On February 28 – March 1, 2020, the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada’s Annual General Meeting was hosted by CYM Etobicoke and Toronto Branches, and took place in the Taras Shevchenko Cultural Centre in Etobicoke. A total of 50 delegates and guests participated in the Meeting from the following 10 branches: Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, St. Catharines and Etobicoke. Amongst the distinguished guests were Bishop Stepan SUS and President of the USA National Executive, Adrian Dlaboha and Nadia Dlaboha, organizational director.
The General Meeting opened with a prayer and a moment of silence to remember members of CYM who had passed away in the last year, in particular Taras Szmihelsky, long-time member of CYM National as well as president of CYM Edmonton. The President of the National Executive, Yuri Broda, welcomed all delegates to the Annual General Meeting, as well as the participants of the CYM Leadership Seminar.
The Presidium was elected as follows: Chair: Tamara Tataryn (Toronto), Vice Chair: Markian McColl (Winnipeg), Recording secretaries: Solomiya Harahuc and Nataliya Melysh (Calgary).
The first part of the meeting included the traditional adoption of the National Annual reports: the National Executive’s first year in office was presented by President, Yuri Broda, the Financial Report by CYM’s auditor, Bohdan Pahuta, the Charitable Trust and Galandiuk Fund reports by Executive Director, Harry Nesmasznyj, internal auditor’s report by Mark Diaczun and for the Grievance Committee, Irene Shust-Dankowycz.
Following the first plenary session, the delegates and participants of the Leadership Seminar were joined by the newly ordained Bishop Stepan Sus, general chaplain of CYM, who spoke about his experiences as an army chaplain and the effect of the war in Ukraine’s East on soldiers, families and the nation. He also answered many questions from the young attendees.
To end off the first day, the hosts invited all participants to the “Kryivka” where they had prepared a fabulous wine and cheese spread.
On Saturday morning, the President of CYM Canada, Yuri Broda conducted a workshop titled “CYM – idea or ideal”. Later, the Educational and Organizational groups split off into their own specific sessions: Educational session shared best practices; how to navigate new social, legal and administrative requirements, especially in relation to summer camps and analyzed the pros and cons of the national jamboree for youth. In the financial session, the discussions addressed the 2020 budgets as well as general financial literacy and proper record keeping.
The afternoon session was led by the newly appointed CYM Canada chaplain, Father Andrij Figol, who concentrated his workshop on the role and expectations of a chaplain on the local and national levels.
At the end of the second day, the vykhovnyky participated in a practical workshop whereas the other delegates listened to presentations from Adrian Dlaboha on the work of CYM USA; Anna Zakharova and Oksana Stech presented future plans for the Druzhynnyky; Harry Nesmasznyj presented the projects, mainly a photo album and next World Jamboree – planned by the World Executive in conjunction with next year’s 75th anniversary of CYM in the diaspora.
On Sunday morning, all of the Leadership Seminar participants and Plenum delegates attended Divine Liturgy at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Mississauga, where they were greeted warmly by Very Rev. Roman Pankiw.
On Sunday morning, Anna Zakharova conducted a workshop on “Children’s psychological wellbeing and how to prevent burn-out”, which was followed by the adoption of resolutions and action plans for the upcoming year.
The National Executive of CYM Canada wishes to thank everyone who helped to make this Annual General Meeting weekend possible; to all the guests and guest speakers who generously gave their time and effort to enhance our General Meeting and in particular to the members of the local branches of CYM Etobicoke and Toronto.
More photographs can be found under the following link: Plenum 2020
