Articles about Yuzyk contribution

Announcement by Hon. Jason Kenney

Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

Winnipeg Canadian Club, November 13, 2008 (speech excerpt)

 …It is fitting that my first opportunity to speak broadly about my new portfolio comes here in Winnipeg, a city that knows the benefits of immigration and which is, in many ways, the capital of Canadian multiculturalism.  It’s also a city where I spent part of my childhood … 

Friends, let me tell you what an honour it is to serve as Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism. In some ways I feel as though I am a custodian of Canada’s future. 

Whenever I travel abroad, or receive foreign visitors here at home, I am struck by how enthusiastically the rest of the world sees our model of pluralism and immigration.  That success is no accident. It is the result of our history, of the values rooted in that history. A history of accommodating differences in culture, language, and religion, rather than trying to impose a false conformity. And an abiding belief in values like ordered liberty, human dignity, and freedom of conscience.

Winnipeg is a classic example where, where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet, and names like La Verendrye, Lord Selkirk, Fr. Lafleche, and Louis Riel helped shape the future. We have learned, and benefited, from the creative tension between English and French; Aboriginal and Metis; Protestant and Catholic, differences that existed in this newest part of the new world from before the Red River Colony. It wasn’t always easy, and it certainly wasn’t always peaceful. It was, and still is, a long road. A road built by many great Canadians.

One of those great Canadians was a Winnipegger named Paul Yuzyk, the Senator for Fort Garry. Long before he was appointed to the Red Chamber by John Diefenbaker (as one of the first Parliamentarians of eastern European origin), Senator Yuzyk was a professor of history at the University of Manitoba, and the author of several books on Ukrainian history in Canada. 

In 1963, when the Pearson government brought in the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, Yuzyk’s was the first voice to be raised on behalf of the one-third of Canadians who were neither British nor French. In so doing, Yuzyk identified the “third force.” Yuzyk was undoubtedly inspired by the prescient words of Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan), who in 1936 told a Manitoba audience from the Ukrainian community that “You will all be better Canadians for being also good Ukrainians.”

Paul Yuzyk paid tribute to the French and British founding, and the Aboriginal peoples who had come before. But he added, in his maiden speech in the Senate in 1964, that “with the setting up of other ethnic groups, which now make up almost a third of the population, Canada has become multicultural in fact.” He became known as the “Father of Multiculturalism.” 

Today, to perpetuate his memory, and to strengthen the vision of unity in diversity” to which he was so devoted, I am pleased to announce that the government is creating the annual Paul Yuzyk Award, which will be presented each year to an individual or organization that has demonstrated excellence in promoting the multiculturalism for which he stood.

Friends, I have recounted some of this history in order to remind us that the open, pluralistic society that we enjoy today isn’t an accident, or some recent innovation.  It is a product of our history. But as we look to the future, we cannot, and must not, take for granted the success of Canada’s pluralism. Today, as we maintain historically-high levels of immigration, and as our biggest cities become increasingly diverse, we must act deliberately to maintain strong social cohesion, and a common sense of Canadian identity.

This means we must continue to adapt our idea of multiculturalism to meet today’s challenges …  

NP – Senator Paul Yuzyk was the first Ukrainian Canadian appointed to the Senate of Canada. He served Canada’s Upper Chamber for 23 years until his death in 1986. Senator Yuzyk was born in 1913 in Pinto, Sask. His encountered discrimination as a young teacher in search of a teaching position, denied to him because he was a “foreigner”. This strengthened his resolve to seek recognition for non-British and Non-French Canadian citizens. In his maiden speech in the Senate, entitled “Canada: A Multicultural Nation”, he voiced the concerns of many ethnic groups that Canadians must accept the fact that Canada is not a country of two solitudes. Multiculturalism was the subject of rancorous debate until 1971, when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced the official policy of Multiculturalism in the House of Commons – provided by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. 

In 1934, Paul Yuzyk was the first national president of the Ukrainian National Youth Federation of Canada (MUNO), and he founded the Ukrainian Student’s Union of Canada (SUSK), serving as first national president in the early 1950s.

Debates of the Senate

Hansard, 1^st Session, 23^rd Parliament,
Vol. 130, No. 159, Thursday, July 24, 1986

Hon. Rheal Belisle: 

Honourable senators, may I be permitted to make some remarks, to recall some anecdotes and to comment on Senator Paul Yuzyk’s role in the Senate. On February 4, 1963, four new and young senators were sworn in to take their seats in this honoured Senate chamber. They were Senator Paul Yuzyk, Senator David Walker, Senator Orville Phillips and your servant. Senator Paul Yuzyk became the longest-serving Ukrainian to be appointed to the Canadian Parliament’s Upper Chamber. His maiden speech on March 3, 1963, entitled, “Canada: A Multicultural Nation”, was warmly received by his colleagues. He voiced the concern of several ethnic groups that Canadians must accept the fact that they live in a multicultural nation, not a country of two solitudes comprised of the British and the French.

