Ukraine’s first four presidents jointly took part in a ceremony early on Nov. 26, Holodomor Remembrance Day, to honor millions of Ukrainians who perished in the 1930s during a Soviet-induced famine. Joining current Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych at the Bykivnia Graves National Historical Memorial Complex in Bykivnia, were former leaders Viktor Yushchenko (2005-2010), Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) and Leonid Kravchuk (1991-1994). According to news agency Interfax-Ukraine, participants of the ceremony honored the victims with a minute of silence. Addressing Ukrainians on Holodomor Remembrance Day, Yanukovych wrote on his www.president.gov.ua website: “Every year, at the end of November...

The apparent use of the court system to silence political dissent in former Soviet republics is a disturbing trend, says Edmonton East Member of Parliament Peter Goldring. Mr. Goldring is vice-chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Group and a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. “First was the case of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine. Now Ales Byalyatski, a long-time human rights defender and head of the human rights organization Vyasna has been convicted in Belarus. Both trials seem to me to have been politically motivated, and both these people are political prisoners. Both trials were described as not meeting any reasonable standard of process.” The Government of Canada has also condemned the conviction...

As people awake on Saturday November 26, 2011, Ukrainians in Ukraine and abroad in partnership with members of the international community who respect life and condemn atrocities against mankind, will light a candle and remember the millions who perished in the Great Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) in 1932-33 at the hands of Stalin's communist regime. Remembered will be the millions of children, in fact nearly half of those who perished were children. Mothers and fathers saw their families and the elderly starve to death in front of their eyes and in turn themselves died because of Stalin's horrific regime. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent, best known for his work against genocide, a word he coined...

On Thursday, November 24, the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism attended the inauguration of the interpretation centre at Camp Spirit Lake. He was accompanied by his Parliamentary Colleagues from the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship group, including James Bezan, Peter Goldring and Bernard Trottier. This was the site of one of the twenty four internment camps that were established in Canada during the First World War. Camp Spirit Lake held 1200 detainees, the majority of whom were of Ukrainian origin. The historical materials collected in this centre document the experiences of entire families, who found themselves surrounded by barbed wire and treated like prisoners of war. Minister Kenney stated...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement commemorating the 78th anniversary of the Holodomor: “On Saturday, November 26, I join Canadians in remembering and honouring the millions of men, women and children who suffered horribly and perished during the Ukrainian famine-genocide of 1932-1933. Moreover, I encourage all Canadians to participate in the many Holodomor commemoration ceremonies taking place this weekend across the country to learn about this terrible episode in human history. “The Ukrainian famine, under the oppressive Soviet communist regime of Josef Stalin, remains one of the most atrocious crimes against humanity ever perpetrated. It also reminds us of the real importance of our country’s commitment to the protection and promotion of freedom, democracy and human rights...

The Holodomor is the name given to the genocide by famine that occurred in Ukraine from 1932 to 1933. As many as 10 million Ukrainians perished as victims of a man-made famine under Joseph Stalin’s regime, with 25,000 dying each day at the peak of the famine. The name Holodomor is the Ukrainian word for "plague of hunger" or “death inflicted by starvation” derived from two words, “holod” – starvation/famine and “moryty” – to inflict death. Holodomor Memorial Day was introduced on February 18, 2009 as the first tri-sponsored Private Member's Bill of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. On April 9, 2009 the Province of Ontario unanimously passed Bill 147 – The Holodomor Memorial Day Act, which calls for the fourth Saturday in November to be a day of remembrance...

Viktor Yanukovych owes African Americans an apology. Not for permitting his Regionnaire pals to devastate Ukraine. For that he should apologize to his own people, who elected him to improve the country and not destroy it. No, Yanukovych owes African Americans an apology for comparing himself to Martin Luther King Jr. He does that in the concluding chapter of his recently published English-language book, Opportunity Ukraine. The chapter, titled “I Have a Dream,” consists of numerous paragraphs that begin with those very words to express the Ukrainian president’s vision of Ukraine. The choice is not accidental. As Yanukovych writes on page 288: “I Have a Dream” was the name of a famous speech by Martin Luther King...

On Tuesday, November 22, 2011 the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development moved to hold hearings on Ukraine. MP Peter Goldring (Edmonton East) made the request to undertake a study on “the progression of rights and democracy over the past 10 years.” “The member organizations of the Canadian Conference in Support of Ukraine deeply appreciate the impending study on the human rights situation in Ukraine, and that the hearings will be conducted before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development,” said CCSU Chairman, Oleh Romanyshyn. Following Prime Minister Harper’s trip to Ukraine in October 2010, the LUC and its fellow organizations in the CCSU have been working with Members of Parliament to convene hearings on Ukraine. In this regard, during the 40th Parliament, MP David Sweet (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale) tabled a motion on March 22, 2011 which was adopted unanimously at the Parliamentary Subcommittee on International Human Rights to investigate human rights abuses in Ukraine. The motion...

The week after arriving back in Ottawa following a three-year posting as Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Daniel Caron came to Parliament Hill to brief Peter Goldring on the current situation in Ukraine. Mr. Goldring is Member of Parliament for Edmonton East, vice-chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Group and a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. The two men discussed the current state of Canada-Ukraine relations and how the apparently politically motivated arrest, trial and incarceration of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is affecting those relations. “What is happening in Ukraine...

Edmonton East Member of Parliament Peter Goldring says the formal inauguration of the Camp Spirit Lake Interpretation Center at the former internment camp in Quebec’s Abitibi region was “moving.” Mr. Goldring is vice-chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Group and a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. The internment camp at Spirit Lake was one of 24 established by the Canadian government between 1915 and 1917 during the First World War. The majority of its 1,200 detainees were Ukrainian immigrants. The camp at Spirit Lake was one of only two camps that held families, and was also one of two that...