Almost everyone has a favorite list or two this time of year: best movies, best books, person of the year. For the forth year I am putting forward my BEST and WORST list, BaWL, dealing with things of particular interest to the global Ukrainian community.
This years` list is particularly critical of Ukraine`s and other governments but it includes exceptional individuals, publications, organizations, awards, that contributed to or undermined Ukrainian issues in 2006.
BEST1. Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, for obtaining the highest number of votes in the March 2006 elections to Ukraine`s Rada, parliament among the Orange forces. And, for persistent attempts to honour the will of the people of Ukraine by cobbling an Orange power coalition for dominance in Ukraine`s parliament and attempting to form and lead a government.
2. The people of Ukraine for expressing their disapproval of President Yushchenko`s months of indecisiveness after the March parliamentary elections which led to the creation of an anti-West government by Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych .
3. Canadian of Ukrainian decent, Ed Stelmach, winner of Alberta`s provincial Progressive Conservative party leadership race. He is now the Premier of Alberta.
4. Ukraine`s media for being well on its way to meeting a global standard for independent reporting and critical analyses.
5. The Taras Shevchenko Foundation in Winnipeg, Canada for establishing the Kobzar Award to honour literary works on Ukrainian themes published in Canada.
6. Alexis Kochan, the magical Canadian singer of Ukrainian decent for her latest CD Fragmenti. Original, lyrical and beautiful.
7. Ukraine`s football team for its super performance at the World Cup in Germany this summer.
8. Heidimarie Stefanyshyn Piper, the American astronaut of Ukrainian and German decent, who flew a space mission last summer. She is the second female astronaut of Ukrainian descent in space. The first was Canada`s Roberta Bondar.
9. Jack Palance for providing prominence to his Ukrainian heritage on and off screen. Vichnaja pamjat`.
10. Canada`s Yaroslav Kokodyniak for ten years of invaluable internet services www.infoukes.com to the global Ukrainian community.
WORST
1. President Victor Yuschenko for failing to carry out the will of the people who gave the Orange forces a slight majority in the March Rada, parliament, elections by failing to call them to power for months until it was too late.
2. Victor Yanukovych , then leader of the Party of Regions, for blocking entrance to Ukraine`s Rada and denying the Orange government coalition from taking its rightful place as the nation`s government. And again, for recently blocking access to parliament to Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk.
3. Ukrainian diaspora organizations in the free world, including the World Congress of Ukrainians (Askold Lozsynskyj, President, wrote a personal denunciation of the events), Ukrainian Canadian Congress, for failing to condemn the undemocratic events in Ukraine-items 1 and 2 above—thus giving tacit consent to the anti-Ukrainian, anti-West, anti-democratic and pro-Russian developments which are contrary to the wishes and spirit of the Orange revolution which had swept the country the previous year and contrary to the mandates of such diaspora organizations.
4. Western governments who failed to use suasion to convince President Victor Yushchenko to honour the results of the March elections and offer the Prime Ministerial job to the Orange forces winner, Yulia Tymoshenko.
5. Minister of Energy Yurij Boyko for selling out Ukraine`s energy sector in favour of Russia, RosUkrEnergo, et al.
6. The author, signatories and all the eminent witnesses to President Yushchenko`s Universal of national unity, a worthless initiative as it has no consequence for non compliance.
7. Jerusalem Post for its anti-Ukrainian article written in conjunction with the grand opening in Ukraine of Stephen Spielberg`s film "Spell Your Name."
8. Dmytro Tabachnyk, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, for his public statements undermining the Ukrainian language in Ukraine.
9. The virtual lack of protest form Ukraine`s President, Prime Minister, government the people of Ukraine or the Ukrainian diaspora calling for resignation, retraction, apology for abuses sited in # 7 and #8.
10. The self mutilation and suicide of Nasha Ukrajina, Our Ukraine, party and its inability to recoup losses by joining forces with Yulia Tymoshenko who continues to hold strong popular support with Ukraine`s people.
By Oksana Bashuk Hepburn, Canada Action Ukraine Report (AUR) #807, Article 20 Washington, D.C., Monday, January 22, 2007