Multiculturalism was a subject of rancorous debate in the Canadian media when the idea was first brought up by Senator Yuzyk. Now, after more than two decades of acceptance, the concept unobtrusively manifests itself on Parliament Hill during Canada Day when ethnocultural performing groups delight crowds; in the precincts of Parliament, such as in this chamber when former Governor General Edward Shreyer delivered a segment of his installation speech in Ukrainian; and in the dozens of schools in western Canada where children take courses in English and in Ukrainian.

Senator Yuzyk’s campaign for multiculturalism was capped in 1971 when the then Liberal Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Pierre Trudeau, told the nation that the government, after extensive deliberations, would introduce an official policy on multiculturalism. The policy, which committed the government to supporting ethnocultural endeavours, was endorsed by all parties.

During the past two decades, Senator Yuzyk served on a variety of national and international bodies. From 1972 on he was active in the North Atlantic Assembly, NATO, particularly in the Committee on Education, Cultural Affairs and Information. In 1977 he was elected the rapporteur of the Subcommittee on the Free Flow of Information and People.

Multiculturalism was just one of the many challenges that attracted the senator. At times his involvement in the fight for human rights at home and abroad consumed a great deal of his time and resources. He was a regular speaker at demonstrations against the abuse of human rights in the Soviet Union.

Additionally, the senator served as Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians, and as Vice-Chairman of the Canadian Parliamentary Delegation at Helsinki. When he returned from Helsinki, he was convinced that the role of Russia was a political stunt and that they had no intention whatsoever of honouring their pledge.

When a Canadian delegation went to Russia in 1975, the leader of the group, the Honourable James Jerome, then Speaker of the House of Commons, selected a delegation of four senators and eight members of the House of Commons. The four senators selected were Senator Raymond Perrault, the then Leader of the Government, Senator Paul Yuzyk, Senator William Petten and myself. The U.S.S.R. ambassador in Ottawa refused to provide a visa to Senator Yuzyk because of his role on the International and Canadian Human Rights Commission. When Senator Yuzyk informed me that he had been refused permission to visit his father’s homeland, he was very upset and I am sure that he never forgot that event. At that time I told him that he would be with us in spirit and that I would request permission from them to visit the only Catholic church that was open in Moscow. At a state dinner, I did request Mr. Brezhnev’s assistant to take me to church, and the whole Canadian delegation of 12 attended Mass. I had also said to Paul that when we visited Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, I would ask to go to church. I did ask President Nikolai Podgorny, who was a Ukrainian, and they took me to the only Orthodox cathedral open in Kiev.

Senator Yuzyk was a member of the Canadian delegation to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Madrid Review Conference in 1980 and was a Canadian observer at the 1985 CSCE Human Rights Experts Meeting in Ottawa.

A large number of Ukrainian Canadians revered Senator Yuzyk for his efforts at stimulating the growth of the organized Ukrainian community. He is credited with helping to establish the Ukrainian National Youth Federation, the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood and the Ukrainian Canadian Committee. Senator Yuzyk was also a founder of the Ukrainian Student Union ‘SUSK’ an organization which strongly supported his call for a federal multiculturalism policy.

A true scholar who believed that serious study is a prerequisite to career advancement, Senator Yuzyk seemed as at home in the classroom as he did making a speech on the floor of the’ Senate. He was appointed assistant professor of Slavic Studies and History at the University of Manitoba in 1951 and stepped up to associate professor in 1958. From 1966 to 1978 he was a full professor at the University of Ottawa where he taught part-time courses on Central and Eastern Europe, Russian and Soviet history, and Canadian-Soviet relations.

Among his academic achievements were a B.A. in mathematics and physics in 1945; an honours B.A. in history in 1947; an M.A. in history in 1948 and a doctor of philosophy degree in history from the University of Minnesota in 1958.

As you all know, Senator Yuzyk was a member of many committees. He and I both enjoyed working on Senator Croll’s Poverty Committee, and on the Science Policy Committee headed by the late Senator Lamontagne. He enjoyed working on the Foreign Affairs Committee, on NATO, on Defence, and, last but not least, Senator Yuzyk was deputy chairman of Senator Hebert’s Committee on Youth.

Senator Yuzyk wrote more than half a dozen books and contributed several opinion pieces to Ukrainian and mainstream newspapers. His work: “Ukrainian Canadians: Their Place and Role in Canadian Life” was considered one of the best works on Ukrainians in Canada. His other published works include: “The Ukrainians in Manitoba: A Social History”, which was written with a fellowship from the Manitoba Historical Society; “For a Better Canada”, and “The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada”, an edited version of his doctoral thesis.

