Plenum CYM Canada 2024

On April 5 – 7, 2024, the Annual General Meeting of CYM in Canada was held at the CYM Branch in Hamilton. The AGM which was held at the school of the Orthodox Church of St. Volodymyr and the hall of the Catholic Church of Holy Spirit in Hamilton, was attended by 48 delegates and six representatives of the Initiative Groups for the renewal of ‘Viddily Yunatstva’ in the cities of Guelph and London, including members of nine CYM branches, namely: Winnipeg, Edmonton, Etobicoke, Calgary, Mississauga, Montreal, St. Catherines, Toronto and Hamilton. The AGM was held in conjunction with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the CYM Hamilton Branch.

The meeting began with a prayer and a moment of silence in memory of past CYM members in Canada, as well as those who over the past two years have lost their lives defending in the genocidal war against Ukraine, as well as for all the defenders of Ukraine. In addition, the President of CYM Canada, Tamara Tataryn welcomed the delegates, representatives of new ‘Viddily’ and participants of the Leadership Seminar and wished everyone productive meetings.

The Presidium of the Plenum consisted of: Danylo Musienko (Calgary) – chairman, Yuri Shust (Toronto) – deputy chairman, Anna-Maria Zagirskyj (Calgary) and Larysa Woloszanskyj (Mississauga) – secretaries.

The first part of the AGM covered the reports of the CYM Canada leadership: President Tamara Tataryn, reported for the entirety of the National Executive, informing the delegates and participants of the Leadership Seminar about the multifaceted activities of our organization during its second year in office. This was followed by the presentation by CYM’s Executive Director, Harry Nesmasznyj of the audited financial report, reports from the Charitable Fund and Mykhailo Galandiuk and CYM Windsor Branch capital funds. The final reports were read by Hanya Ostapiuk on behalf of the Grievances Committee and Marko Diaczun presented the findings of the Audit Committee.

At the end of the first day, the delegates and participants of the Leadership Seminar went to the Ukrainian winery ‘Leaning Post Wines’, to kick off CYM Hamilton’s 75th anniversary celebrations, which included music and singing and made for a fun-filled evening.

Saturday, the second day of the AGM, began with a joint session on the topic “Membership Awards & Recognition”, presented by Harry Nesmasznyj. After that, parallel work sessions began: educational – on the topic “How to introduce spiritual education with or without the help of a chaplain” led by Tanya Choly, whereas Natalya Schturyn, presented the topic “Working with children who have special needs”. The Branches also had the opportunity to share their successes in their educational activities. The financial session chaired by Harry Nesmasznyj, broadly discussed the urgent development of guidelines for the new ‘Viddily Yunatstva’ from organizational to financial matters; analyzed and adopted updated branch dues, budgets for the National Executive as well as camp Veselka; and the need of further financial assistance for newly arrived children from Ukraine to participate in summer camps.

In the afternoon, a joint session on the topic “Helping Ukraine” was held. In the absence of Anna Karpiak, Harry Nesmasznyj presented her presentation, which focused on the work done both at the Canadian and global levels, a new project regarding the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia and our further assistance in Helping Ukraine. CYM National Chaplain, Fr. Andrij Figol held his presentation in the church of St. Volodymyr, explaining to those present the various parts of the church and CYM’s ceremony during the liturgy. The last presentation of the day included a presentation by Nestor Szewczyk member of the Wilderness Camp Committee about future plans, in particular holding camps both East in Algonquin Park and in the West the Rocky Mountains.

On Sunday, April 7, the delegates and participants of the Leadership Seminar began with the Holy Liturgy in the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Holy Spirit in Hamilton, where on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, Father Roman Trynoha welcomed the CYM delegates in a particularly warm way and wished them further success in glorifying God and the good of Ukraine, especially to the CYM Branch in Hamilton.

The Sunday program of the Plenum included a joint session on the topic “Path to the Century and the 100 Good Deeds to Victory” project, which was led by Oksana Stech. Distinguished guest speaker, prof. Lubomyr Luciuk explained the myths and misunderstandings surrounding the topic of the ‘Divisiia Halychyna’. The program concluded with short messages of individual sessions, including the adoption of budgets for 2024, as well as the recognition of those members of the Leadership Seminar who completed the three-year cycle.

The National Executive thanks all those who, with their cooperation, contributed to the successful holding of CYM’s AGM, our guest speakers, who spared neither effort nor time to enrich our Plenum. We especially express our sincere thanks to the CYM Hamilton Branch, the host of the Plenum and all the members of the Organizing Committee for the outstanding organization of the Plenum and once again congratulates them on their 75th anniversary.

You can find additional photos in our photo album: Plenum 2024