“Ukraine has the street and God bless the street”
In her speech at the UCU Gala Fundraising in Toronto, the National Post's editor-at-large Diane Francis talked about her long-term special relationship with the Ukrainian Canadian community and Ukraine. She met her first Ukrainian person, a housekeeper when she was a 23-year-old new mother. With time, she realised that Canada has a lot of Ukrainian people: “another friend married a Ukrainian girl, I had a friend who married a polish girl who was half Ukrainian. I loved the food, the culture, the dance, the music was spectacular. So I made my wedding at a Ukrainian community, got a lot of people.” When you are in the midst of the Ukrainian community, it may certainly seem that Canada has the largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world. Diane Francis noted that when she said that to the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev some years ago, he said that Russia has the biggest Ukrainian diaspora (1.9 million Ukrainians in Russia and 1.2 million in Canada – NP).
Diane Francis's travels to Ukraine have been facilitated by Bob Onyshchuk of Onyschuk Strategic Advisory Services and Quadrant Developments Ltd., and also of Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, who she called “a good friend, my pathfinder to Ukraine, and also to people”. She said that she first visited the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine, in February 1992. During the visit, she interviewed the-then President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk. She called it “an amazing experience” and called Kravchuk “an interesting man” who she interviewed again in 1993 and 1995. Diane Francis recalled one time when President Kravchuk was in Rada when it was debating whether to give the nuclear arms up and sign the non-proliferation agreement which she called “a very controversial decision. And some people may argue today, “if they just kept a couple, both aimed at Moscow”. Ms. Francis said she was not sure about that idea, but called it “cute”.
When Diane Francis visited Ukraine in the summer 2015, her first request was to re-interview President Kravchuk, who appeared “bright as a whip and still good-looking. And he explained in the interview I did that went pretty viral over the world why they were forced and bullied into giving up all of their missiles. He said ‘you know what this does, this leaves us under control of Russians again'. And so we know how that turned out.”
Diane Francis then told about the experiences she and many people in the diaspora had in Ukraine in the meantime when “many people went over and said “lets help” only to find out that they’re again in the arms of a very corrupt Soviet system.” And then, 2004 came.
Diane Francis covered the Orange Revolution and says that “all the chances went away … because the same old rot was there. We’re discouraged, we’re just hurt.” “2014 was very different than 2004. And today is very different. In a strange and perverse way I feel have been not in a front row seat but in a separate seat of the history of this country trying to finally find its way out from under the Russian control. I find the perverse optimism. The people are terrific – that’s never been a problem. So, this summer we went to Kyiv, Lviv, and I had an independent little tour and the official tour. The new finance minister was a home runner. Natalie (Jaresko – NP), she is amazing. I gotta tell you, I’ve fallen in love with a lot that’s going on right now. I met volunteers, I visited soldiers in hospitals that have to pay for medical care and you know, they saved the country. If volunteer brigades had not taken their grandfather’s rifles after mayhem … Russia would occupy it all the way to Kyiv.” (Clapping)
“I also interviewed a group of people and you may not be aware that the Ukrainian IT outsourcing industry is one of the four biggest. It surpasses Russia because you know, who’s gonna make contracts with Russia these days. There are more software architects, that are Microsoft certified, in Ukraine than in any other country in the world except India and the U.S. And a lot of it is in Kyiv and Lviv, that’s where it seems to be centered. And it brings me to this University that you’re honoring today. They are the first university in maybe Eastern Europe to have an MBA category for IT management. They are really ahead for a small university.
I learned some things that are going on in Lviv that are quite remarkable because closer to the war front, in Kharkiv and even Odesa, a lot of westeners are not giving contracts to IT experts because the first question is ‘how far away are you from war?' And Lviv city and the Catholic University, and the IT outsource association are actually getting cheap land, starting the incubators and starting to build housing for relocation of IT people. It shall become a Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe. The Ukrainian IT industry can undercut IT centers in all of Europe by 50%, and they are just as good. That’s quite remarkable, that is why Ukraine will win. Ukraine will eventually do fine because the entrepreneurs of Ukraine – and its not just in IT – they’re real, they’re good, they are world class, and they know they can do it.”
“And the most important competitive advantage that is slowly happening in Ukraine – and you are not going to like the sound of this – it’s a real opposition party in a country that has a corrupt leadership. And it’s called the street and it’s called violence, and I hate to say that. But that’s what they are up against and that’s why I also believe that the corruption that goes on and has ruined that place is going to be slowly eradicated. The first example was the attempt to change the Constitution to meet the Minsk agreement. And Poroshenko didn’t want to do it, but he had to do it. And what happened? The streets erupted again. So if you have a lively, dedicated, nationalistic movement, that’s going to be the opposition party in the streets, when they go off the rails, which they do – it’s going to be fine.”