In 1980 the University of Ottawa Press published a widely discussed work: “A Statistical Compendium on the Ukrainians in Canada 1896-1976”, which Senator Yuzyk co-edited with William Darcovich.

It was a rare day that Senator Yuzyk, who lived with his wife in an Ottawa suburb, would not spend at least part of his waking hours engaged in one community cause or another. Perhaps his most notable community role was holding the UNA’s top executive office in Canada. He was first elected to that position in 1970, when the title was Vice-President. Later, the title was revised to Supreme Director for Canada to better reflect the UNA’s role in Canada. Senator Yuzyk was re-elected to that position for the fourth time at the 31st UNA Convention, held in Dearborn, Michigan, in May of this year.

Senator Yuzyk’s last official trip was in May 1986 when he travelled to Europe for a meeting of the North Atlantic Assembly.

Because of his enormous work and contribution to all spheres of our Senate duties, I hope and pray that when the federal government plans an important project or building regarding multiculturalism in Canada, his name will be favoured and considered most seriously. I am convinced that, when historians write about the Senate, Senator Paul Yuzyk will have his name selected for his multiculturism contribution.

Some three years ago, when the senator was informed that they had found positive signs of cancer, he said: “Rheal, don’t worry; by a severe diet and by being extremely careful, I will beat it.” I said: “Why don’t you take life easy and relax? You are not eternal; you will be replaced like every one of us.” He said: “Yes, I will be replaced; I do not worry. If I live, I will continue to fight for my people; I will continue to serve Him. If I die, I will see Him and live with Him forever.”

Well, as you know, on July 9, at the age of 73, after a brief battle with cancer, he passed away.

His funeral was held at the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame on Sussex Drive in Ottawa, and people came from across Canada and the U.S.A. The celebrants were Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk of Winnipeg, Bishop Isidore Borecky of Toronto, Reverend Vladimir Shewchuk, his parish priest, and, with other priests, they celebrated one of the nicest and longest religious ceremonies that I have ever attended, while the Ukrainian Choir of Ottawa prayed and sang for two and a half hours. The six honorary pallbearers were the Honourable Don Mazankowski, Deputy Prime Minister, representing The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, myself representing the Senate, the Honourable David Crombie, Minister of Multiculturalism, and three of his close friends, Dr. L. Kawula, General J. Romanow and Colonel B. Yarymovich. I was pleased to see such a large turn out, so many senators and members of the House of Commons and, most of all, so many ethnic organizations.

His son, Theodore, asked me at the funeral home if it would be possible to have the funeral procession pass in front of the Senate, and I said: “Why not?” I contacted our Chief of Security, Mr. R. Gladstone, and, with the co-operation of the RCMP, two Mounted Policemen in red tunics were posted on each side of the Senate door. Chief Gladstone and the Leader of the Government, the Honourable Lowell Murray, took the salute. The Honourable Don Mazankowski, the Honourable Royce Frith, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the two whips, Senator Phillips and Senator Petten, and a group of nine other senators stood at attention while Senator Yuzyk was slowly driven by the Senate door for the last time.

Honourable senators, in concluding I would like to tell Mrs. Mary Yuzyk who is now in the Senate gallery how much my wife and I appreciated their good companionship and friendship, and how much I enjoyed working with Paul.

Not only were we sworn in together, but before Paul moved his family from Winnipeg to Ottawa and I did the same with mine we shared the same apartment and here, for three years, the same office.

Paul’s unfailing faith towards his creator, his wife and his children was convincing and enriching. His devotion to Ukrainians and all ethnic groups in this country made him a highly respected champion. His contribution to the progress of our Canadian mosaic made him the cultural witness who helped enormously to promote our multiculturalism. Thus Canadians are the envy and enjoy the respect of all nations.

Hon. Royce Frith (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): 

Honourable senators, Senator Belisle has been so thorough in his research and so accurate in his recollection of his long association with Senator Yuzyk that, speaking for my colleagues on this side, I think I can best start by supporting everything he has said and thank him for his thoroughness and scholarship, particularly appropriate when dealing with our scholarly colleague who left us earlier this monthI remember Senator Yuzyk when I was a member of the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission, the B and B Commission as it was called, B and B meaning bilingualism and biculturalism. Senator Yuzyk, quite early in the life of that commission, appeared before it and was an active proponent of what he called the “third force.” He and I disagreed on that description because I did not think that the force he was referring to could be said to be a “third force” in the sense that it did not have the linguistic homogeneity that the other two major language groups in the country have. However, that was just a technicality because Senator Yuzyk was more concerned with the force that he was speaking of than whether it was the third force or not. He lived to see his ideals and his work reach important fruition because, as Senator Belisle has said, although that commission was concerned with bilingualism and biculturalism, it saw most of its recommendations given effect in legislation concerning bilingualism rather than biculturalism, but Senator Yuzyk lived to see multiculturalism recognized as the partner to bilingualism. As Senator Belisle has said, the funeral ceremonies that took place earlier this month paid very moving testimony to the impact that Senator Yuzyk had on Canadian life. And I must also reinforce what Senator Belisle has said about what a conscientious and hard-working and effective senator Senator Yuzyk was.So while I may not have agreed with him on this question of “third force,” I have no doubt at all about how strong a force Senator Yuzyk was in Canadian life and how he will be missed as the ideals he worked for are vindicated in the continuing multicultural evolution of Canadian society.

