Anthony Hlynka
Encyclopedia
Anthony Hlynka was a Canadian
journalist, publisher, immigration activist and politician. He represented Vegreville
in the Canadian House of Commons
from 1940 to 1949, as a member of the Social Credit Party of Canada
. He is most best known for his attempts to reform Canada's immigration laws after World War II
to permit the immigration of Ukrainian
displaced persons.
of Halychyna, then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He moved to Canada with his family in 1910, and was raised in a homesteader community in Alberta
's Delph district
, about 18 miles northeast of Lamont. He was educated in both Ukrainian and English.
Hlynka moved to Edmonton
in 1922 and graduated from Alberta College the following year, but was unable to attend university. He taught English to other Ukrainian immigrants, and worked at an insurance firm from 1929 to 1931. He also wrote for the paper Novyi shliakh (New Pathway), and was elected to its executive in November 1931. He was responsible for soliciting advertisements for the paper, until it was moved to Saskatoon
in 1933.
Hlynka was a founding member of the conservative Ukrainian National Federation of Canada (UNF) in 1932 and served for a time as its acting General Secretary. He started a periodical called Klych (The Call) in 1935. This paper had a strongly anti-communist
editorial line. Hlynka joined the Alberta Social Credit League
in 1937, and launched the party's Ukrainian language
paper, Suspilnyi Kredyt (Social Credit), in February of that year. He later worked for the publicity department of the provincial Social Credit Board
, and for the Department of Municipal Affairs
. He delivered several speeches, and became known as prominent figure within the Ukrainian community. He considered running for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
in the buildup to the 1940 provincial election
, but ultimately declined.
in the 1940 federal election
. At the time, the Vegreville Social Credit organization had a two-stage nomination process: delegates elected three candidates at a nomination meeting, one of whom was later chosen by an Advisory Board. Hylnka received the greatest number of votes in a field of five candidates, and was confirmed by the Advisory Board after a formal interview. The incumbent Member of Parliament
(MP), William Hayhurst
, had been eliminated in the first round of voting. The second-place candidate, Paul Lesiuk, officially challenged the Advisory Board's decision, and Hlynka's candidacy had to be reaffirmed by Alberta Premier
William Aberhart
and his cabinet
.
In the general election, Hlynka defeated four other candidates in a closely contested race to win his first term in office. His election win made him the second person of Ukrainian descent elected to federal parliament, the first being Michael Luchkovich
. Hlynka was the only person of Ukrainian background in parliament from 1940 to 1945, and received extensive coverage from the national press as a community representative
Hlynka was a strong supporter of Canada's involvement in World War II
, and worked with the Ukrainian Canadian Committee to campaign for a "yes" vote in Canada's 1942 plebiscite on conscription. Despite their efforts, many ridings with large Ukrainian populations supported the "no" side.
Hlynka was re-elected in the 1945 federal election
keeping his district by a comfortable margin over the challenging candidates. He would be defeated at the end of his second term in office by Liberal
candidate John Decore
in the 1949 federal election
. Hlynka would run against Decore again in the 1953 federal election
but was once again defeated.
Following his first defeat in 1949, Social Credit MP Frederick Davis Shaw
alleged that the communist Labour-Progressive Party
which had received over 3,000 votes in the 1945 election in Vegreville, did not run a candidate in 1949 and backed Liberal Decore in order to ensure Hlynka's defeat.
He supported Ukrainian independence in a well-publicized 1942 speech, despite the fact that the Soviet Union was a Canadian ally at the time. Citing the Atlantic Charter
, Hlynka argued that the Ukrainian people had a right to self-determination
and that an independent Ukraine would help create stability in a post-war Europe
. This proposal was denounced in the Edmonton Journal
, which argued that the Soviet Union
was playing a vital role in the war effort and could not have its territorial integrity threatened.
Hlynka was known for calling for the liberalization of immigration policy to help bring displaced persons to Canada and for assisting in the immigration of Ukrainian displaced persons in particular in the aftermath of World War II
. He traveled to Europe after the end of the war in 1945, and undertook a fact-finding tour of the camps operated by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
(UNRRA). He subsequently played a leading role in the public campaign for immigration law reform, which culminated in Prime Minister
William Lyon Mackenzie King
's 1947 decision to open Canada's borders to able-bodied displaced persons from Europe. It is believed that Canada accepted more than 34,000 Ukrainian displaced persons and refugees between 1947 and 1952. Hylnka's supporters have described him as the father of the third wave of Ukrainian immigration to Canada
.
Some have also described him as a sort of proto-multiculturalist
, and have argued that his loyalty to both Canada and his ethnic community later became the normative view among cultural communities in the Canadian prairies
.
