UCPBA

TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT JOINING:

Let them know about the benefits of membership, the fun of being a member and the potential for community service.

NEWSLETTER &

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY

MEMBER EVENTS

Speaker’s Dinners

Golf Tournament

Annual Barbeque

Christmas Dinner

Historical Walking Tours

Crafts Workshops &

More

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Yearly SCHOLARSHIPS: designed to assist undergraduates

IVAN FRANKO LECTURE:

Done in cooperation with the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa, this annual lecture brings the best of academic research on Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada to Ottawa.

THE RAMON HNATYSHYN MEMORIAL LECTURE:

Also run with the Chair, this occasional  series takes advantage of high-calibre academics, politicians and others passing through Ottawa.

DAVID BURLIUK EXHIBIT.

He was the founder of the Futurist Movement in art and literature in Eastern Europe before the First World War,  We have been working the Winnipeg Art Gallery to do the show

SO WHO ARE WE, REALLY?  We’re a service group, bringing together business persons & professionals with disparate political, religious and generational origins and viewpoints in the service of Ottawa’s Ukrainian-Canadian community.  We work hard, but also like to enjoy ourselves.  If you want to be part of the most dynamic group in the Ukrainian community of Ottawa, fill in the membership form and mail it in, along with your first year’s dues.

Find the membership form on:

http://www.infoukes.com/ucpbaott/docs/mem_appl.htm

IMPAIRED DRIVING
(Not a how-to article)

George Dzioba (shown speaking here at our opening event) is a retired Crown Prosecutor who knows whereof he speaks when it comes to locking away drunk drivers.

     The most frequent criminal offence that the ordinary citizen is likely to be involved in is driving or having care or control of a motor vehicle while impaired, or driving or being in care and control of a motor vehicle with an alcohol content in the blood greater than 80 mgs. The penalties are quite severe: minimum $600 fine, 12 month driving suspension; mandatory 14 days in jail for a second such offence, mandatory 90 days in jail for any subsequent offence, and in addition lengthier license suspensions. The effect of such convictions on obtaining car insurance are catastrophic. In addition, the Ministry of Transport will require the driver, after the suspension is over, to install at his expense a breathalyzer connected to the ignition which will not permit starting if there is alcohol on the breath (the driver has to blow into the machine before he can turn the ignition key).

     Aside from the RIDE program, where the police can stop a car without particular reason, a police officer needs “reasonable suspicion” of impairment to be able to demand an immediate roadside sample; or “reasonable and probable grounds” of impairment to demand a breath sample into an Intoxilizer at the police station. It is a separate offence to refuse to provide such samples. Reasonable suspicion or grounds can be formed from the observed manner of driving e.g. speeding, wandering from lane to lane, disobeying traffic signs, unduly slow driving etc.

     The roadside screening device (ALERT) and the Intoxilizer are extremely accurate machines in measuring alcohol content; nevertheless, there are defences to the charge of impaired driving based both on facts and the Canadian Charter of Rights. It may be possible to argue that the manner of driving did not give rise to either reasonable grounds or suspicion, in which case the police officer had no right to ask for a breath sample. Or, depending on the facts, it may be possible to argue that the roadside sample was not taken “forthwith” i.e. within a very short time; or that the Intoxilizer sample taken at the police station was taken beyond the two hours from the time of stopping as required by the Criminal Code. As for Charter defences, they usually involve allegations that the driver was not informed that he has a right to call a lawyer, or Legal Aid, or that the police did not permit him to call the lawyer of his choice, or that the case took too long to come to trial. It is also possible to call “evidence to the contrary”; that is, where a driver testifies to the exact amount he had to drink, and if that evidence is believed, the amount he drank could not have given the reading obtained on the Intoxilizer. Since it is up to the prosecution to prove a case, the driver does not have to show how the machine may have gone wrong.

     Ultimately what has to be said is that defending an impaired driving charge is very technical and beyond a citizen’s ability to defend it without the assistance of a lawyer, which adds another expense to the whole matter. The best defence is to drive sober. 

WORKING FOR OUR MEMBERS

    Members often approach those on the Board and ask for information on what UCPBA(O) does, so that they can convince their friends to join. This is the second, in a trio, of articles that will help answer that question. The first, Us and the Community, was published in the Oct-Nov ’06 issue of the newsletter. Ed

    In the last article, we wrote about how much UCPBA(O) does for the Ukrainian community in Ottawa. But enough boasting and breast-beating about how great we are. Now let’s get to why we’re really here- making our members a little happier, a little more informed, a little better travelled, a little more aware of our community and its heroes, a little craftier, and a little more familiar with the insides of some of Ottawa’s better pubs.

     Professional and personal development are important facets of everyone’s life. To give our members a leg up, we have hosted speakers on finance, investment, estate planning and public speaking. The forum on small business had three successful Ukrainian-Canadian entrepreneurs explain how they built their businesses.

     Road trips may nor be exactly what they were when we were students, but then we aren’t what we were as students! We have leased buses to see the Ukrainian Scythia exhibit when it was on at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and have taken the membership down to Montreal for their Ukrainian Day celebration. Comfortable rides, great company, arriving rested and refreshed, conversation, meals and games along the way and even Ukrainian cartoon videos make for great experiences. (Here your Humble Editor © must complain about your rejection of a bus tour of Prince Edward County wineries, an idea that we included in our membership survey some years ago, but one that had a lamentably low priority in your responses. It’s never too late- call a member of the Board now and register your support!)