Some Hon. Senators:

Hear, hear.

Hon. Duff Roblin: 

Honourable senators, having been born and bred in Manitoba myself, I have a special reason for associating myself with the eloquent testimony Senator Belisle has rendered to the memory and the achievement of our colleague, Senator Paul Yuzyk.

I recall well his first appearance on the stage, if I may put it that way, in my native province where he emerged as man who was establishing for himself an intellectual reputation, an academic reputation and a cultural reputation which served to underline his views of the contribution which the various ethnic groups could make to the development and growth of our nation. In Manitoba we are sensitive, indeed, to the contribution which so many different people from so many different places have made to the growth and development of our province, to say nothing of the Canadian nation itself.

The appointment of Paul Yuzyk to the Senate was one of the most important appointments, I think, that the Right Honourable John Diefenbaker made during his tenure as Prime Minister of Canada. We certainly regarded it as a great compliment to Manitoba. It was more than that because it gave Paul Yuzyk a platform from which he could speak to the people of the various ethnic groups in the nation and from which he could speak to all Canadians about the values he held so dear and so important to life and to growth.

It was not multiculturalism as such, although that was so important to him, but what lay behind it, namely, human rights, the rights of individuals in this somewhat difficult world. It was the devotion he had to democratic, representative and responsible institutions of government that prompted him to lift his eyes from the Canadian scene, where he was indeed a leader, to take part in the international proceedings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other forums where he had an opportunity to express to the world the ideals for which he stood and to speak for those people in other countries who could not speak for themselves and to whom he felt a special obligation.

We will always remember his contribution to the development of democratic, responsible institutions, his fearlessness in calling attention, wherever he was, to what he felt was wrong and unjust in the area of human rights and his dedication to the principle that the various ethnic groups of this country make a special contribution and that it should be recognized for what it is, part of the very web and woof of our nation.

Paul Yuzyk was given a great opportunity and he made the most of it and we, now, have reason to be grateful for his effort and his contribution.

In making these few remarks about our distinguished colleague whose departure we mourn, I should merely conclude by saying that I know I speak for all in this chamber when I offer a word of sympathy to those whom he leaves behind and hope that they will take comfort in the many happy memories they have of our departed colleague.

Hon. Philippe Deane Gigantes: 

Honourable senators, I would like to say a few words in tribute to Senator Yuzyk. Perhaps I may speak on behalf of the Committee on Youth of which he was a Member and where he gave expression to his enthusiasm, his tolerant attitude, his kindness and his love for young people. His contribution to the Committee’s work was absolutely invaluable. Wherever the Committee met, as soon as he spoke, he immediately made witnesses feel welcome and at ease. With him, we all felt we were in the presence of a holy man.

I also knew him as a teacher. He taught me a number of things. Some of us are wise when we enter the Senate. Some lack that wisdom and are sometimes inclined to talk too much. Senator Yuzyk took me aside and explained, very kindly, how this august Chamber worked and how to go about getting the best possible results. He was the first one to try. I don’t know whether he succeeded. But I am deeply grateful to this gentleman who was not a member of my party and who wanted to help me change for the better.

I also want to say a few words about Senator Yuzyk as an immigrant. When people wonder about the contribution made by immigrants to Canada, they should look at Senator Yuzyk’s contribution in the area of multiculturalism and the contribution made by the various ethnic groups in this country. Those of us who belong to groups other than the two founding nations cannot but be very proud. He projected an image of these groups that was so grand and beyond the human scale of things that if we have a good name in this country, we can say we owe it to him. He set standards for us to achieve, and few of us will be able to live up to those standards. Honourable senators, thank you very much.

Hon. Stanley Haidasz: 

Honourable senators, I would like to join with our colleagues who have just spoken in paying tribute to our friend and colleague, the late Honourable Paul Yuzyk, who served both our country and this institution with dignity and distinction. I shall never forget him. He was a man descended from Ukrainian immigrants, a man who never forgot his roots and who practised and developed further the values of the rich Ukrainian culture and the values of his deep Christian faith.

