time that truth to power was spoken, and that was in the western world. It was an incredibly powerful sentiment to the Ukrainian people, and it demonstrated our strong ties and connections.
In fact, when President Zelenskyy came here just a few years ago, he mentioned the importance of that very monument and what it meant for the Ukrainian people. The U.S.S.R. had intentionally hid this famine, which it had created, from the world, so putting truth to words and having a monument to this was incredibly important. However, the creation of this monument was just one example of the Canadian-Ukrainian community and its strong ties.
One interesting piece that I would like to share that shows part of the Ukrainian-Canadian culture, and anyone who has driven through the Prairies would have seen them, are the beautiful onion dome churches that dot the prairie landscape. When Ukrainian communities came to Canada, they brought their strongly rooted faith with them. As they set up communities, they built these stunningly beautiful churches, which are still alive and well on the Prairies. Many of them still welcome parishioners on Sundays for mass.
One of these western-Canadian Ukrainian churches is here in the national capital region. It is the St. Onuphrius Ukrainian Catholic Church, which came from just outside of Smoky Lake, Alberta. It is located within the Canadian Museum of History and is an active parish that has mass, I am told, once a year so that it can stay an active parish. It gives an opportunity to commemorate, honour and remember the continuing importance and impact that the vibrant Ukrainian community has on both Canada's history and on Canadian society today.
This strong community has created generations of hard-working, high-achieving, outstanding figures, whether it was the first Canadian female to walk in space, Roberta Bondar; the “great one” and hockey superstar, Wayne Gretzky; or people in the political sphere, like the first Ukrainian elected to a provincial legislature, which happened in Alberta, Andrew Shandro. He is a relative of a former Alberta MLA, Tyler Shandro, who is a great friend of mine and UCC board member. I give a shout-out to Tyler. There is also the late, great Gene Zwozdesky, who was the former speaker of Alberta's legislature. Before getting into politics, he was involved with the Alberta Shumka Dancers and went on to become their music director. In Alberta, that is very common.
There is also Ed Stelmach, a former premier of Alberta, and his spectacular wife Marie, who came from Andrew, Alberta, and were fundamental in establishing the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village east of Edmonton, which unfortunately sustained some fires but is still spectacular. Part of why we talk about these things is that it is not just about being Ukrainian; it is creating a culture that is alive and well today.
In conclusion, the Ukrainian community is strong, passionate and important to contemporary culture and society in Canada. Conservatives have and will continue to support Ukraine as it fights oppression from Russia and Putin.