    Honouring Achievement. We put a fair amount of effort into honouring those Ukrainian-Canadians who have contributed to Canadian society. A special dinner was held for Dr. Manoly Lupol, founder of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), on the eve of his receiving the Order of Canada. On Remembrance Day a few years ago, we had as special guests those of our members who defended Canada during WW II. Working with the Chair of Ukrainian Studies, we held a special ceremony to mark the retirement of Multicultural Archivist (and UCPBA member) Myron Momryk. Annually we present the Filip Konowal Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to Ukrainian-Canadian society and the Member of the Year Award for contributions to our Association. As well, the Board nominates members to receive the Ontario Volunteerism Award. List of all these winners can be found on our website.

Our photographer Orest Reshitnyk,
having just received the Ontario Provincial Volunteer Award from MPP Madeliene Meilleur (L)

     Speaker’s dinners are meant to keep our members up-to-date on issues not often covered in the media, or of particular interest to the membership. These have included professional development topics, but also talks by at least two of Canada’s ambassadors to Ukraine and a very timely presentation by Dominique Arel (holder of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at U of O) on the Ukrainian elections during the Orange Revolution. Not everything has been oriented towards political issues: one of our more interesting evenings was a private tour of her exhibit and a talk by artist Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn.

The AGM: participants get to the serious matters of enjoying the barbeque, Bob Seychuk’s swimming pool and each other’s company. Really. L to R: Borys Gengalo, Stan Klosevych, Andrew Nykolayev, Orest Dykyj, George Dzioba and Ron Sorobey. Yet again, the editor of this newsletter manages to slip his picture into the current issue!

Golf: Irene Wolanskyj addresses the ball
(what she said can’t be repeated here- this is a family publication!) as Sergi and Olenka look on

Oksana gives Irene’s story the serious attention it deserves. You can’t tell fish tales at a golf tourney dinner!

     The Christmas dinner is used as an auspicious occasion at which all our Awards, and the scholarship, are presented. But it is much more than that. It is also a good meal, entertainment, a chance to catch up with the doings of fellow members. Not to be forgotten is the fear of being singled out by the Chortyk for one of his own ‘special’ awards!

     Combined events. We’re not the sole Ukrainian organization in Ottawa. There are a number of other, interesting groups that we’ve collaborated with in running combined events. For instance, working with the National Capital Region Ukrainian Genealogy Group, we sponsored a talk by historian Orest Martynowych about both the accomplishments of the founder of the Ukrainian dance movement in Canada, Vasili Avramenko and his darker side. At our opening event this past year we hosted the Ottawa Ukraina Royals Soccer Club.

     Fun events. Its not that all our events aren’t fun, but sometimes it is just great to get out and enjoy ourselves with no great guiding or ulterior motive in mind. So we have an annual golf tournament. The annual general meeting is really just an excuse to have a BBQ. These have been rounded out by the kobassa tasting, pub nights and a wine tasting with award-winning Ukrainian-Canadian vintner Daniel Lenko.

     Crafts workshops help members keep in touch with our folk culture roots. Oksana Yarosh has run a number of pysanky workshops. We have also done hands-on sessions on gerdany, and Ukrainain traditional ceramics.

At the Pysanka workshop Victoria (upper r) helps two neophytes clean the wax off their finished product.

     Historical walking tours. Some of our members have accused the guide of running these tours just so he can get some exercise! Whatever little truth there is in that slanderous attack, the tours do give us all a chance to get out on a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon, get to know a little bit more about our city, and relax (after the tour) in one or other of Ottawa’s better imbibing establishments.

     The Newsletter, as you would expect, keeps you informed about events and goings-on within the Association. But it has a lot more. There are items of general interest (such as that on the Saskatchewan Adult Ukrainian Language Camp by our member Dr Rhonda Hinther and a reprint of the Ottawa Sun article on Mykhailo Ryndzak, a young Ukrainian who worked on the cleanup of the Chornobyl nuclear reactor Chornobyl cleanup and now lives in Ottawa as well as recent articles on wills, real estate and driving while intoxicated). An on-going series about Ukrainian Ottawa gives great historical background on well-known, as well as very obscure, sites that are of importance to our community. They also make it easy for you to impress those visiting (and freeloading) relatives with your local knowledge.

Webmaster Franck Lalande

     The web site Webmaster Franck Lalande makes sure the website serves a number of purposes. It updates you on the next event, has reports and pictures of past events, large excerpts from past newsletters, a complete collection of the Ukrainian Ottawa articles (with photos), the UCPBA(O) Constitution, information and applications for our scholarships, lists of Award winners and more. It also contains a copy of the membership application.

     Oh yes, the membership application. How may of your friends have you asked to join? Bring them out to a pub night, a speaker’s dinner or the AGM BBQ. Once they get to know us, they’ll be eager to join. Really. I wouldn’t lie to you.

GREETINGS CHESS FANS

      Chess master Aleksandr Moiseenko, age 26, from Kharkiv, will participate in the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship to be held in Ottawa this yr., from July 7 to 15. A. Moiseenko won the Quebec Open last yr, and participated in the annual COCC event in Edmonton and Toronto in the last 2 yrs. He is in the top 100 in the world, and the organizers in Ottawa would love to see him participate.  And they are looking for sponsorships, corporate or personal.

     Chess aficionados who might be interested in sponsoring A. Moiseenko in some way - financially, or by providing accommodation - or if you have questions about this - please contact me, or Chess Championship organizer Peter Hum at  canopenchess@gmail.com 

     Feel free to pass this information on to whoever might be interested in helping out. The chess events take place in the evenings and on weekends, so Mr. Moiseenko would likely be free during the day.

                                                                                                              Irena Bell                 kib@magma.ca