On July 16, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty, which declared that Parliament recognized the need to build the Ukrainian state based on the Rule of Law.
On August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence, which the citizens of Ukraine endorsed in the referendum of December 1, 1991. Also in 1991, Canadians celebrated the Centennial of Ukrainian group immigration to Canada. To mark the Centennial, Canadian organizations planned programs and projects to celebrate this milestone in Canada’s history.
The Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation of Toronto marked the Centennial by establishing the CANADA-UKRAINE PARLIAMENTARY PROGRAM (CUPP) for university students from Ukraine in the House of Commons.
CUPP gives Ukrainian students an opportunity to observe parliamentary democracy and government and gain experience from which generations of Canadian, American and West European students have benefited.
Since 1991 over 1,000 university students have participated in the CUPP internship program, the Model Ukraine Conferences in Ottawa, Washington Oxford U.K. and Ukraine and Reunion Meetings with parliamentary governance programs.
In 2018 the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada became a sponsor of the CUPP program.
The following biographical sketches will introduce the 14 university students who will serve an internship in the offices of 14 members of parliament, during the Spring Sitting of Parliament in 2019.
Anna Mysyshyn
Anna Mysyshyn
Anna Mysyshyn is a recipient of the Justice John Sopinka Scholarship and will serve her 2019 Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program internship in the office of Linda Duncan, MP for Edmonton-Strathcona, Alberta. She is a student at Ivan Franko National university of Lviv pursuing a PhD in Private International Law. Anna earned a Masters Degree in law at Tartu University, Estonia. She was born in Drohobych and is active in United Nations Projects for people with disabilities. Anna is a member of Professional Government Association in Ukraine and plays drums.
Maksym Dvorovyi
Maksym Dvorovyi
Maksym Dvorovyi is a recipient of the Humeniuk Family Scholarship and will serve his 2019 Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program internship in the office of Robert-Falcon Ouellette, MP for Winnipeg Centre, Manitoba. He earned an LLM degree at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Maksym was born in Rivne and is currently working in the Ukrainian Parliament in the office of Viktoriia Siumar, MP, as well as with CEDEM NGO. His work is concentrated on the regulation of media environment. Maksym enjoys travelling the world and also spends a chunk of his free time coaching teams for Moot Court competitions.
Natalia Lavrova
Natalia Lavrova
Natalia Lavrova is a recipient of the Mazurenko Family Scholarship and will serve her 2019 Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program internship in the office of James Maloney, MP for Etobicoke — Lakeshore, Ontario.
She is a DAAD Helmut-Schmidt Scholarship holder at the University of Osnabrueck, Germany, pursuing an MA degree in Democratic Governance and Civil Society. Natalia earned BA and MA degrees in Political Science at I.I. Mechnikov National University of Odesa, Ukraine. She completed an internship at the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commission for Human Rights in Kyiv and was a volunteer with the Democratic Alliance Party during the 2015 municipal election in Odesa.
Natalia is interested in the “role of Identity in Ukraine” and conducting scientific research in this field.
