How
Many Organizations Do We Need?
By Walter Kish
Since I first got involved with Ukrainian
organizations some forty years ago, I have always been puzzled and somewhat
dismayed by how many of them there are.
The proliferation of associations, federations, leagues, foundations,
congresses, committees, clubs, brotherhoods, etc. etc. just boggles the
mind. The hoariest clich about
Ukrainians is that wherever you find three Ukrainians, you will find at least
five Ukrainian organizations. I used to
think that it was a Canadian-Ukrainian affliction, until I learned that the
same disease is alive and well in the Homeland as well, as exemplified by the
mind-boggling number of political parties that currently exist in Ukraine
today. We seem to have an inordinate
proclivity when it comes to organizations to divide and replicate faster than a
flu virus.
Now granted, there is a
positive side to having a certain amount of variety and diversity; nonetheless
beyond a certain point we pay a price as a community. At a time when most Ukrainian organizations
in Canada
are struggling to maintain financial and operational viability, it is
incomprehensible to me why more serious efforts are not being made towards
merging existing organizations. Surely,
by pooling our assets, finances and membership resources, we would be better
able to satisfy the educational, cultural, political and social requirements of
the Ukrainian community. Instead, year
by year, we see more and more organizations and their branches disappear into
history.
Most of the Ukrainian
organizations still in existence in Canada
were formed many, many decades ago in the early part of the last century,
usually on the basis of political beliefs or special interests whose relevance
today is minimal. The two largest, the
Ukrainian National Federation and the League of Ukrainian Canadians with their
youth group SUM coalesced, respectively, around the old world rift between the
Melnyk and Bandera factions of the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian
Nationalists).
Aside as items of
historical research and curiosity, those politics are of minimal relevance to
the younger generations of Ukrainian Canadians.
Nonetheless, these two organizations continue to operate essentially in
separate worlds, coming together only on rare ceremonial occasions. At the ground roots branch level there are
few touch points and there is little movement towards regular cooperation,
never mind merging halls and resources.
We seem to be stuck in a kind of organizational inertia, recognizing
that our existing organizational models are become increasingly irrelevant or
impractical, yet lacking the initiative or motivation to do anything about it.
For the past three months
or so, I have been working in Oshawa
with a motivated group of people of my generation in a committee that planned a
series of Holodomor commemoration activities that took place last week. Although I was particularly gratified by the
success of the events and the impact they had on the Ukrainian community in Oshawa,
what pleased me more was the dynamic and spirit of our committee. It was composed of representatives from all
the major Ukrainian organizations and faiths in the area, including the UNF,
League/SUM, the Catholics and the Orthodox.
It was no surprise to me that we shared similar interests, hopes, vision
and dedication towards maintaining and developing Ukrainian culture and
identity within the community. What was
surprising was the fact that this was the first time that all these different
groups had cooperated to this degree in a major, united community effort. It took the efforts of a couple of motivated
individuals to bring everybody together and persuade them we all really share
the same goals and interests, and that the organizational labels or prejudices
that we may have accepted in the past should be archived as soon as
possible.
Aside from making the
Holodomor commemoration program a success, I am hopeful that the exercise will
also prove to be the first step in a coming together of all the existing Ukrainian
“solitudes” in Oshawa
into one united community.
Throughout Ukraine’s
history, external forces have continuously sought to divide our people in order
to keep us subjugated. Over the past
century, we were finally given the opportunity to determine our own fate. We have had our “ups and downs” as historical
and political forces sought to derail our aspirations. With a free Ukraine,
we now have a golden opportunity to achieve what our ancestors could only dream
about. It is therefore somewhat ironic that
the forces dividing us today, be it in Ukraine or
in Canada,
are no longer primarily external, but internal.
Why do we still tolerate
outdated and irrelevant divisions? It is
time to make more serious efforts at breaking down the political and religious
barriers and becoming a more united and cohesive Ukrainian community.