The UCPBA Calgary Outstanding Achievement Award is reserved for those distinguished Canadians, regardless of ethnic background, who have made an outstanding and enduring contribution to the social, artistic, cultural, economic and/or political fabric and wellbeing of Canada in general and of the Ukrainian-Canadian community in particular. Recipients are determined by the UCPBA Calgary Executive Committee based on nominations from UCPBA members. The Award is presented annually at the UCPBA AGM in June.
Recipients of this award do not need to be members of UCPBA Calgary, but must be nominated by a member.
To nominate someone for either of these awards, please send a summary of their accomplishments to admin@ucpbacalgary.org.
Outstanding Achievement Award – Past Recipients
Michael Bociurkiw – – 2019 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Independent global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw contributes regularly to CNN Opinion and speaks on geopolitics worldwide. He has served as global spokesperson for UNICEF and for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, including acting as de facto spokesperson for the crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17 in 2014.
Luba Goy – 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Luba Goy is an actor and comedienne best known for her work in one of Canada’s most popular and enduring comedy troupes, Royal Canadian Air Farce, with whom she performed first on radio and then on television. Luba’s one woman play, “Luba, Simply Luba” was produced in Toronto, published, and won the Kobzar Literary Award in 2014.
Ruslana Wrzesnewskyj – 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Ruslana Wrzesnewskyj is founder of the charity Help Us Help The Children, which helps underprivileged children in Ukraine by providing needed supplies and programs. Ms. Wrzesnewskyj has dedicated her life to improving the lives of disadvantaged and orphaned children and young people living in poor conditions in post-Soviet Ukraine.
Viktor Malarek – 2016 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
An award-winning journalist, Victor Malarek is perhaps best known for his work in current affairs shows – CBC’s The Fifth Estate and CTV’s W5. He has broken countless front page stories and has more than 150 investigative documentaries to his name. He is also the author if six non-fiction books, including The Natashas about the global sex trade.
Ed Stelmach – 2015 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Premier of Alberta from 2006 to 2011, Ed Stelmach started his political career in local politics and was first elected to the Alberta legislature in 1993. A native of Andrew, Alberta, ‘Honest Ed’s’ pioneer and farming roots are reflected in his work ethic and value system.
Marco Levytsky – 2014 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Longtime publisher, owner and editor of Ukrainian News, Marco Levytsky’s commitment to community media is unparalleled in the Ukrainian Canadian community. Over the years Ukrainian News has gained wide readership within the Ukrainian community and has become the authoritative voice for the community among Canadian government circles.
Paul Grod – 2013 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress since 2007, Pavlo Grod is a leader with vision. During his tenure, he has spearheaded the expansion of UCC’s scope of activities and has put particular emphasis on the development of closer relationships with representatives of the Canadian government.
Peter Shostak – 2012 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Renowned across Canada, artist Peter Shostak is known for his many paintings and prints of life on the prairies. Shostak’s most ambitious project, to which he devoted five years of painting, was completed in 1991 with the unveiling of his series “For Our Children”, a series of fifty large oil paintings subsequently reproduced in a book of the same name.
Gene Zwozdesky – 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Currently speaker of the house in the Alberta Legislature, Gene Zowzdesky has been a sitting member of the legislature since 1993. A professional musician and longtime community activist, he has lent his musical and leadership skills to such organizations as the Alberta Cultural Heritage Foundtaion, the Alberta Ukrainian Centennial Commission, the Shumka Ukrainian Dancers and the Cheremosh Ukrainian Dance Company.
Andrew Hladyshevsky – 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
President of the Shevchenko Foundation and active member of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Andrew Hladyshevsky is an avid advocate and supporter of Ukrainian Canadians’ cultural and historical legacy. In particular, he worked tirelessly seeking public and government recognition of the WWI Internment Operations during which thousands of Canadians of Ukrainian heritage were interned.
Inky Mark – 2005 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipients
A stalwart champion of seeing justice done, Member of Parliament Inky Mark was honoured for his work advancing Bill C-331, the Ukrainian Canadian Recognition and Restitution Act. This act acknowledges that persons of Ukrainian origin were interned in Canada during the First World War.
Senator Raynelle Andreychuk – 2005 Outstanding Achievement Award Recipient
Senator Raynelle Andreychuk has a long history of defense of human rights issues and was instrumental in bringing the Holodomor to the attention of the Canadian government and successfully advocating for government recognition of this atrocity.
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