Light of Justice Award Ceremony 2019, Kyiv Ukraine

Svitlo Spravodlyvosty, created by my dear late aunt, Anastasia Shkilnyk, was given this year to two distinguished Ukrainians active in the environmental protection movement: Yulia Melnyk-Pashkovska and Dmyrto Karabchuk. The award is presented for moral, spiritual and ethical leadership - and to highlight examples of such leadership in Ukrainian society. It was founded in 2010 in honour of Anastasia’s father, Dr. Mykhailo Shkilnyk, a lawyer , public and political figure during the 1917-1920 liberation movement in Ukraine. Here are my remarks in English introducing Yulia…

Jim and Anastasia Kingham have always adored nature - and spent decades living in one of the most bio diverse and beautiful areas of the world - which also happens to be my home base of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island. There they were surrounded by all sorts of gifts of nature - from towering evergreen trees and the native Arbutus trees to all sorts of birds, marine life, plants and berries. One of my most cherished memories with ‘Teta Natusia’ was berry picking amidst the heat of summer nearby their home - Finisterra, which derives from the Portuguese version of the word, ‘Lands End.’ It is a place where the two fundamental elements meet: land and water. Says Jim Kingham (Anastasia’s husband): “From the first time we saw it, we felt it was a sacred place - much as the Portuguese felt about such points.”

That is why it is particularly appropriate that this year’s Svitlo Spravolyvosty winners represent activists who’ve dedicated their lives to protecting the environment - and often at great risk to themselves.

As a World Economic Forum report pointed out this week: “The world could be heading toward tipping points in the climate system. In an interconnected climate system, passing one tipping point may trigger a cascade of irreversible changes. As the world continues to warm, some call for urgent global action to avert an ‘existential threat to civilization.’ We may be about to pass – or may already have passed – tipping points in the Earth’s climate, according to a group of leading scientists.”

Again, that is why it is so timely that we are today honouring two special individuals who’ve dedicated their lives to protecting the environment and spreading awareness.

Yulia Melnyk is special in many ways - but above and beyond all represents a new generation of Ukrainians - who at a young age - is dedicated her life to public service. We saw in the last VR election that a record number of candidates under 30 ran and got elected. So in many ways it’s a new and sunny day in Ukraine. Young people are leading the way to transform Ukraine from an oligarch-based economy to one based on fairness and inclusiveness.

Young people are also leading the movement against climate change, discovering to their horror, that they’ve inherited a planet from us that is on the tipping point. Many of the horrific changes predicted in the next decades - such as the disappearance of certain species, monster storms, droughts causing massive displacement, rising sea levels - will occur in their lifespans.

Congratulations to Yuilia Melnyk-Pashkovska..

Bishop Borys Gudziak, the Archeparch of the Ukrainain Catholic Archeparchy of Phildaelphia and President of the Ukrainian Catholic University, hands the ‘Svitlo Spravodlyvosty’ award to Yulia Melnyk-Pashkovska.