TARAS PIDZAMECKYNational President, Ukrainian National Federation of Canada

Born St. Catharines, Ontario 1961 where he completed Ukrainian secondary school and entered organized community life through the Ukrainian National Youth Federation of Canada (UNYF/MYHO).

B.A. in Political Science and Ukrainian Language & Literature, University of Toronto; LL.B., and LL.M in Banking and Financial Services Law, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.

CEO and General Counsel Ukrainian Credit Union Limited. Member Law Society of Upper Canada, Canadian Bar Association, and various credit union industry committees with emphasis on legislative, insurance and governance matters.

Past National President, UNYF (1984-86); Past Chair (1987-89) and current Advisory Committee Member, New Pathway Publishers Limited (Новий Шлях); Canadian Organizing Committee Member, First International Congress of Ukrainian Jurists, Kyiv, Ukraine (1992); Chair, VI World Congress of Ukrainians (1993); Founding Director, Canada Ukraine Foundation (1995); Past Director Canada Ukraine Chamber of Commerce; Chair UCC National’s Election Observer Mission Committee for March 2006 Ukraine Parliamentary Elections (2005-2006); Co-Founder, Ukrainian National Federation of Canada’s Paul Yuzyk Institute for Youth Leadership (2007-2009); Past Director UNF Foundation; Past (2007-2012) and current National President Ukrainian National Federation of Canada. Director, Ukrainian World Foundation, and University of Toronto alumnus student mentor.

Through the Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions of Canada, World Council of Ukrainian Co-operatives, Canadian Cooperative Association, and World Council of Credit Unions helped champion the restoration of the cooperative credit movement in post-Soviet Ukraine providing extensive consulting services on legislation and system development, including co-authoring Ukraine’s first credit union act.