Bezan Takes Issue with
Ignatieff
“On April 14 this year, the
Liberal leader announced that he “...will have to raise taxes”. At its recent
convention, the Liberal Party reaffirmed its commitment to imposing a
job-killing carbon tax. The Liberal leader said he would raise the GST and the
Liberal Party said it would eliminate the universal child care benefit,” said
Bezan. “Based on his statements, we now believe him when he calls himself a
“tax-and-spend...Liberal.”
But Mr. Bezan, who is of
Ukrainian descent, was even more concerned with past comments made by the
Liberal leader in his book “Blood and Belonging”, where he disturbingly
articulates his prejudice against Ukrainians. Bezan said, “Another worrying
revelation the Liberal leader made was that he believed Ukrainians were just
little Russians, and that “Ukrainian independence conjures up images of
embroidered peasant shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments, phoney
Cossacks in cloaks and boots, nasty anti-Semites.”
Recently, some media have
run editorials and stories regarding a recent flyer distributed by Manitoba
Minister Vic Toews, MP for Provencher, which draws attention to some statements
made by Mr. Ignatieff in his book. Bezan later said, “The claims made by some
people that Mr. Ignatieff’s comments are being used out of context are
absolutely false. Mr. Ignatieff is writing about his family’s life in
“It is okay to be a proud
Russian, but the Liberal leader does not need to belittle Canadians of
Ukrainian descent to be proud of his heritage,” concluded Bezan.