Social Credit had little support outside of Alberta during the 1940s, and Hlynka spent his entire parliamentary career on the opposition benches. He did not mention his relations with other Social Credit MPs in his autobiography, and seems to have operated with a fair degree of independence. Some in the media regarded him as "the quintessential ethnic politician who was Ukrainian Canadian first and Social Crediter second", and one of his most prominent allies on Ukrainian issues was Walter Tucker
, a leading Saskatchewan
Liberal. In 1949, he refused to campaign against Nicholas Bachynsky
, a prominent Ukrainian Canadian and Liberal-Progressive
politician, in Manitoba's provincial election
.
Hlynka was personally hurt by his defeat in 1949, and developed serious health problems in later years. He did not qualify for a parliamentary pension, and was forced to return to the insurance industry. He attempted to win a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
in the 1955 provincial election
, but was unsuccessful. He died of hypertension
in Edmonton in 1957, at age 49; his autobiography was unfinished at the time of his death.
Hlynka was accused of anti-Semitism
during his lifetime, a charge that he rejected. In a parliamentary debate, fellow MP Dorise Nielsen
accused him of publishing "vicious anti-Semitism" during his time as a newspaper editor. Hlynka responded that he had never "written anything or said anything which was anti-Semitic" in his life, although he added that "[c]ertain individuals contributed to my publication and I published the things which I felt would be of interest to my people." In her book, Social Discredit: Social Credit and the Jewish Response (2000), Janine Stingel writes that Hlynka "exploited traditional Ukrainian antipathies towards Jews" during his time as editor of Suspil'nyi Kredyt.
Some have also accused Hlynka of self-aggrandizement and of naiveté. He considered himself to be the only democratically-elected Ukrainian anywhere in the world, and as such believed he had "the moral right to speak on behalf of fifty million compatriots". Writing in the Journal of Ukrainian Studies, Peter. J. Melnycky argues that Hlynka was sincere in his commitments, and was genuinely grieved to discover that he "did not speak for the majority even of his own constituency" in the 1949 election. Melnycky also argues that Hlynka demonstrated poor judgement in his support for all postwar Ukrainian refugees, including "surrendered personal of the 14th Waffen SS Grenadiers Division," of which he had little personal knowledge.
Press, the work was highlighted by Hlynka's unfinished autobiography. It received favourable reviews from the Edmonton Journal, Canadian Ethnic Studies and Ukrainian Weekly.
Peter J. Melnycky penned a critical review of the book in the Summer 2007 edition of the Journal of Ukrainian Studies. While acknowledging it as "an encouraging start to the publishing program of the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at the University of Manitoba
", he also criticized the fact that it was intended more as a tribute than as a comprehensive historical biography. Melnycky notes that the editors sometimes avoid serious discussion of controversial issues (including the accusations of anti-Semitism), and adds that there is "a certain amount of hyperbole" in the text. He also notes that there are some errors in translation from Hlynka's original Ukrainian language
diary.
Further Reading
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
journalist, publisher, immigration activist and politician. He represented Vegreville
Vegreville (electoral district)
Vegreville was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1997.This riding was created in 1924 from parts of Strathcona and Victoria ridings....
in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
from 1940 to 1949, as a member of the Social Credit Party of Canada
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...
. He is most best known for his attempts to reform Canada's immigration laws after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to permit the immigration of Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
displaced persons.
Early life and career
Hlynka was born in the Western Ukrainian village of Denysiv, in the Ternopil OblastTernopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast is an oblast' of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret River, a tributary of the Dnister.-Geography:...
of Halychyna, then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He moved to Canada with his family in 1910, and was raised in a homesteader community in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
's Delph district
Kalyna Country
The Kalyna Country ecomuseum is a heritage and eco-tourism district in East Central Alberta, Canada, named after the highbush cranberry plant, pronounced in the Ukrainian language....
, about 18 miles northeast of Lamont. He was educated in both Ukrainian and English.
Hlynka moved to Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
in 1922 and graduated from Alberta College the following year, but was unable to attend university. He taught English to other Ukrainian immigrants, and worked at an insurance firm from 1929 to 1931. He also wrote for the paper Novyi shliakh (New Pathway), and was elected to its executive in November 1931. He was responsible for soliciting advertisements for the paper, until it was moved to Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
in 1933.
Hlynka was a founding member of the conservative Ukrainian National Federation of Canada (UNF) in 1932 and served for a time as its acting General Secretary. He started a periodical called Klych (The Call) in 1935. This paper had a strongly anti-communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
editorial line. Hlynka joined the Alberta Social Credit League
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....
in 1937, and launched the party's Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
paper, Suspilnyi Kredyt (Social Credit), in February of that year. He later worked for the publicity department of the provincial Social Credit Board
Social Credit Board
The Social Credit Board was a committee in Alberta, Canada from 1937 until 1948. Composed of Social Credit backbenchers in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, it was created in the aftermath of the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt. Its mandate was to oversee the implementation of social...
