Prime Minister, MP Bezan Meet With Ukraine Election Observers

(Press Releases) James Bezan, Member of Parliament for Selkirk-Interlake met on March 10, 2010 with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to commemorate the Presidential elections in Ukraine held in February. He was joined by members of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF).

Prior to the meeting, the UCC and CUF representatives were invited to the Speaker’s  Gallery during Question Period to receive greetings from Member of Parliament James Bezan in his statement in the House of Commons,

“Mr. Speaker, Canadians are known for promoting democracy around the world. This year was no different.

In February I had the privilege of travelling to Ukraine to observe another historic presidential election. I joined hundreds of dedicated Canadian volunteers, including the Hon. member for Edmonton East, Senator Raynell Andreychuk, and Senator Consiglio Di Nino. Our volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure the elections were both fair and democratic.

 Canadian Ukrainians have strong ties to their home country and we will continue to strengthen this bond. We are proud to support the people of Ukraine during these elections and in their continued democratic development.

      I wish to thank each and every Canadian who volunteered in Ukraine and observed the presidential election.”

Mr. Bezan was a volunteer member of the Election Observer Mission, organized by the Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF) in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC).  By various estimates, some 4,000 international observers were deployed throughout Ukraine, including 320 Canadians.  Mr. Bezan performed his observation duties in the capital city of Kyiv, Bila Tserkva and surrounding communities.

In meeting the Prime Minister, Mr. Bezan was joined by Bob Onyschuk – CUF President, Paul Grod – UCC National President and Anna Szyptur, Head of Mission for the CUF/UCC Election Observer Team. Parliamentarian OSCE observer Peter Goldring, MP – Edmonton East, and Head of OSCE and Canadem Election Observer Missions, Senator Consiglio Di Nino and Senator Raynell Andreychuk, respectively, also participated.

“We shared our experiences with Prime Minister Harper and I am encouraged by his continued support for this mission and Canada-Ukraine issues,” said Bezan after the meeting with the Prime Minister.

During the meeting with the Prime Minister, CUF and UCC extended their appreciation to the Government of Canada for its on-going support to democratic reform of Ukraine.  This support includes maintaining Ukraine as a key foreign policy priority for Canada and designating Ukraine as one of CIDA’s top 20 funding recipients.  Also, UCC and CUF thanked the Prime Minister for Canada’s commitment to Ukraine’s democratic development by sending a 200 person Canadem election observer mission to Ukraine for the 2nd Round of Presidential elections in February 2010.