Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the politician’s sounding board | Embassy

Good overview on how well-connected and influential the Ukrainian Canadian community is, and the UCC in particular. Having worked with the community in the context of the Government’s Historical Recognition Program, I can attest to their effectiveness.

The community was instrumental in the development of Canadian multiculturalism, given its role, among others, in developing Western Canada just as French and British pioneers developed the East:

The UCC is an umbrella group that, through its member organizations, represents one of the larger diasporas in Canada. More than 1.2 million individuals identify themselves as Ukrainian-Canadian. However, the UCC manages to organize better than comparably sized diaspora groups, and punch above its weight in terms of lobbying the federal government, experts suggested, thanks largely to historical and political factors.

The UCC has been organizing members for more than 70 years. Ukrainian immigrants flooded to Canada over the past century fleeing poverty and oppression from Soviet and Nazi invaders, and those hardships kept the community together, said Yaroslav Baran, a political consultant at Earnscliffe Strategy Group and former chief of staff in the Harper government with roots in the Ukrainian community.

“With that kind of context and background, especially that post-World War II wave, they were very organized, very mobilized, preserved the language,” and became politically active in Canada, he said.

Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the politician’s sounding board | Embassy – Canada’s Foreign Policy Newspaper.