Ukrainian Canadians Meet Michael Ignatieff in Winnipeg

Winnipeg - Michael Ignatieff, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Opposition Leader in the House of Commons, met with a group of 30 leaders of the Ukrainian Canadian community on Friday, March 20^th at R.F. Morrison School in the northwest section of the city (symbolically this school also houses one of 11 Ukrainian-English Bilingual programs in Manitoba).

The guest was accompanied by Toronto MPs Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre) and Gerard Kennedy (Parkdale-High Park), and Anita Neville, MP- Winnipeg South Centre.  The afternoon event was opened by Borys Wrzesnewskyj who introduced Ignatieff and spoke about the recent past political misunderstandings (especially his academic writings from 1992) during the Liberal leader election process (2006) and suggested that a new approach be introduced that would welcome Ukrainian Canadians into the Liberal political family under the leadership of Ignatieff. He then proceeded to mention a number of strengths of Ignatieff and his common ideals for Ukraine and Ukrainian Canadians.

Ignatieff began by recalling his difficult family history in Ukraine and in Canada and talked about the shared values he has as a Russian Canadian with Ukrainian Canadians. This was followed by his remarks on concerns he believed were of interest to the Ukrainian Canadian community that among others included the following:

•     Support for Ukraine’s entry into NATO and issues of Ukraine’s security in Eastern Europe

•     Support for resolving Ukraine’s energy crisis by promising “to share Canadian know-how in technology in the areas of gas, oil and nuclear power”,

•     Support of the redress of Ukrainian internment in Canada during WWI, strongly supporting the redress agreement of $12.5 million in what he considered was “a major injustice and wrong against Ukrainian Canadians” and

•     Support of the international recognition of the Ukrainian Famine Genocide of 1932-33 and the need for strong educational programming.

During the question and answer period, a number of these points were again raised and reiterated. Also, the issue of multiculturalism was addressed by two speakers who wanted to see a heightened budget for this area and a return to the “community development” concept. For these questions, Ignatieff provided positive responses and strongly reassured those present that if he became Prime Minister he would support Ukraine, as it aspires to have closer relations with the West, and Ukrainian Canadian concerns for a stronger multicultural Canada. Also participating in the question and answer period was Gerard Kennedy.

Altogether, the Ignatieff event was a warm, frank and cordial exchange that probably will provide the Ukrainian Canadian community with a strong political alignment differentiated from other Canadian political parties. ‘‘Ignatieff came to mend fences and left Winnipeg warming the hearts of those present with strong commitments to issues that are meaningful to the community”, said one attendee departing from the event.

 Ignatieff was in Winnipeg to attend the provincial Liberal party convention and utilized this time to meet the Ukrainian Canadian community. This was the second such event for Ignatieff and the Ukrainian Canadian community since he was promoted to the leadership of the party, a month after a similar meeting in Edmonton in February.

Prepared by the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, University of Manitoba