Having earned a Ph.D. degree in history through hard work and through his talents, he rose in the academic world, not only teaching history as a full professor but, in particular, letting his students know what Canada really is a country made up of people from various parts of the world who are learning to live in harmony and to share the richness of their cultures with their fellow Canadians.

When I first came to know Senator Yuzyk in the early 1960s, at a time when I served in the other place, I grew to admire and respect him more and more as we took part in the work of many parliamentary committees and associations, especially the North Atlantic Assembly and bodies such as the Canadian Association of Slavists, where he was one of the first to use the word “multiculturalism” to explain what it is and means to Canada.

He was also a great fighter for human rights, always abhorring prejudice and fanaticism. He was able to unite many people to work in harmony toward achieving those aspirations which we as Canadians have before us at all times as a society that lives in harmony and values its roots.

I appreciated in particular Senator Yuzyk’s support and advice when as a minister I had the responsibility of implementing the federal government’s policy on multiculturalism, which was announced in the other place by the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau on October 8, 1971. Senator Yuzyk was always a voice of reason, moderation and mutual understanding.

In paying tribute to Senator Yuzyk, I wish also to express my appreciation for the work he did in the Parliamentary Sponsoring Committee of the Baltic Nights on Parliament Hill, which not only is a popular event but also one entrenched as a tradition; an event appreciated not only by members of this house and the other place, but also by the other ethno-cultural communities which sponsor this event.

As was said, we shall miss Paul very much, and we promise to take up the challenge which he has left us, a challenge to make Canada an even better place in which to live.

On this occasion I should like to express to his wife Mary and her family our deepest sympathy in their great personal loss and sorrow.

Hon. Lowell Murray (Leader of the Government): 

Honourable senators, as several of our colleagues have already indicated and as all those who served with our colleague on various parliamentary committees, on Senate committees and in parliamentary associations can attest, he was an exceptionally devoted senator. He was, as Senator Roblin has pointed out, zealously devoted to human rights. He represented this Parliament in monitoring the Helsinki Accords, and no parliamentarian was better informed or took a closer interest in that subject.Senator Yuzyk was a scholar and an historian specializing in Slavic studies and history, and most particularly in the history, culture and language of the Ukrainian people.Senator Belisle has mentioned the eminent prelates of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and representatives of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, all of whom took part in the religious service at his funeral on July 14 at Notre Dame Basilica. Even more touching, I thought, was the presence of youngsters in the uniforms of the youth groups which Paul Yuzyk had formed, encouraged and led all his life; of members of the Royal Canadian Legion for he had served with the Canadian Army in the 1940s and of the host of friends and admirers, many of them of Ukrainian ancestry, who saw in Paul Yuzyk the personification of the multicultural ideal in this country.Our late colleague knew not only the history and culture of the Ukraine, but the incredible saga of the Ukrainian people in Canada, especially Western Canada. In his own time and he made reference to this in the last published interview he gave a few days before his death he had known racial prejudice and discrimination. He had seen the gap between the ideal and the reality in our country, and he laboured all his life to close that gap. To all who came under his influence, his message and his example was one of equality and tolerance, of pride in one’s culture and confidence in Canada.On behalf of the members of the government, I extend our condolences to his wife and family on their personal loss and to the Ukrainian Canadian community on the loss of a distinguished son and leader who will have a special place in their memories and in their history.

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: 

Honourable senators, I should also like to tell Mrs. Yuzyk that the Speaker of the Senate joins with all senators to say that the absence of Senator Yuzyk will be deeply felt in this institution. We will keep the fondest memories.

Deputy prime minister, hundreds attend Ottawa funeral

by Michael B. Bociurkiw
THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY, Sunday, July 20, 1986

OTTAWA – As Canadian flags throughout the national capital region flew at half mast, Sen. Paul Yuzyk, the Ukrainian who drafted Canada’s multiculturalism policy and occupied a seat in the Senate for 23 years, was buried here July 14.

Deputy Prime Minister Donald Mazankowsky, Secretary of State and Multiculturalism Minister David Crombie, members of Parliament, senators, representatives from the Ukrainian community and about 500 other people gathered to pay their last respects to Sen. Yuzyk, who died July 9 at age 73.

But it was at a memorial service July 13 where Sen. Yuzyk’s contributions to Canadian society and vigorous work ethic was best summed up.

Dr. Bohdan Bociurkiw, a close friend of the late senator and a Professor Carleton University told a group of about 300 friends and relatives at.the memorial service: “He was a voice for reason, moderation and mutual understanding among Ukrainians in Canada’s inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations; throughout all his life he built bridges and ignored fanaticism, and while others cursed the darkness, he lit candles.”

Added Prof. Bociurkiw: “Always accessible, always engaged, always on call, Paul Yuzyk himself was a candle that, as we now realize, was burning at both ends.”

