Ukrainian Immigrant Experience in Canada Essay Example for Free

Ukrainian Immigrant Experience in Canada Essay Soviet Union was suffering dissolution after an abortive coup in Moscow when Ukraine, formerly a European Soviet, emerged as an independent nation on August 24, 1991. Right after coming into existence, the new born nation undertook a strenuous and all-embracing economic, constitutional and political reform. Canada was the first western country to acknowledge Ukraine’s independent status on December 2, 1991. (Luciuk and Bohdan p. 12) Thenceforward Canada has constantly been helping out Ukraine sustain as an independent sovereign nation giving an impetus to close and healthy relations between the two countries. However this close association finds its origins in the past hundred years of Ukranian migration to Canada. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Ukrainian immigration to Canada started about a century ago, when on September 7, 1891, two peasants Ivan Pylypiw and Vasyl Eleniak, arrived at the Canadian metropolis Montreal from their home village Nebyliw in Eastern Galicia. The peasants’ landing was a precursor to an influx of Ukrainian immigrants to Canadian mainland marking the beginning of a step to progress. (Gerus and Rea p. 46) Several crucial factors impelled the Ukrainians to migrate to Canada, the major ones being the national inequalities and social prejudices, malnutrition, and illiteracy. The financial plight of the Ukrainian citizens promised them nothing but a dismal and bleak future. While on the other hand, 19th century Canada, a land of bright horizons offered large scale immigration opportunities. The much needed manpower to build railways in the country, to boost its urban and industrial infrastructure and manage its mines and forests, opened up the panels for Ukrainian peasants. (Luciuk and Bohdan pp. 121-129) The untapped potential of the Canadian land was enough to lure the dismayed and impoverished immigrants. In the hope of better future prospects for their poverty-stricken families, they left behind their home soil and the loved ones to take up precarious load abroad. Most of the peasants brought along few tools and material for them including money in order to start their rehabilitation themselves. However most importantly, they brought along persistent determination to achieve their aims, a sheer devotion to their traditional and cultural values, which thrive even to date. The initial Ukrainian immigrations were largely agrarian because the majority of the Ukrainians were farmers. They established their communities in different Prairie Provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Since the early Ukrainians were from Galicia and Bukovyna, which were wooded areas located in the Carpathian Mountains as compared to the Canadian Prairie Provinces, they settled in the wooded aspen parklands of Alberta. (Luciuk p. 1) THE IMMIGRANT MOVEMENTS: The arrival of the Ukrainian immigrants to Canada can be generally dissevered into three waves each different from the other in several ways depending on the reasons of migration and conditions which prevailed. The earliest group of immigrants belonged to Halychyna or Galicia. They found the northern Parkland area favorable for their settlement, as it ensured three indispensable natural resources. (a) Wood which would serve as a construction material as well as a source of fuel. (b) Water, to provide for animal and human consumption, (c) Arable land for agriculture. The dawn of World War I marked the end of this earliest wave of settlement in which around 125000 Ukrainians established their livelihood in Canada. (Gerus and Rea pp. 52-64) After World War II, the second wave of immigrants arrived between the years 1924 and 1929. This lot of immigrants differed from the previous one in a way that it constituted mostly farm laborers, political expatriates and Ukrainian soldiers who had fought against Poland and Russian communists. This wave comprised almost 225000 Ukrainians. (Lupul p. 75) During 1947 to 1952, arrived the third badge of Ukrainian immigrants including most of those who had been forcefully subjected to slavery in Germany. They had no desire to return to now Soviet-powered Ukraine after the end of war. This group of immigrants was the most skilled of all as it comprised of professionals, musicians and scientists who came probably from the more privileged section of the society. These skilled professionals tended to adjust quickly as they had a better chance of availing the educational and extensive training opportunities as compared to the previous deprived immigrants. (Gerus and Rea p. 69) Finally the most recent surge of Ukrainians to Canada occurred after its declaration of independence in 1991. Relatively smaller in size, this group of immigrants principally chose to populate the urban centres, which sets them apart from their predecessors who tended to inhabit both urban and rural areas. WORLD WAR I: The outbreak of World War I left the Ukrainian immigrants and Bishop Budka (first Ukrainian Bishop in Canada) aghast. As the world-wide international matters took a sharp turn, the Ukrainians also like the other Eastern Europeans confronted great upheavals in the form of increased discrimination. (Kaye p. 83) Not only the immigration suffered a hitch but it also imposed restrictions on the already living Ukrainians in Canada. Since Ukrainian immigrants to Canada mostly came from Galicia, which fell partly under the control of Austrian Empire, they