Flag raised at McDougall Centre as part of Ukrainian-Canadian Heritage Day festivities
Posted Sep 7, 2017 9:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Members of the Calgary’s Ukrainian community watched proudly Thursday as Alberta’s Deputy Premier, Sarah Hoffman, raised the Ukrainian flag in the downtown core.
September 7th marks the first ever Ukrainian-Canadian Heritage Day. It coincides with the first recorded Ukrainian settlers who came to the province 125 years ago.
Those in attendance proudly sang the national anthem as Hoffman slowly raised the flag to fly above the provincial government’s Calgary headquarters.
“The history of this land, a large piece of that, has to do with those who entered, left their families. Many teenagers came here to clear land and have a homestead and have an opportunity to put food on their families’ tables. and set up a bright future. I have to say 125 years later, thank you to those who did so. We are so proud to be able to continue living on and celebrating the legacy of those who first came, as well as those who continue to come,” said Hoffman.
“I met a young family that’s only been here a few weeks. So it’s nice to see this is still a choice destination of people of Ukrainian ancestry,” she added.
Alberta has 345,000 people who claim Ukrainian ancestry.