The prayer service for Sen. Yuzyk, born in 1913 to a coal miner and appointed in 1963 to the Senate by Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, was ecumenical. Leaders from the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Greek Orthodox hierarchy each led prayers. A tribute was also made by members of the Royal Canadian Legion.

The Monday morning funeral, was held in the ornate Notre Dame Cathedral, a large French Roman Catholic Church in the shadow of the Parliament Buildings where the late senator worked for 23 years.

More than 500 people crowded into the church to attend the service led by, Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, Bishop Isidore Borecky of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto, and the Rev. Vladimir Shewchuk, pastor of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, Sen.Yuzyk’s parish in Ottawa.

The group of pallbearers included: the senator’s son-in-laws, George Duravetz, of Toronto; Robert Karpiak, of Kitchener, Ont.; Lew Stelmach of Ottawa; Bohdan Bociurkiw; Leon Kossar, the president of the Canadian Folk Arts Council; and Borys Sirskyj, a former executive assistant to Sen. Yuzyk.

The casket was draped with a Canadian flag. Honorary pallbearers included the deputy prime minister and Mr. Crombie. Several Ukrainian community groups in Canada and the United States sent representatives to the funeral.

The Ukrainian National Association, of which Sen. Yuzyk was supreme director for Canada, sent a nine-member delegation of UNA executives and Supreme Assembly members from the U.S. and Canada led by Supreme President John Flis.

Metropolitan Hermaniuk, a close friend of the senator, was visibly shaken at times during the service. In his eulogy, the church leader praised the late senator, calling him a “great man” who held deep convictions. He told the congregation that one of the happiest days in the senator’s life was in 1971, when the federal government unveiled its multiculturalism policy.

The responses to the divine liturgy were sung by the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir. At the front of the church, members of the Plast Ukrainian Youth Association stood at attention throughout the Ukrainian-language liturgy.

Mrs. Yuzyk sat with family and close friends at the front of the church during the 90-minute service.

The usual hustle and bustle on Parliament Hill came to a stand-still after the funeral service as the hearse carrying Sen. Yuzyk’s body drove by. Members of the governor general’s foot guards, dressed in bright red tunics, stood at attention at the entrance to the hill; two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police saluted the late senator from atop their horses in front of the Center Block. And, just before the senator departed the hill for the very last time,-an honour guard that included the deputy prime minister.,and the speaker of the Senate paid their last respects.

The procession of cars, which extended for several city blocks, was escorted by members of the Ottawa Police Force and the RCMP.

Indeed, the mood on Parliament Hill where the senator worked was unmistakably sombre: a grey sky loomed overhead as flags surrounding the gothic buildings fluttered in the wind at half mast. Members of the Senate security staff stood outside the senators East Bloc office to catch a glimpse of the flag-draped casket as it passed by in the procession.

Burial was at Pinecrest Cemetery after a brief service. attended by about 200 people, who later came to Parliament Hill for a wake.

It was in the Railway Committee Room of Parliament Hill’s Centre Block where the friends and relatives gathered to share stories and memories about the late senator. A large mural depicting the story of Ukrainian immigration to Canada greeted the.visitors as they entered the vaulted room. It was an appropriate setting for the senator’s wake since the mural – painted by the late Ukrainian Canadian artist William Kurelek had been unveiled at a ceremony attended by Sen. Yuzyk.

Although several Ukrainian community organizations sent greetings to the gathering, the number of speakers – at the request of the family – was limited to central organizations of the Ukrainian community.

“The Senate was enriched when Sen. Yuzyk was named to the Senate,” said Sen. Rheal Belisle, one of the late senator’s closest colleagues, “and now the Senate is poorer because of his departure.”

Sen. Belisle added that he would like to see “some very important building” named after Sen. Yuzyk in the near future.

Speaking on behalf of the federal government, Mr. Crombie said that Sen. Yuzyk’s greatest contribution to his country was his work in helping Canadians develop a national consciousness.

Said Mr. Crombie: “Of all the things Paul Yuzyk strove for in his life, he is perhaps likely best known as a Canadian. He worked hardest at that than perhaps most of us ever do. It was his understanding of what being a Canadian is that he dedicated most of his life.”

John Nowosad, the president of the Winnipeg-based Ukrainian Canadian Committee, delivered greetings on behalf of the national body. A statement from the World Congress of Free Ukrainians was read by Torontonian Leonid Fil, a member of the WCFU Presidium and that body’s financial secretary.

UNA President Flis spoke of the senator’s 16-year contribution to the Ukrainian National Association as supreme director for Canada, and about his contributions to the Canadian nation.

“Others have, or will speak of the late senator’s birth and work in the Canadian prairies – where he helped the Canadian Ukrainians to develop a national consciousness as Canadian Ukrainians,” said Mr. Flis.

