33 Facts About Anthony Hlynka

Anthony Hlynka was a Canadian journalist, publisher, immigration activist and politician of Ukrainian descent.

Anthony Hlynka represented Vegreville in the House of Commons of Canada from 1940 to 1949 as a member of the Social Credit Party of Canada.

Anthony Hlynka is best remembered for his attempts to reform Canada's immigration laws after World War II to permit the immigration of Ukrainian displaced persons.

Anthony Hlynka moved to Canada with his family in 1910, when he was three, and was raised in a homesteader community in Alberta's Delph district, about 18 miles northeast of Lamont.

Anthony Hlynka moved to Edmonton in 1922 and graduated from Alberta College the following year, but was unable to attend university.

Anthony Hlynka taught English to other Ukrainian immigrants, and worked at an insurance firm from 1929 to 1931.

Anthony Hlynka wrote for the paper Novyi shliakh, and was elected to its executive in November 1931.

Anthony Hlynka was responsible for soliciting advertisements for the paper until it was moved to Saskatoon in 1933.

Anthony Hlynka was a founding member of the conservative Ukrainian National Federation of Canada in 1932 and served for a time as its acting General Secretary.

Anthony Hlynka started a periodical called Klych in 1935.

Anthony Hlynka joined the Alberta Social Credit League in 1937, and launched the party's Ukrainian language paper, Suspilnyi Kredyt, in February of that year.

Anthony Hlynka later worked for the publicity department of the provincial Social Credit Board, and for the Department of Municipal Affairs.

Anthony Hlynka delivered several speeches, and became a prominent figure in the Ukrainian community.

Anthony Hlynka considered running for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1940 provincial election, but ultimately declined.

Anthony Hlynka was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1940 federal election.

The second-place candidate, Paul Lesiuk, officially challenged the Advisory Board's decision, and Anthony Hlynka's candidacy had to be reaffirmed by Alberta Premier William Aberhart and his cabinet.

Anthony 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.

Anthony 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.

Anthony Hlynka was re-elected in the 1945 federal election, but was defeated in the 1949 federal election by Liberal candidate John Decore.

Anthony Hlynka ran against Decore again in the 1953 federal election but was again defeated.

Anthony Hlynka supported Ukrainian independence in a well-publicized 1942 speech, despite the fact that the Soviet Union was a Canadian ally at the time.

Anthony 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 the aftermath of World War II.

Anthony Hlynka 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.

Anthony Hlynka then played a leading role in the public campaign for immigration law reform, which culminated in Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's decision in 1947 to open Canada's borders to able-bodied displaced persons from Europe.

Social Credit had little support outside of Alberta during the 1940s, and Anthony Hlynka spent his entire parliamentary career on the opposition benches.

Anthony Hlynka did not mention his relations with other Social Credit MPs in his autobiography, and seems to have operated with a fair degree of independence.

Anthony Hlynka was personally hurt by his defeat in 1949, and developed serious health problems in later years.

Anthony Hlynka did not qualify for a parliamentary pension, and was forced to return to the insurance industry.

Anthony Hlynka attempted to win a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1955 provincial election, but was unsuccessful.

Anthony Hlynka died of hypertension in Edmonton in 1957, at age 49; his autobiography was unfinished at the time of his death.

Anthony Hlynka was accused of anti-Semitism during his lifetime, a charge that he rejected.

Anthony Hlynka 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".

Melnycky argues that Anthony 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.