First Canadian Woman of Ukrainian Descent to Receive the Order of Canada Mrs. Catherine Crouse (nee Kolikowich) was born in Saskatchewan in 1906 to parents who had immigrated to Canada from Ukraine, settling in the Northwest Territories, 1896. As a young married woman in Winnipeg, this extraordinary Canadian of Ukrainian descent worked long and many hours to generate lasting interest in the heritage of her ancestral roots. She helped organize the Ukrainian Catholic Women's League, eventually becoming National President. For her active and dedicated work for the Ukrainian Catholic Church she was awarded, 1978, the Pro Ecclasia Et Pontifice medal by the Pope. For her 50 years of service to Canada’s Ukrainian Community, in which she stressed the need for intelligent study of family life, Mrs. Crouse was made a member of the Order of Canada, 1979, with Governor General Edward Schreyer presiding over the ceremonies, as viewed in this photograph. This was the first time that a Canadian woman of Ukrainian descent had received this honour. [Photo, courtesy Leona Crouse McDermid]

Second Generation Ukrainian Made Canada’s Governor General When the first two officially recorded Ukrainian immigrants settled in Canada, 1891, neither Ivan Pylypiw nor Vasyl Eleniak envisioned 100 years later that Canada’s 24th Governor General would be a second generation Ukrainian Canadian. Installed as Governor General of Canada, January 29, 1990, the Rt.Hon. Ramon Hnatyshyn, in his installation speech, exclaimed that Canada “is a nation of immigrants” and that “Canada plays the fullest possible role internationally as a bilingual and multicultural nation.” Speaking in English, French, and Ukrainian, the newly appointed Governor General, at the time, was unknowingly reinforcing a statement former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson made to a gathering of Ukrainian Canadians at Elk Island National Park, July 17, 1966: “You have added something of value, of strength and colour to the Canadian character." [Photo, courtesy Ukrainian Canadian Research & Documentation Centre]