He added: -“The development in Canada of ethnic minority rights … was no accident; it was the result of tireless effort on the part of Sen. Yuzyk and others like him in direct confrontation to the then existing practices of ethnic discrimination.”

Mr. Flis, in his-English-language address, said all UNA members will remember Sen. Yuzyk for his “fraternal devotion” to the organization.

After months of pounding the pavement searching for a school that would accept him, and 77 job applications later, Mr. Yuzyk was finally offered a teaching position in a Ukrainian community near Hafford, Sask.

After several run-ins with discrimination, Mr. Yuzyk formed close alliances with other Canadians who felt that something had to be done about the alarming lack of accommodation for non-British, non-French Canadian citizens.

Said Sen. Yuzyk about his experiences as an unwelcome job-seeker: “They really did things like that, We are all being called bohunks and foreigners. The result was to strengthen my Ukrainianism. I said to myself that if they called me a foreigner when I had been born in Canada, it meant Canada needed some changing.”

Indeed, the senator’s tireless efforts in fighting for ethnic minority rights in Canada brought him national recognition and earned him plaudits from ethnocultural leaders throughout the country.

Sen. Yuzyk’s crusade for multiculturalism caught the attention of then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker – himself a western Canadian and of European origin – who decided to reward the young Ukrainian’s efforts with a seat in the Canadian Senate.

Sefi. Yuzyk became the first Ukrainian ever to be appointed to the Canadian Parliament’s upper chamber.

On March 3, 1964, he presented his maiden speech in the ornate Senate chamber; it was titled: “Canada:: A Multicultural Nation.” The address, which was warmly received by his colleagues, voiced the concerns of several ethnic groups that Canadians must accept the fact that they live in a “multicultural nation” – not a country of two solitudes comprised of the British and French.

Said Sen, Yuzyk in a 1983 interview with The Ukrainian Weekly: “I came out with the idea that Canada is a bilingual, multicultural nation, and that all are equals, and, that there should be no discrimination, of any kind against anyone – regardless of his background, whether for religious purposes, no discrimination based on colour, rice, or creed of any kind. And so multiculturalism really made Canadians conscious that there are cultural values that should be recognized.”

Multiculturalism was the subject of rancorous debate in the Canadian media when the idea was first brought up by Sen.Yuzyk. Now, after more than a decade of acceptance, the concept unobtrusively manifests itself on Parliament Hill during Canada Day when ethnocultural performing groups delight crowds; in the precincts of Parliament when former Governor General Edward Schreyer delivered a segment of his installation speech in Ukrainian; and in dozens of schools in western Canada where children take courses in English and Ukrainian.

Sen. Yuzyk’s campaign for multiculturalism was capped in 1971 when Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau told the nation that the government, after extensive deliberation, would introduce an official policy of multiculturalism. The policy, which committed the government to support ethnocultural endeavours, was endorsed by all parties.

During the past two decades, Sen. Yuzyk had served on a variety of national and international bodies. Since 1972, he had been active in the North Atlantic Assembly (NATO), particularly in the Committee on Education, Cultural Affairs and Information. In 1977, he was elected the rapporteur of the Subcommittee on the Free Flow of Information and People.

Multiculturalism was just one of the many challenges that attracted the senator. At times, his involvement in the fight for human rights at home and abroad consumed a great deal of time and resources. He was a regular speaker at demonstrations against the abuse of human rights in the Soviet Union. Additionally, the senator served as chairman of the Human Rights Commission of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians, and as vice-chairman of the Canadian Parliamentary Helsinki Group.

Sen. Yuzyk was a member of the Canadian delegation at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe review conference in Madrid in 1980, and a Canadian observer at the 1985 CSCE Human Rights Experts Meeting in Ottawa.

A large number of Ukrainian Canadians revere Sen. Yuzyk for his efforts at stimulating the growth of the organized Ukrainian community. He is credited with helping to establish the

Ukrainian National Youth Federation, the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood, and the Ukrainian Canadian Committee. The senator is also a founder of the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK) – an organization which strongly supported his calls for a federal multiculturalism policy.

A true scholar who believed that serious study is a prerequisite to career advancement, Sen. Yuzyk seemed as at home in the classroom as he did reading a speech on the floor of the Senate. He was appointed assistant professor of Slavic studies and history at the University of Manitoba in 1951, and stepped up to associate professor in 1958. From 1966 to 1978 he was a full professor at the University of Ottawa – where he taught part-time courses on Central and Eastern Europe, Russian and Soviet history, and Canadian-Soviet relations.

Among his academic achievements: a B.A. in mathematics and physics(1945); an honours B.A. in history (1947); an M.A. in history (1948); and a doctor of philosophy degree in history from the University of Minnesota (1958).