, and for the Department of Municipal Affairs
Alberta Municipal Affairs
Alberta Municipal Affairs is a ministry of the Executive Council of Alberta. Its major responsibilities include assisting municipalities in the provision of local government, administering a safety system for the construction and maintenance of buildings and equipment, and managing Alberta's...
. He delivered several speeches, and became known as prominent figure within the Ukrainian community. He considered running for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
in the buildup to the 1940 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1940
The Alberta general election of 1940 was the ninth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada, was held on March 21, 1940 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, but ultimately declined.
Political career
Hlynka was first elected to the Canadian House of CommonsCanadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in the 1940 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1940
The Canadian federal election of 1940 was the 19th general election in Canadian history. It was held March 26, 1940 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 19th Parliament of Canada...
. At the time, the Vegreville Social Credit organization had a two-stage nomination process: delegates elected three candidates at a nomination meeting, one of whom was later chosen by an Advisory Board. Hylnka received the greatest number of votes in a field of five candidates, and was confirmed by the Advisory Board after a formal interview. The incumbent Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP), William Hayhurst
William Hayhurst
William Hayhurst was a farmer, principal, teacher, businessman and a Canadian federal politician. He was born in Lyvennet Mill, Morland, England and died in Toronto, Ontario....
, had been eliminated in the first round of voting. The second-place candidate, Paul Lesiuk, officially challenged the Advisory Board's decision, and Hlynka's candidacy had to be reaffirmed by Alberta Premier
Premier of Alberta
The Premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. The current Premier of Alberta is Alison Redford. She became Premier by winning the Progressive Conservative leadership elections on...
William Aberhart
William Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...
and his cabinet
Executive Council of Alberta
The Executive Council of Alberta is the cabinet of that Canadian province.Almost always made up of members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the Cabinet is similar in structure and role to the Cabinet of Canada while being smaller in size...
.
In the general election, Hlynka defeated four other candidates in a closely contested race to win his first term in office. His election win made him the second person of Ukrainian descent elected to federal parliament, the first being Michael Luchkovich
Michael Luchkovich
Michael Luchkovich was a teacher, author and Canadian federal politician...
. Hlynka was the only person of Ukrainian background in parliament from 1940 to 1945, and received extensive coverage from the national press as a community representative
Hlynka was a strong supporter of Canada's involvement in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and worked with the Ukrainian Canadian Committee to campaign for a "yes" vote in Canada's 1942 plebiscite on conscription. Despite their efforts, many ridings with large Ukrainian populations supported the "no" side.
Hlynka was re-elected in the 1945 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1945
The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada...
keeping his district by a comfortable margin over the challenging candidates. He would be defeated at the end of his second term in office by Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate John Decore
John Decore
John Decore was a barrister, lawyer, teacher and a Canadian federal politician....
in the 1949 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1949
The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
. Hlynka would run against Decore again in the 1953 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1953
The Canadian federal election of 1953 was held on August 10 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St...
but was once again defeated.
Following his first defeat in 1949, Social Credit MP Frederick Davis Shaw
Frederick Davis Shaw
Frederick Davis Shaw was a long serving Canadian federal politician.Shaw first ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1940 federal election. He ran as a Social Credit candidate in the Red Deer electoral district. Shaw would win a hotly contested 4 way race to earn his first term in office...
alleged that the communist Labour-Progressive Party
Labour-Progressive Party
For the Labour-Progressive Coalition Government in New Zealand see the Fifth Labour Government of New ZealandThe Labor-Progressive Party was the legal political organization of the Communist Party of Canada between 1943 and 1959....
which had received over 3,000 votes in the 1945 election in Vegreville, did not run a candidate in 1949 and backed Liberal Decore in order to ensure Hlynka's defeat.
He supported Ukrainian independence in a well-publicized 1942 speech, despite the fact that the Soviet Union was a Canadian ally at the time. Citing the Atlantic Charter
Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement first issued in August 1941 that early in World War II defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies...
, Hlynka argued that the Ukrainian people had a right to self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
and that an independent Ukraine would help create stability in a post-war Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. This proposal was denounced in the Edmonton Journal
Edmonton Journal
The Edmonton Journal is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network.-History:The Journal was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as a rival to Alberta's first newspaper, the 23-year-old...
, which argued that the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was playing a vital role in the war effort and could not have its territorial integrity threatened.
Hlynka was known for calling for the liberalization of immigration policy to help bring displaced persons to Canada and for assisting in the immigration of Ukrainian displaced persons in particular in the aftermath of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He traveled to Europe after the end of the war in 1945, and undertook a fact-finding tour of the camps operated by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
(UNRRA). He subsequently played a leading role in the public campaign for immigration law reform, which culminated in Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
's 1947 decision to open Canada's borders to able-bodied displaced persons from Europe. It is believed that Canada accepted more than 34,000 Ukrainian displaced persons and refugees between 1947 and 1952. Hylnka's supporters have described him as the father of the third wave of Ukrainian immigration to Canada
Ukrainian Canadian
A Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group; and giving Canada the world's third-largest...
