NEW PUBLICATION “HOLODOMOR: THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE 1932-33” PRESENTED TO MEMBERS OF CANADIAN PARLIAMENT
In May 2008 the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Holodomor Memorial Day Act recognizing the Holodomor as an act of genocide perpetrated against the Ukrainian people by the Communist regime under Stalin. To show their appreciation, on June 15 the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC), the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW), Homin Ukrainy/Ukrainian Echo newspaper, and Ucrainica Research Institute organized a special reception on Parliament Hill for all Members of Parliament and the Ukrainian Canadian community in Ottawa. The event was hosted by Ted Optiz, MP for Etobicoke Centre and Chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Prior to the reception Opitz rose in the House of Commons to deliver a statement about his recent trip to Ukraine with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and to invite all MPs to the reception for the presentation of the International Council in Support of Ukraine’s newest publication, “Holodomor: The Ukrainian Genocide 1932-33.”
“The Prime Minister was clear that Canada recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and we will never recognize Putin’s illegal occupation of any Ukrainian territory, Crimea in particular. Putin must withdraw his troops and weapons from Ukraine. He must also cease his material support to his proxies. Canada will always stand with the people of Ukraine,” stated Opitz.
All MPs received a complimentary copy of the publication in appreciation of their unanimous support for the passage of the Holodomor Memorial Day Act. The publication was also presented to the Honourable Tom Mulcair, leader of the Official Opposition New Democratic Party, and MP Chrystia Freeland on behalf of Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party.
The previous week, a copy of “Holodomor: The Ukrainian Genocide 1932-33” was presented to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on his recent trip to Ukraine on June 6, 2015 by a delegation representing the International Council in Support of Ukraine.
The publication was produced by the League of Ukrainian Canadians and Ucrainica Research Institute, and published by Homin Ukrainy/Ukrainian Echo Publishing Company. “The project was conceived […] to help firm up the historical fact that genocide was perpetrated by the Soviet Stalinist regime against the Ukrainian people,” said Dr. Oleh Romanyshyn, editor at Homin Ukrainy/Ukrainian Echo and the lead editor of the publication.
“Presented in this publication are key Soviet documents and numerous official pronouncements by Soviet leaders, directly responsible for the Holodomor, which conclusively resolve the issue of the allegedly missing ‘smoking gun’ that triggered the genocide,” he said.
“I would like to offer special thanks to Senator Raynell Andreychuk for her motion in the Senate on June 17, 2003, urging the House of Commons to pass this Act,” said Orest Steciw, LUC president and the second editor of the “Holodomor: The Ukrainian Genocide 1932-33” publication.
Steciw also acknowledged the important role of Parliamentary Secretary James Bezan, who introduced and sponsored Bill C-459, which was passed in the House of Commons in May 2008. “We express our deep gratitude to both of them for championing our common cause,” he stated.
Today five Canadian provinces and 24 countries have recognized the Ukrainian Famine as an act of genocide.
“To Canadian parliamentarians, addressing the issue of the Holodomor is a reminder that we must at times set aside partisan differences to show solidarity with universal ideals that unite us as Canadians and as members of the human family,” said Yuri Shymko, former MP, MPP, and current president of the International Council in Support of Ukraine.
Not far from the minds of those present was the situation in Ukraine today.
Addressing the reception, Parliamentary Secretary James Bezan noted, “[Putin] underestimated [the Ukrainian people’s] fortitude, their internal drive to make sure that Ukrainian culture thrives, and their desire for freedom, away from Stalinistic oppression and aggression, [and] that will ultimately triumph what we are witnessing today.”
“I want to thank each and every one of you who have been leading in your community, leading in politics, leading across the country, to ensure that we always remember and honour the victims and the survivors of the Holodomor,” he continued. “We have to tell the story so that history is never repeated again.”
Speaking about the push in Ontario to include the Holodomor as a topic taught in school curriculums, MP Peggy Nash echoed these sentiments: “I want to thank the Ukrainian Canadian community for all the work that you have done to revive this memory, to ensure that it lives today and in future generations, and to ensure that politicians from all political parties are held to account.”
Lisa Shymko, LUCW president, emphasized that “Holodomor: The Ukrainian Genocide 1932-33” is not only an accurate documentation of the events leading to and depicting Stalin’s state-imposed genocide of the Ukrainian people, but also “an ominous template for what we are witnessing today.”
MP Chrystia Freeland further added to this comparison between past and present by highlighting her “favourite section” in the publication, a page documenting farmer resistance in the Odesa oblast in 1931. “Think of the bravery that that took, of just ordinary farmers, fighting Soviet rule,” she said. “As I looked at that I was very sad, but I was also very proud, and I think we are seeing that same spirit, that same bravery, that willingness to resist even in the face of grave personal danger, today in Ukraine.”
Canada has been a steadfast ally of Ukraine’s since the crisis erupted in November 2013. “We are also grateful to the Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and the Government of Canada … for supporting the people of Ukraine today as they face a renewed aggression, bringing death and destruction from those holding power in the same Kremlin,” said Steciw.
“I’m also really proud of the work that Canada is doing to support Ukraine in its struggle. … It is too important an issue for us to fight in a partisan way. It is a Canadian issue, something Canada stands for,” added Freeland.
Kalyna Kardash
Ottawa, Canada
To order your copy of “Holodomor: The Ukrainian Genocide 1932-33”please contact Ucrainica Research Institute at 416-516-2443 or 416-516-8223 or visit www.lucorg.com and www.holodomoreducation.org.
In May 2008 the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Holodomor Memorial Day Act recognizing the Holodomor as an act of genocide perpetrated against the Ukrainian people by the Communist regime under Stalin. To show their appreciation, on June 15 the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC), the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW), Homin Ukrainy/Ukrainian Echo newspaper, and Ucrainica Research Institute organized a special reception on Parliament Hill for all Members of Parliament and the Ukrainian Canadian community in Ottawa. The event was hosted by Ted Optiz, MP for Etobicoke Centre and Chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Prior to the reception Opitz rose in the House of Commons to deliver a 
All MPs received a complimentary copy of the publication in appreciation of their unanimous support for the passage of the Holodomor Memorial Day Act. The publication was also presented to the Honourable Tom Mulcair, leader of the Official Opposition New Democratic Party, and MP Chrystia Freeland on behalf of Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party.
The previous week, a copy of “Holodomor: The Ukrainian Genocide 1932-33” was presented to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on his recent trip to Ukraine on June 6, 2015 by a delegation representing the International Council in Support of Ukraine.
“To Canadian parliamentarians, addressing the issue of the Holodomor is a reminder that we must at times set aside partisan differences to show solidarity with universal ideals that unite us as Canadians and as members of the human family,” said Yuri Shymko, former MP, MPP, and current president of the International Council in Support of Ukraine.
Speaking about the push in Ontario to include the Holodomor as a topic taught in school curriculums, MP Peggy Nash echoed these sentiments: “I want to thank the Ukrainian Canadian community for all the work that you have done to revive this memory, to ensure that it lives today and in future generations, and to ensure that politicians from all political parties are held to account.”