In the months leading up to his illness, Sen. Yuzyk devoted most of his energies to the special Senate committee on youth – of which he was vice-chairman. The committee’s report was released in February after interviews with 335 witnesses across the country. 

The senator was one of the few Ukrainian community leaders who managed to maintain a constructive dialogue with the Jewish community since the formation of the government’s war crimes probe in February 1985. A rift between the two communities formed after the commission decided to accept evidence and testimony behind the Iron Curtain. The senator’s staff kept a close watch over the commission, and worked closely with the Ukrainian Canadian Committee.

Sen. Yuzyk wrote more than half a dozen books, and contributed several opinion pieces of Ukrainian and mainstream newspapers. His “Ukrainian Canadians: Their Place and Role in Canadian Life” was considered one of the best works on Ukrainians in Canada. His other published works include: “The Ukrainians in Manitoba: A Social History,” written with a fellowship from the Manitoba Historical Society, “For a Better Canada,” and “The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada,’ an edited version of his doctoral thesis.

In 1980, the University of Ottawa Press published a widely discussed work, “A Statistical Compendium on the Ukrainians in Canada – 1891-1976,” which Sen. Yuzyk co-edited with William Darcovich.

It was a rare day when Sen. Yuzyk, who lived with his wife in an Ottawa suburb, would not spend at least part of his waking hours engaged in one community cause or another. Perhaps his most notable community role was as the UNA’s top executive officer in Canada. He was first elected to the position in 1970, when the title was vice-president. Later the title was revised to supreme director for Canada to better reflect the UNA’s role in Canada. Sen, Yuzyk was re-elected to the position for the fourth time at the 31st UNA Convention, held in May in Dearborn, Mich.

Sen. Yuzyk’s last official trip was in May when he traveled to Europe for a meeting of the North Atlantic Assembly.

Sen. Yuzyk’s close friends and colleagues said he will be missed in the Senate. Said Martha Bielish, a senator from Alberta who had Sen. Yuzyk from Alberta who had Sen. Yuzyk as one of her sponsors when she was appointed to the Senate. “He was the kind of person who could make a speech on the spur of the moment on many topics. The ethnic communities in general and the Ukrainian community in particular have lost a champion for their respective causes.”

Sen. Yuzyk is survived by his wife, Mary, a native of Saskatchewan whom he married in 1941. He also leaves behind one son, Theodore, of Ottawa, three daughter, Evangeline, of Toronto, Victoria, or Kitchener, Ont., and Vera, of Ottawa, and five grandchildren.

Funeral services for Sen. Yuzyk were to be held at Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa on July 14. The service, which is expected to bring several senior government officials and community leaders to Ottawa,. will be led by Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk of Winnipeg, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada.

The Senator’s Life and Career: Linked to the Ukrainian Community in Canada and Abroad

• Paul Yuzyk’s “Better Canada”, Ukrainian Weekly, July 14, 1986
• Testimonial Roast on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of his Appointment to the Senate,
  Skyline Hotel Ottawa, Canada Saturday, 28 October, 1978

Senator Yuzyk was founder and first president of the Ukrainian National Youth Federation and a founder of the Canadian Association of Slavists and the Ukrainian Canadian University Students Union. He was also the author of several books including For a Better Canada, The Ukrainians in Manitoba: A Social History, and Ukrainian Canadians: Their Place and Role in Canadian Life.

Paul Yuzyk’s “Better Canada”, Ukrainian Weekly, July 14, 1986

Testimonial Roast on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of his Appointment to the Senate, Skyline Hotel Ottawa, Canada Saturday, 28 October, 1978

UCPBA Address at the Roast

Skyline Hotel Ottawa, Canada Saturday, 28 October, 1978

Dear Senator Yuzyk

It is with great pleasure that the Ukrainian Professional and Business Association of Ottawa takes this opportunity to honour you on this 15th Anniversary of your appointment to the Senate of Canada. 

As an educator, soldier, community leader and statesman – your contributions are varied and distinguished. Canadians of Ukrainian and other backgrounds have taken great pride in sharing the wealth of knowledge and expertise generated throughout your research and pedagogical teaching in Eastern European and Canadian histories. As Canada’s first advocate of the principles of multi-culturalism, you have promoted the recognition of equal opportunities for all Canadians and the respect for human rights and freedoms throughout the world. 

Your dedication to your family-your wife Mary, and children, Evangeline, Victoria, Vera and Theodore, remain a model for all to admire and emulate. Senator, due to your great effort and achievements, and your undeniable sense of humour, we trust that you will enjoy this Testimonial Roast, with us, your friends and admirers, and that this booklet, dedicated to your illustrious achievements, will be a fitting memento of our appreciation of your service to your fellowmen. 

The Executive
Ukrainian Professional and Business Association
Ottawa Branch