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Halchuk Introduction

I only got to know Volodymyr (Walter) Halchuk from Sudbury, Ontario via Email in 2001-2002 at the height of the Ukrainian community's campaign against the d&d process when the Holocaust Industry was pressuring the government to deport Helmut Oberlander and Wasyl Odynsky. Seventeen of his letters/articles are archived in the Odynsky (Oberlander) files from the period 09Apr2001 to 29Oct2002. I suspect that he wrote many more letters prior to this period. Links to some relevant results of an Internet search are appended below.

Mr. Halchuk was an active fighter for the Ukrainian cause. His premature death (just over a month before that of Eugene Harasymiw) was a huge loss to the Ukrainian community.

Will Zuzak; 2013.05.26

Obituary
Nom : HALCHUK
Prénom : Volodymyr
Date de décès : 2004-08-27
Paru le : 2004-08-31
Père : Jaroslaw HALCHUK
Mère : Sonia
Conjoint(e)(s) : Ruth Stratton
HALCHUK, Volodymyr, "Walter": In loving memory of Volodymyr (Walter) Halchuk, age 57 years of Sudbury, who passed away Friday evening, August 27, 2004 at the Sudbury Regional Hospital-St. Joseph's Health Centre. He was born in Karlsruhe, Germany. Walter was a well respected leader in Sudbury and in Canada. Always leading by example he inspired others with his hardwork and vision for justice, education, cultural and community. He attended Royal Military College attaining the rank of Lieutenant. A graduate of Laurentian University he was a member of the Irish Regiment and Copper Cliff Scottish Highlanders. Walter was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario; Education Policy Advisory Council; past chair of Ukrainian Canadian Congress Sudbury Council; past president Ukrainian National Federation Sudbury Branch; past president Ontario Council of the Ukrainian Congress; he served on the community discussion group Civic Award Programs which named and created Heritage Park. Walter was president of Aitec Lighting Ltd. and prominent businessman in Sudbury for 27 years. He was a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society. Beloved husband of Ruth (Stratton) Halchuk of Sudbury. Loving son of Jaroslaw Halchuk (Sonia) of St. Catharines; and Olya Halchuk predeceased. Dear brother of Rev. Michael Halchuk of Pt. Colborne. Dear stepfather to Bill Scott (Dubravka), Mike Scott (Darlene), Linda Anderson (Nathan), Sandi Campbell (Dannie), Margo Jovanovic (Doug) and Ron Scott (Cheree). Cherished grandfather of 15 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Resting at the JACKSON AND BARNARD FUNERAL HOME, 233 Larch St., Sudbury. Funeral Mass in St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church, 40 Notre Dame Ave., Sudbury, Thursday, September 2, 2004 at 10:30 am. Interment in the Civic Cemetery. Panakhyda 7 pm Wednesday. In lieu of flowers donations to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or the Taras Shevchenko Foundation (Winnipeg) would be appreciated. (Friends may call 2-4; 6-9 pm Wednesday) 8/31/2004- ID4698695 - Sudbury Star
Paru dans : The Sudbury Star, ON
Adresse : http://www.federationgenealogie.qc.ca/avisdeces/avis/afficher?id=175612

Ontario UCC official is victim of hate crime  Ukrainian Weekly, 27Feb2000
It is wrong to strip an old man of his citizenship without appeal  Toronto Sun, 14Jun2002
zoominfo.com
The Great Famine-Genocide in Soviet Ukraine (Holodomor)  01Dec1999 re Holodomor
Remembering the forced famine  30Nov1999 re Holodomor
Caplan creates two-tier system  (from Ukrainian Weekly archives, as reproduced below)
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 The following letter to the editor was published on August 17, 2001 in the Sudbury (Ontario) Star. V. Walter Halchuk is a member of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Justice Committee and a director of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Dear Editor:
Re: Nazi past costs man his citizenship, August 11, 2001.

And well it should if he was involved in war crimes. Justice Andrew MacKay ruled he was not. Yet, a select group in the Cabinet must justify spending millions of our tax dollars on a five-year wild goose chase. Elinor Caplan, minister for citizenship and immigration, knew it was wrong. Yet she recommended to the Cabinet that they revoke Mr. [Helmut] Oberlander’s citizenship and deport him.

In order to get Cabinet support for her recommendation, Caplan clearly waited until most members were on summer holidays. Some Cabinet members did not know about this decision until July 17, 2001. Why, when previous documents and actions by the government were widely publicized, was this crucial document kept secret from the public? In February of 2000, Federal Court Justice MacKay ruled that there is no evidence that Mr. Oberlander of Waterloo, Ontario, was involved, either directly or indirectly, in any crimes against humanity. Yet he concluded that even when not asked, “on the balance of probabilities,” in 1953 Mr. Oberlander must have withheld from immigration officials that he was a translator for German army units during the second world war. Neither Justice MacKay nor the Canadian government produced any proof that this was the case.

Why was Mr. Oberlander required to prove something he did not do? We now have one law for immigrant Canadians and another for those born here. What’s next? It shouldn’t be just the German- Canadian Congress objecting to secret and restricted Cabinet decisions that strip away Canadian citizenship on a pre- sumption and not on evidence.

Just as communism went astray, so has the policy of denaturalization and deportation. In the name of something good, something else altogether is being done. The prosecution of second world war criminals is one thing, but the persecution of Nazi victims/survivors to demonstrate commitment is wrong. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, I just did not expect my Canada to be on it.

V. Walter Halchuk
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