• Brief History of Plast • Plast in Canada - Hamilton - Edmonton - Montreal - Toronto - Ottawa • Plast in the United States • Plast in Australia • Plast in other countries • Interviews

Plast in Canada      After the mass resettlement of Ukrainians in l948-l952, Plast has been reorganized and its branches permanently established in the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany and Argentina. In Canada, the first Plast groups were organized in 1948.     The first National Plast Conference was held on 3-5 September l949 in Toronto. The movement developed with the support of the Ukrainian community and Plast acquired permanent training and camping centers, local and district headquarters buildings.  The organization annually conducted numerous camps for cubs and scouts and published several journals and leaders' manuals. Plast became a member organization of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee.

Plast held their outdoor activities in parks and their meetings in rooms and facilities provided by other organizations and Ukrainian churches. In addition, Plastpriat (Plast-Friends) was formed of parents and friends  in each Branch to give material support to the Branch. Plast Branches were established in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, Ottawa, St. Catherines and Saskatoon. In Toronto, a building for Plast activities was purchased in December, 1950. Other buildings were acquired in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Montreal. The first Plast Camp was held near Toronto in 1950.Within a short time, Plast Camps were acquired - Plastova Sich, Baturyn and a Plast Camp in the Ukrainian Park in Manitoba. In 1951, the first national conference was held and the national membership was 861.

 

J. Starosolskyj

In l968, the founder of Plast, Dr. O. Tysovsky passed away. In l972, KUPO elected a second "Nachalnyi Plastun" (Chief Scout), Dr. J. Starosolsky who served until 1991. The post is currently held by Dr. Lubomyr Romankiv. The highest membership was in 1969 when Plast had 1,667 members with ten Branches across Canada. After a slide in the 1980s, membership stabilised near 1,250 in the mid-1990s. Many Plast alumni are actively involved in Ukrainian and Canadian community activities. Plast has strongly supported the Canadian multiculturalism policy, submitting briefs to the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, the Joint Parliamentary Committee of Senate and House of Commons on the Constitution of Canada and the CRTC hearings on its multicultural broadcasting policy. Plast continues to exist in Canada and other countries as a Ukrainian scouting movement, requiring that its participants speak Ukrainian and pursue some Ukrainian studies.  Plast has no official organizational ties with the International Scouting Organization and national scouting movements. In 1990 Plast was legally re-established in Ukraine as the Plast Ukrainian Scout Association and has branches in major cities. Plast in Ukraine continues to benefit from assistance provided by instructors from Canada and the United States. Since the declaration of Ukraine’s independence in 1991, Plast members from across Canada have also participated in activities to promote the development of modern democracy in Ukraine. Plast has also been reactivated in Slovakia and Poland.

In 1999, many Plast Branches in Canada celebrated the 50th anniversary of Plast in Canada and held special events and activities for this purpose.