tended to hold Austrian citizenship. For that matter the Ukrainian immigrants were suspected by the Canadian authorities. It was a sheer misfortune that when the heir to the Austrian throne was killed by a Bosnian Serb on June 28, 1914, Bishop Budka issued a letter just a day back exhorting all Ukrainians to abide by the Austrian cause. The following day, Austria raged war on Russia as Serbia was her ally. When Great Britain raged war against Germany, Bishop Budka had to retract his stand and therefore he issued another letter, this time siding for the British stance. But the damage could not be recompensed. The Canadian government translated its suspicions into official policy and declared on August 15, that all foreign enemies residing in Canada were liable to imprisonment, disenfranchisement and deportation. (Kaye p. 186) INTERNMENT CAMPS: The World War 1 changed the local attitudes towards Ukrainian immigrants to a great extent. They had to endure a long struggle through harsh policies of the government and atrocities of the war. The implementation of the War Measures Act (1914) further aggravated the situation, disenfranchising all those settlers who entered Canada after 1902. Those who failed to follow the new orders were sent to internment camps. (Lupul p. 121) Already, the immigrants from Eastern Europe had not been able to immediately blend with the Anglo-Canadian community; much fuel to the fire was added by the World War 1. The anti-foreign sentiment borne out by the war drove an English-speaking delegation to petition the officials for the detainment and exile of all Ukrainians from the province. Consequently a large number of Ukrainians lost their jobs in Canada and were placed in internment camps behind fences. Those Ukrainians who tried to serve in the Canadian forces were regarded as untrustworthy and thus rejected. The Ukrainian internees were subsequently used by the Canadian government to help develop their infrastructure. Through forceful means they were subjected to back-breaking labor for the growth of mining, logging, transportation and agriculture in the country. Grand projects like Banff National Park, logging industry in Northern Ontario and Quebec, steel mills in Central Canada, the mines in Western Canada, Ontario and Nova Scotia were only a few fruitions of the Ukrainian drudgery. Canadian officials found these poor corvees to such an extent that the internment prolonged to two years even after the end of World War I. The horrid situation of the despondent Ukrainian Canadians was finally noticed by the Prime Minister Paul Martin in August, 2005, who referred to internment as a â€Å"dark chapter† in the history of Canada. A pledge of $2. 5 million was declared to recompense for the immigrants. However, to much dismay of the hapless citizenry, neither the promised funds, nor a legal settlement came true by June 2007. (Luciuk and Kordan p. 52) EDUCATIONAL REFORM: After a bleak period of war and subjectivity, the enlightened Ukrainians paved the way to enormous educational activity. There was an upswing of journalistic trend among the contemporary Ukrainians. An Increasing number of teachers and University students took up journalism as the only medium, to inform, direct and guide the befuddled fellow masses. They realized that education was their only weapon to bring about a change and they propagated this notion widely. Manitoba was the first Canadian province to witness a transition. Educational institutes opened in Ukrainian settlements. However the Ukrainian people apprehended that the aims of these academies could be to drive Ukrainian children away from their culture and traditions. They desired their children to be taught by the Ukrainian-speaking teachers rather than English-speaking instructors because of the widely-accepted belief that the English teacher did not always have much reverence for other cultures. Predictably enough, all other languages except English were banned in public schools in Manitoba. Since 1916 to date, ardent Ukrainian Bilingual teachers of Happy Thought School have managed to keep their cultural heritage alive. The more promising growth could be witnessed on the University level at Canadian universities. The fervent efforts of the two non-Ukrainian professors George Simpson of the University of Saskatchewan and Watson Kirkconnell of Acadia University introduced Ukrainian scholarships in the academic convention. (Kaye pp. 92-101) The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta, the Centre for Ukrainian Canadians Studies ( St. Andrews College) at the University of Manitoba and the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto are the most highlighted educational centers. This long-deprived citizenry of immigrants not only recognized the power of education, but also evolved print media as a major source of cultural dissemination. The Ukrainian Canadians produced prolific publications offering a thorough range of genres including popular literature as well as critically acclaimed academic journals in their native language. RACIAL HOSTILITIES: Apart from the social inequalities, the Ukrainian immigrants also had to suffer at the hands of racial discrimination by the Anglo-Canadian denizens. The distinct nature of Ukrainian ways of dressing up, their habits and traditions, language and religion provoked much resentment among the Canadian citizenry. They ridiculed the immigrants largely because they had their own ways prominently different from the British ways and practices.