Arseniy Yatsenyuk Visits

From December 30, 2007 to January 8, 2008, the Speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament, Arseniy Yatsenyuk made a private visit to Canada.

On January 5, 2008, while in Banff AB, Mr. Yatsenyuk met with Paul Grod, newly elected Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) President, and Zenon Potoczny, President of the Canada Ukraine Chamber of Commerce. The discussion was facilitated by H.E. Ihor Ostash, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada.

During the highly engaging discussion, the parties covered a wide

variety of topics including concrete steps to develop closer relations between Canada and Ukraine, the recognition of the Holodomor (Great Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933) as a genocide against the Ukrainian people, and the internment of Ukrainians during Canada’s first national internment operation during WWI.

“Ukraine is beyond the phase in its development of seeking aid from Canada, rather we are looking to engage in a mutually beneficial and constructive bi-lateral and multi-lateral partnership with Canada,” stated Yatsenyuk, “and we expect to underscore this intention with a visit to Canada by Ukraine’s President Victor Yushchenko in the late spring of 2008.”

The Speaker made a personal commitment to work with the UCC in establishing a parliamentary internship program for Canadian students in Ukraine’s Parliament.