Nadia Prokopiw, UCC Director, Media Relations, Toronto.
Over 300 people attended a very moving and poignant Remembrance Day Ceremony organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-Toronto Branch and the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada, commemorating our Canadian fallen and the veterans, as well as all of the Canadians of Ukrainian descent, who served and contributed to Canada’s military forces and the defence and security of Canada. 10,000 Canadians of Ukrainian descent took part in WWI and over 35,000 served in the Canadian Military during the Second World War.
The ceremony commenced with a Veteran and Marching Band Procession from St. Demetrius Church to the Cenotaph at Canadian Ukrainian Memorial Park at Scarlett Road and Eglinton Avenue. The “Orion” Male Choir together with the “Vanguard” Band performed powerful renditions of the Ukrainian Lament “Plyve Kacha (Гей, Пливе кача)” and “The Proud Canadian Soldier” with soloist Gregory Yasinsky.
This year’s Remembrance Day Ceremony marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme in World War I where the creeping artillery barrage and tanks were employed for the first time with brutal efficiency. Fighting raged for over four months and resulted in over a million casualties to Allied and German troops.
We must also support and applaud those who serve today, preserving freedom and opposing tyranny at every turn. “As we have witnessed the erosion of the rights of the Crimean Tatars and the increased violence against them with the Russian occupation of Crimea… and the continuing attacks by Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine. Today, Canadian Forces have deployed personnel in Central and Eastern Europe as part of NATO assurance measures. Canadian troops have also been deployed in Ukraine under Operation UNIFIER to mentor Ukrainian forces. Over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died or been injured in the still ongoing battles in defence of Ukraine,” stated Andre Sochaniwsky CD, President of the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada and a former officer of the Canadian Forces. “In Iraq and Syria, we have witnessed the violent and grotesque onslaught of ISIS with its complete disregard for life and any norms of civil behaviour… Canadian and coalition forces continue to degrade ISIS”.
This year’s event was attended by Capt (N) Vladimir V. Zaharchenko, from the Ukrainian Navy, who endured numerous harrowing weeks in Sevastopil, Crimea while the city and entire peninsula were annexed by Russian military forces starting in February of 2014 and witnessed firsthand the destructive actions of occupying Russian forces.
The event concluded with the ceremonial wreath laying around the monument by government representatives and those from various Ukrainian Organizations, including wreaths from: the Government of Canada, represented by Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre; the Ukrainian people and its Government, represented by the Consul General of Ukraine in Toronto Andrii Veselovskyi and Consul Liudmyla Nedilska; the Government of Ontario, represented by Yvan Baker, Member of Provincial Parliament for Etobicoke Centre; the City of Toronto, Ward 4 (Etobicoke Centre), represented by Councillor John Campbell; the Canadian Armed Forces, represented by veteran Armin Kohn and Lieutenant-Colonel Zenon Myshkevich among many others, and in the end, over 30 beautiful wreaths graced the monument.
In his closing remarks, the President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-Toronto Branch, Taras Bahriy, spoke of the importance to honour the lives and contributions not only of those soldiers who fought for our freedom in past wars, but to also support and honour those who are giving their lives today for their country, Ukraine.
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