“And by the way, there is no shame in what’s happened to Ukraine over the 25 years since I was observing it. Poland, Czech Republic – they all got in the EU, and Russians didn’t let Ukraine in the EU. And its going to happen. Right now Ukraine has the street and God bless the street. I don’t like violence but when you’re dealing with corruption at that scale and magnitude, there is nothing else you can do.”
So I have great hopes, I think this University is an outstanding example of how life goes on and Ukrainians just get themselves up the map and they move forward and they do it. I’m very proud of Ukraine. And I love Ukraine. And you should, too.”
“The level of economic freedom in Ukraine is still lower than in Russia”
In his speech at the Toronto event, Pavlo Sheremeta, head of the UCU's School of Public Management, talked about Ukraine's progress and how the Ukrainian Catholic University fits in it. He used the metaphore of the tipping point in a society development as the point where the curve starts to move up and the trend becomes irreversible.
According to Mr. Sheremeta, at the moment, the level of economic freedom in Ukraine is still lower than in Russia, which means that Maydan, as a movement, is not over yet. Progress has to be made in ease of doing business and economic freedom: “Diane Francis mentioned the IT industry. One of the reasons why IT is so successful in Ukraine is because there is no Ministry of IT.” To implement the reforms, Pavlo Sheremeta believes, Ukraine first needs vision, like the one that brought about the current reform of the law enforcement. The new Ukrainian police has a different mission, to protect, not to abuse, as the old one had.
Ukraine also needs to change the government's structure. When Mr. Sheremeta served as a Minister of economy he soon learned that the Ministry was pretty much the same as the old Soviet planning body (Gosplan). There is still a galler of former ministers on the wall, going back to the head of the Soviet Ukrainian palling ministry in 1946. There is still a price regulation agency in the Ukrainian government's structure which should have been long eliminated. The processes in the government, many of which are obsolete, should change. For example, Ukrainian public servants still have to write their bios by hand – printed resumes are not enough. People have to change too. But the changes have to happen in this sequence, said Mr. Sheremeta, because just bringing new people into the old structures would change nothing.
Mr. Sheremeta praised the principle, which is used by the Ukrainian Catholic University and should be instilled in other spheres in Ukraine, namely, zero tolerance to corruption from admission to graduation. He also praised the University's performance and execution. He called the University “a role model” remembering its plans, which were proclaimed in 2012, to have a new campus and the campus is now almost finished. He invited everyone to come to the Ukrainian Catholic University in whatever capacity, as a guest or lecturer. Pavlo Sheremeta believe that the University is helping Ukraine reach the tipping point where the upward trend will become irreversible.
“Іноземець в Україні повинен чути навколо українську мову”
Під час Ґала-імпрези Українського Католицького Університету у Торонті Новий Шлях взяв інтерв'ю у популярної співачки Марії Бурмаки.
Ми спитали у неї, чи покращився стан української культури після Революції Гідності. Марія сказала, що великих змін не відбулося. Українську музику, як і до того, не так часто почуєш в телерадіопросторі. Є багато каналів, де досі можна почути багато музикантів з Росії, що Марії дуже прикро усвідомлювати.
Втім, вона сказала, що ситуація потихеньку змінюється. Наприклад, в київський концертний зал “Україна”, найбільший концертний зал в Україні, більше не приїздять російські виконавці, що дає нагоду мати там концерти більшій кількості українських виконавців. В цілому, Марія Бурмака оптимістично настроєна з приводу майбутнього української культури.
Зараз Марія Бурмака робить на Еспресо-TV програму разом з Миколою Княжицьким про культурні новини. По приїзді з Канаді буквально через тиждень вона мала запустити ток-шоу, яке буде містити музику. Вона також сподіваєтья повернути програму, на кшталт тої, що вона мала на каналі TVI, де матимуть змогу виступати молоді музиканти.
Ми спитали Марію про те, наскільки Україна зараз стає більш “українською”. У відповіді вона висловила незгоду з нинішньою широко поширеною в Україні ідеєю, що мова не є важлива. “Дійсно, є дуже багато хлопців, які захищають зараз Україну, які в побуті не розмовляють українською мовою. Але мені здається, що це біда, що Україна не ідентифікується за мовою. Наприклад, людина не розуміє, хто свій, хто чужий, не розуміє хто ворог. Людина, яка говорить українською, – зрозуміло, що вона на нашій стороні.
Там, де проводилася русифікація в Радянський час, – там війна, там побудований “русскій мір”. І ситуація дуже непроста також у Харкові. Я з Харкова, тому я постійно кажу, що мова є дуже важлива, мова – це консолідуючий чинник, і іноземець коли приїжджає в Україну, повинен чути українську мову. Коли я їздила з концертами у Сватове і Краматорськ, люди казали, що до них за 15 років не приїздив жоден український артист. Прогрес є, але він іде важко, тому що зараз – дуже важкий час.
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