Ukrainians of Canada - Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The Ukrainian community has more organizations than any Canadian ethnic group its size. The plethora of organizations reflects the division of the mommunity into Catholic and Orthodox sectors, each with religious and secular institutions, and men's, women's, and youth divisions. Differences in immigration history, region of origin, political views, generation, past membership in military units, professions, and other factors are all reflected in the organizational scheme of the Ukrainian-Canadian community. Recently, a great number of somewhat independent organizations have been set up to deal with academic pursuits, various art forms, local history, and other specific interests. The Ukrainian Canadian Committee was established in 1940 as an umbrella organization for the noncommunist Ukrainian community. It has achieved varying degrees of success in coordinating the diverse groups. There is no specific effective mechanism for exerting social control or resolving conflict in the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

Political Organization. Ukrainians in Canada have no overarching political structure. Most earlier Ukrainian settlers were not politically sophisticated, partly because of their relative exclusion from political power in their native territories. Disenchantment over living and working conditions in Europe (and, later, often in Canada) promoted radical leftist views in the first decades of this century. Later, immigrants tended to the right of the political spectrum. At present, Ukrainians are a complex and varied electoral group, still demonstrating some tendency to marginality on the left and the right in comparison with the general populace. Politicians sometimes perceive the Ukrainian community to be a significant voting block and address it accordingly. The great majority of the Ukrainian community does not approve of the Present Soviet Ukrainian state under Russian domination.