Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine Meets Ukrainian Canadians

By Olena Wawryshyn

TORONTO­–Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine Abina Dann, at the beginning of June, met with representatives of Ukrainian Canadian organizations who have an interest in Ukraine.

While in Canada, Dann, who was assigned to Kyiv ten months ago, consulted with Ukrainian-Canadian groups in the Toronto area to get their input on key issues relating to Canada-Ukraine relations, to get feedback on the Canadian government’s policy as well as to share some of her ideas on what the Canadian embassy can accomplish in Ukraine.

On Friday, June 2, Dann met with members of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce (CUCC) at the Markland Wood Country Club in Toronto.

A cross-section of the CUCC’s executive board, including CUCC President John Znaczko, and general members, attended the meeting, said the CUCC’s Executive Director Bohdan Leschuk.

“Ms Dann gave the CUCC group a good insight into the work of the Canadian embassy in Kyiv, and people had an opportunity to express various concerns relating to the embassy and doing business in Ukraine that should be “advanced from a Canadian government standpoint,” said Leschuk.

According to Leschuk, Dann advised the CUCC’s members, that when there are issues that they feel should be addressed by the government it is best to not only bring problems or issues to the table, but also to present some possible solutions.

The CUCC members were impressed by Ms Dann’s straightforward and forthright manner, her constructive and positive approach and her willingness and dedication to mastering the Ukrainian language said Leschuk.

Also on Friday, the ambassador met with the Board of Directors of the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (UCRDC) at their office at St. Vladimir Institute. 

Dann was familiar with two of the documentary films produced by the UCRDC–Harvest of Despair and the recently released Between Hitler and Stalin: Ukraine in WWII–but wanted to get more details about the centre’s work, said UCRDC spokesperson Oksana Zakydalsky.

The discussion focused on how the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv can promote what Ukrainians in Canada have  done for Ukraine and thereby raise the profile of Canada in Ukraine.

Dann noted that being Irish by heritage, she understood the contributions that diasporas often bring to their home countries and saw parallels between the Ukrainians and Irish in this respect.  She had been amazed, she said, when she was learning Ukrainian, to discover how many Ukrainian dictionaries and books on Ukraine had been written and  published in Canada over the last 50 years.

At the meeting, the UCRDC informed Dann about the Centre’s oral history archives and its ongoing projects with the Institute of Historical Research in Lviv, said Zakydalsky.

Speaking of her own hopes, Dann said her dream would be to set up a Canada House in Ukraine, in Kyiv, (such as the one in England’s capital), which would showcase Canada to Ukrainians said Zakydalsky.

Ambassador Dann also met representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) that same weekend on two occasions. One meeting was conducted with members of the UCC’s Canada-Ukraine Committee. 

On Sunday, June 4, a more expanded UCC gathering was held at the UNF Community Centre in which various stakeholders who have a strong involvement and interest in Ukraine participated.  To this group, the UCC’s Canada-Ukraine Committee outlined the policy recommendations it had discussed over the weekend.

Ambassador Dann then had an opportunity to make a presentation to the group.

Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine will soon be travelling to Western Canada where she will meet representatives of organizations in the communities in Edmonton and Winnipeg. 

On June 10, Dann is scheduled to speak at a one-day day forum in Winnipeg that will bring together Canadian and international experts on human trafficking to raise awareness of this issue. Investigative journalist Victor Malarek, the author of The Natashas, will also be speaking at the event.

The forum is aiming to build national support for the Private Member’s Motion being introduced on this issue by Joy Smith, Member of Parliament for Kildonan-St. Paul.—With files from Oksana Zakydalsky