For his donation to the people of Ukraine, a Kamsack man has been personally thanked by the Ukrainian ambassador to Canada.
Jim Pollock, owner of Duck Mountain Ambulance Care at Kamsack and Norquay, was a special guest at the 75th anniversary celebration of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress at St. Mary’s Cultural Centre in Yorkton on June 9.
The keynote guest speaker at the event was His Excellency Andriy Shevchenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Canada.
“The ambassador wanted to personally thank us for having donated the ambulance that was shipped to Ukraine last year,” Pollock said.
Shevchenko, who is known in Ukraine as a civil activist and a defender of human rights had worked as a Kyiv-based correspondent for the Ukrainian News, an Edmonton-based newspaper. He is a sponsor of 60 legislative acts adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament and was an active participant in the EuroMaidan protests in 2013-14.
Canora is one of 19 branches of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress which works to promote linkages with Ukraine and identifies and addresses the needs of the Ukrainian community in Canada to ensure its continued existence and development for the enhancement of Canada’s socio-cultural fabric.
Also attending the function were Ken Krawetz, former Canora-Pelly MLA; Bishop Bryan Bayda; Cathay Wagantall, Yorkton-Melville MP; Greg Ottenbreit, Yorkton MLA, and Mayor Bob Maloney of Yorkton.
The former Kamsack-based ambulance was one of three from Saskatchewan and one from Alberta that were donated to Ukraine. The ambulances left the port of Halifax in August 2015 bound for Kyiv, Ukraine.
It was only after several months of hard work and lobbying governments that the ambulances from Canada were sent to Ukraine for medical support to front-line health care workers.
The Ambulances for Ukraine project was a co-operative humanitarian effort that got vitally important equipment to front-line medical and health care workers, said a release.
“People around the world have watched with dismay the crisis that has unfolded in Ukraine, a crisis that has had a devastating impact on the country, its infrastructure and its people,” the release said. “The ambulances are a practical, tangible way that Canadians, and in particular, the Ukrainian Canadian community, can help a war-torn country.”
The Duck Mountain ambulance was a 2005 model which had been working in the Kamsack area for four years, Pollock said, adding that his company decided to upgrade his fleet, but instead of donating a less desirable unit agreed to donate this model.
The company’s previous three units that had been decommissioned were traded to an oil company for industrial safety work.
In addition to the ambulance from Duck Mountain, the other ambulances were donated by MD Ambulance in Saskatoon, Parkland Ambulance in Prince Albert and Associated Ambulance Services in Edmonton.
The event was held by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan, Yorkton branch, along with Wagantall’s office.