.
Some have also described him as a sort of proto-multiculturalist
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, and have argued that his loyalty to both Canada and his ethnic community later became the normative view among cultural communities in the Canadian prairies
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
.
Social Credit had little support outside of Alberta during the 1940s, and Hlynka spent his entire parliamentary career on the opposition benches. He did not mention his relations with other Social Credit MPs in his autobiography, and seems to have operated with a fair degree of independence. Some in the media regarded him as "the quintessential ethnic politician who was Ukrainian Canadian first and Social Crediter second", and one of his most prominent allies on Ukrainian issues was Walter Tucker
Walter Tucker (Canadian politician)
Walter Adam Tucker was a Canadian politician.Born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Tucker earned his BA from the University of Manitoba and a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan....
, a leading Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
Liberal. In 1949, he refused to campaign against Nicholas Bachynsky
Nicholas Bachynsky
Nicholas Volodymir Bachynsky was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1922 to 1958, and was Speaker of the Assembly for most of Douglas Campbell's administration.Bachynsky was educated in Galicia and in Brandon, Manitoba...
, a prominent Ukrainian Canadian and Liberal-Progressive
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...
politician, in Manitoba's provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1949
Manitoba's general election of November 10, 1949 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election pitted the province's coalition government, made up of the Liberal-Progressive Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, against a variety of...
.
Hlynka was personally hurt by his defeat in 1949, and developed serious health problems in later years. He did not qualify for a parliamentary pension, and was forced to return to the insurance industry. He attempted to win a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
in the 1955 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1955
The Alberta general election of 1955 was the thirteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 29, 1955 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, but was unsuccessful. He died of hypertension
Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
in Edmonton in 1957, at age 49; his autobiography was unfinished at the time of his death.
Hlynka was accused of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
during his lifetime, a charge that he rejected. In a parliamentary debate, fellow MP Dorise Nielsen
Dorise Nielsen
Dorise Winifred Webber Nielsen was a Canadian politician and teacher.Born in England, Nielsen arrived in Canada and settled in Saskatchewan in 1927 to work as a teacher and married a homesteader the same year. She joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1934 and was a CCF campaign...
accused him of publishing "vicious anti-Semitism" during his time as a newspaper editor. Hlynka responded that he had never "written anything or said anything which was anti-Semitic" in his life, although he added that "[c]ertain individuals contributed to my publication and I published the things which I felt would be of interest to my people." In her book, Social Discredit: Social Credit and the Jewish Response (2000), Janine Stingel writes that Hlynka "exploited traditional Ukrainian antipathies towards Jews" during his time as editor of Suspil'nyi Kredyt.
Some have also accused Hlynka of self-aggrandizement and of naiveté. He considered himself to be the only democratically-elected Ukrainian anywhere in the world, and as such believed he had "the moral right to speak on behalf of fifty million compatriots". Writing in the Journal of Ukrainian Studies, Peter. J. Melnycky argues that Hlynka was sincere in his commitments, and was genuinely grieved to discover that he "did not speak for the majority even of his own constituency" in the 1949 election. Melnycky also argues that Hlynka demonstrated poor judgement in his support for all postwar Ukrainian refugees, including "surrendered personal of the 14th Waffen SS Grenadiers Division," of which he had little personal knowledge.
The Honourable Member for Vegreville
In 2005, Oleh Gerus and Denis Hlynka issued an English-language compendium of writings by and about Hlynka, entitled The Honourable Member for Vegreville: The Memoirs and Diary of Anthony Hlynka, MP. Published by the University of CalgaryUniversity of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
Press, the work was highlighted by Hlynka's unfinished autobiography. It received favourable reviews from the Edmonton Journal, Canadian Ethnic Studies and Ukrainian Weekly.
Peter J. Melnycky penned a critical review of the book in the Summer 2007 edition of the Journal of Ukrainian Studies. While acknowledging it as "an encouraging start to the publishing program of the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
", he also criticized the fact that it was intended more as a tribute than as a comprehensive historical biography. Melnycky notes that the editors sometimes avoid serious discussion of controversial issues (including the accusations of anti-Semitism), and adds that there is "a certain amount of hyperbole" in the text. He also notes that there are some errors in translation from Hlynka's original Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
diary.
External links
Further Reading
- The Honourable Member for Vegreville: The Memoirs and Diary of Anthony Hlynka, M.P. (1940-49) by Oleh Gerus and Denis Hlynka ISBN 1-55238-137-4
- Social Discredit: Anti-Semitism, Social Credit, and the Jewish Response by Janine Stingel ISBN 0773520104