Letters
Re:
Ignatieff Remains Unconvincing by Christina S. Franko, page 7, The New Pathway, Issue 23,
I am writing to thank you for the recent
article in your newspaper on Mr. Ignatieff. Most of us don’t have time to
follow the comments made by most politicians, but I remember the controversy
that Mr. Ignatieff created when his documentary on European politics aired on
TVO several years ago. I was in university at the time and I remember how many
Ukrainian-Canadians called into TVO to protest the way his film had warped
Ukrainian history. During the panel debate, TVO invited a Soviet-educated
Russian academic named Sergei Plekhanov to defend Ignatieff. Plekhanov said
Ignatieff’s Russian roots allowed him to make a fair assessment of Ukrainians.
But Plekhanov never bothered to tell viewers how Ignatieff’s family helped
institute oppressive anti-Jewish and anti-Ukrainian laws. Ukrainians were
portrayed as a bunch of hot-headed ethnics who had fooled themselves into
thinking that they deserved independence.
If Mr. Ignatieff had
insulted Jews or Blacks, the way he smeared Ukrainians, the media and outraged
Canadians would never have allowed him to become Liberal Leader. But
apparently, defaming Ukrainians is something he plans to get away with.
Ignatieff knows that some day, all he has to do is give a Ukrainian a token
appointment and we’ll be stupid enough to forget that he refused to give us the
public apology we deserve.
Stan Plawlenko, Etobicoke,
Ont.
I accidentally came across your website a
few days ago. I am a Ukrainian-Canadian currently residing in Kyiv, working on
a Canadian construction project in
Occasionally, I try to read
some materials from
Excellent article. I really
enjoyed reading it.
It’s a funny thing. When
politicians in
Why are we acting like
immigrants? Either Ignatieff makes a formal apology, or we tell him to forget
about building any bridges with our community.
Let’s stop acting like
serfs on his family estate. So far, Harper keeps my vote.
Peter Danchuk, Windsor,
Ont. - Kyiv