Holodomor Genocide Bill Support in Ottawa

OTTAWA, April 30 - Joy Smith, Conservative Member of Parliament for Kildonan – St. Paul, spoke strongly in support of a private member’s bill tabled in the House of  Commons by MP James Bezan that would establish a Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day and recognize the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 as an act of genocide.

“1932 and 1933 were one of the darkest chapters in human history. I feel very strongly that this was an engineered famine, that it was a deliberate genocide against the innocent men and women and children in Ukraine,” said MP Joy Smith. “This year is the 75th anniversary of this terrible genocide, which was orchestrated under the Communist Dictator Joseph Stalin. As the Chair of the Canada Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, I am grateful to my colleague MP James Bezan for introducing this historical bill and I call on all members to support it.”

An important part of the year long commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Holodomor Genocide will be the International Remembrance Flame… travelling to 33 countries to raise awareness of the Holodomor before ending its journey in Kyiv, Ukraine in November for final commemorations. On April 18th, the Flame arrived in Canada and at the National Launch [in Toronto] it began its journey across Canada, escorted by Holodomor survivor Mr. Stefan Horlatsch.