UCC Meets With MacKay

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) met with the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter MacKay, in Ottawa on November 10.

The UCC delegation, led by the organization's President, Orysia Sushko, presented the minister with a brief on issues relating to Canada-Ukraine relations. The UCC asked that Canada take a firm stand in supporting Ukraine against pressure from Russia and emphasized the importance of Canada continuing to stand by Ukraine during its democratic evolution.

The UCC believes that fostering Canadian investment and trade with Ukraine is one way that the Canadian government can assist in improving the quality of life for Ukrainians and developing the Canadian economy. Therefore, the UCC stressed that Canada must have a full-time Canadian trade officer posted to the Canadian Embassy in Kyiv.

For the past 10 years, the UCC and the Department of Foreign Affairs have been cooperating under the auspices of the Canada-Ukraine Advisory Council. The UCC urged the Minister to continue supporting this forum.

In addition, the UCC would like a Canadian consulate to be opened in Lviv, maintaining that it would serve the economic and cultural interests of Canada by giving our country a presence in this Ukrainian region to which many Canadians trace their roots.

At the meeting, the UCC noted that the federal government has cut funding for diplomacy and urged that this be reconsidered. The UCC also asked that the Canadian Government formally recognize the 1932-33 Famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide, particularly since it is the 75th anniversary of this tragedy. 

The UCC urged the Minister to ensure that Canada plays a leading role in stamping out human trafficking, an elicit trade that has victimized young people around the world, including many from Ukraine.

The UCC plans to hold a “Canadians in Ukraine Conference” in 2007 to study Canada’s role in Ukraine during the years of Ukrainian independence. The UCC invited the Minister of Foreign Affairs to address this conference and indicated its desire that the Department of Foreign Affairs participate in it.

Accompanying Sushko were UCC Canada-Ukraine Committee Chair Jars Balan; UCC Board of Directors member and Canadian Friends of Ukraine (CFU) Vice President Margareta Shpir; CFU Executive Director Lesia Shymko; and UCC Executive Director Ostap Skrypnyk. The CFU also presented a brief outlining their activities in Ukraine and making recommendations on government policies towards Ukraine.

The brief presented to MacKay by the UCC can be found on the UCC website www.ucc.ca.