LETTER

UCPBF Asks PM to Intervene in Etobicoke Riding

The Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation (UCPBF) has written a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin voicing their dissatisfaction with the nomination process in the Federal Riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore. In this Toronto riding, the Liberal Party parachuted in Michael Ignatieff as the Liberal candidate for the Federal election. He has expressed negative views on Ukrainians and Ukrainian independence in his book Blood and Belonging. The UCPBF has forwarded its letter to The New Pathway for publication in order to inform the community of their stance.

 The Right Honourable Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Parliament Hill
Ottawa, Ontario

December 4, 2005

Dear Sir: 

The Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation (UCPBF) is an umbrella-type organization co-ordinating the activities of some 16 member associations across Canada. Traditionally, the UCPBF has been actively involved in a variety of Canadian issues, including Canada’s foreign policy, immigration matters, the Constitution, human rights, Bilingualism and Multiculturalism, culture and heritage.  It is in this tradition that we approach you with this concern.

The UCPBF is deeply disturbed about the details surrounding the Liberal nomination in Toronto’s Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding.  Our concerns revolve around two issues, namely, the nomination process and the officially nominated candidate.

The process of nomination employed by senior members of the Liberal Party was, frankly, a blatant affront to democracy and flies in the face of Canadian traditions of honesty, transparency and decency in the election process. To many of us, the nomination tactics employed in this nomination remind us of similar irregularities in the presidential election in Ukraine last December, especially since many of our members, including myself, served as official Canadian observers.

The choice of Michael Ignatieff as the parachuted candidate in this riding we find equally troubling.  The National Post, on October 18, 2005, printed the following report:

“A former B.C. judge was forced to resign from a panel appointed to select nominees to fill a vacancy on Canada’s Supreme Court after the revelation of comments made by him some 14 years ago. What deeded him to be a political pariah were statements that he made pertaining to Canada’s First Nations.  In a landmark decision dismissing a Native People’s land claim, Judge A. McEarchan suggested that the lives of native people were, “nasty, brutish and short before the arrival of Europeans. He added, that they had no written language, no horses or wheeled vehicles, slavery and starvation was not uncommon, wars with neighbouring peoples were not common.”

Airing these comments was sufficient to deem Judge A. McEarchan unsuitable for membership on this selection panel. On the other hand, Michael Ignatieff’s disdainful and demeaning comments about Ukraine and Ukrainians so clearly expressed in his book, “Blood and Belonging” were obviously not taken very seriously by the persons who promoted his candidacy.  We can’t believe that the criteria for becoming a parliamentarian are that much lower than serving on an advisory panel.

To add insult to injury, Michael Ignatieff has been parachuted into a riding with one of the highest concentrations of Ukrainian Canadians in the country. How are we to interpret this double standard?

The Etobicoke-Lakeshore fiasco is quickly becoming nasty and divisive.  Those Liberals who oppose Ignatieff’s candidacy are being labelled as “Ukrainians” i.e., not Canadians, whereas Ignatieff supporters are referring to themselves as “Canadian.”  We see this as an affront to Canada’s societal fabric.  This polarization must be stopped immediately.

Therefore, the UCPBF strongly urges you to use your power and influence to declare the nomination of last Wednesday as null and void and call for another nomination meeting for the riding as soon as possible.

A time of crisis demands outstanding wisdom and leadership. You have shown outstanding leadership in the past and we are convinced that it is time to show it again.

Yours sincerely,

Mykhailo Wawryshyn,

President, UCPBF