Ukrainians in Canada

This morning this House gave unanimous consent to hold a moment of silence to commemorate the 298 lives lost on Flight MH17. This is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions. The people of Ukraine and the families of those lost remain in all of our thoughts during this devastating time. The unfortunate reality, Mr. Speaker, is that this is one more act of unspeakable violence in a string of civilian casualties since the crisis in Ukraine began. The dead...

The National Executive of the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women welcomes the Statement issued by Prime Minister Stephen Harper announcing an escalation of punitive measures targeting the Putin regime. Today’s announcement includes economic sanctions and travel bans against specific individuals, as well as economic sanctions against entities which pose a threat to the peace and stability of the Ukrainian state, most importantly, a broad range of entities related to various sectors of the Russian economy. Concrete steps are being taken by the Canadian government to target a wide spectrum of entities within Russia’s arms industry, as well as its financial and energy sectors. The substantive, new measures impose restrictions on the...

The International Council in Support ofUkraine responded to the killing of 298 passengers of MH 17 with a Statement on July 18, 2014 and with letters of condolence on July 23, 2014 addressed to the United Nations Ambassadors of the 9 countries whose nationals were passengers on the downed airliner...

The Canadian Conference in Support of Ukraine(CCSU) and indeed the broader Ukrainian Canadian community are grateful for the support provided to Ukraine by the Government of Canada, in particular by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Cabinet, and by Members of Parliament James Bezan, Ted Opitz, Bob Dechert, Erin O’Toole and many others. From the very onset of the Ukraine crisis,Canada has led the international community in this challenging, yet very necessary endeavour. Prime Minister Harper was the first G7 leader to visit Ukraine following the downfall of the Yanukovych regime, providing the transitional Government of Ukraine with strong political support when it was needed most...

The XXVI National Convention of the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) and the XX National Convention of the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW) took place on June 20-22 2014 inToronto. The conventions were dedicated to several significant anniversaries – the 65th anniversary of LUC, the 65th anniversary of “Homin Ukrainy,” and the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council. The 200th anniversary since the birth of Taras Shevchenko was also commemorated...

Thousands of Kingstonians and visitors to city attended the 45th annual "Lviv, Ukraine" pavilion at Folklore on 13-15 June 2014. Hosted by the Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston this event focused, this year, on the 200th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's bard, while also recalling the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act and Canada's first national internment operations - Kingston's own Fort Henry was Canada's first permanent internment camp...

Friday, May 2, the Canada Room at Brennan Hall at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto was packed with leaders of the Ukrainian community and university officials, as Patriarch Sviatoslav delivered a riveting address during a fund-raiser for the Sheptytsky Institute. The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke on the value of higher education and the quest for a relationship with a God who wants to be known. He also spoke of the under-reported religious dimensions of the Maidan. Shevchuk noted how the movement was transformed from a pro-European protest into an incubator of human dignity. In Kyiv, religious leaders of various Christian communities, as well as Jewish rabbis and Muslim imams, lead the people in prayer and the transformations that occurred there. Patriarch Sviatoslav addressed the role of the diaspora, reminding his audience that the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Churchis not a Church simply for Ukrainians. It is “a Church that comes from the Ukrainian people, but is for the entire human race.” That is what makes it a Christian Church...

Vernon, British Columbia – March 21, 2014 brought the Ukrainian, Japanese and First Nations communities together in a ceremony entitled, Internment to Inclusion. Chief Byron Louis provided a ceremonial welcome to the Ukrainian community to the Okanagan, the first of its kind in Canada. Chief Louis stated, “We all share the effects of internment.” Andrea Malysh, program manager of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund (CFWWIRF) presented Chief Louis with the staples of Ukraine: Bread and Salt. The program was opened with the singing of O’Canada by Internee Descendant, Subdeacon Paul Malysh...

At this time it is clear that the West’s response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea has been relatively weak and must be much stronger. The West must speak with one voice to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and must continue to denounce the illegal invasion and occupation of Ukraine’s territory in violation of international law, in violation of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, and in violation of all bilateral agreements signed by Russia and Ukraine. The West must sanction the...

Statements Delivered at a Rally In Front of the Russian Consulate inToronto, 16 February 2014. Supporting the rally were Conservative Members of Parliament representing the Government of Canada: Ted Opitz, MP (Etobicoke-Center), Bob Dechert, MP (Mississauga-Erindale), and Wladyslaw Lizon, MP (Mississauga East-Cooksville) who also addressed the protestors. Yuri Shymko, Fmr MP & MPP President of the International Council In Support Of Ukraine: We have gathered here today to protest the brutal interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine by the repressive, Facsist and homophobic regime of Vladimir Putin. Our demands are simple: Putin, hands off Ukraine!..