Dream to Reality

Michael Tkaczyk was one of thousands of immigrants who came to Canada from a region that is today known as Ukraine. Ukraine's size and borders have changed many times over the centuries due to social and political changes in Eastern Europe. Historically, the people who emigrated to Canada from Western Ukraine were of Ukrainian origin but their country of origin was recorded differently at different times, due to political borders changing or occupation by foreign military powers. The ships' logs, personal passports and immigration documentation often listed Ukrainians' country of origin as Galicia, Ruthenia, Bukovina, Romania, Austria, Poland or Russia. Michael s reason for coming to Canada was basically the same as everyone else s from that region. He wanted to make a better life for himself and his family. The reasons for leaving however, were as varied as the people themselves. They left their homeland for any or all of the following: for personal reasons; to escape oppression by military powers; to gain the basic freedoms as we know them in North America; for economic reasons; to escape a static, entrenched and unforgiving socio-political system such as feudalism; to escape brutal and corrupt political systems such as communism, or simply for the sense of adventure.