Ontario All Party Effort to Commemorate Holodomor

All Parties Work Together to Pass Legislation that Commemorates Victims of the Man Made Famine in Ukraine

Queen’s Park, Toronto – Making history on February 18, 2009, MPPs from all sides of the Ontario Legislature have joined forces to commemorate the victims of the man made famine in Ukraine.

Dave Levac, Liberal MPP for Brant, Cheri DiNovo, NDP MPP Parkdale-High Park and Frank Klees, PC MPP Newmarket-Aurora have introduced a joint Private Members Bill, the Holodomor Memorial Day Act into the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. If passed, this legislation will provide for the declaration of Holodomor Memorial Day on the fourth Saturday in November in each year in the Province of Ontario.

The Holodomor is the name given to the man-made famine that occurred in Ukraine from 1932 to 1933, in which as many as 10 million Ukrainians perished as victims under Joseph Stalin’s regime, with 25,000 dying each day at the peak of the famine in 1933.

The Government of Ukraine, the Parliament of Canada, the Senate of Canada, the Governments of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, UNESCO, the United Nations and over 40 other jurisdictions around the world have officially condemned the Holodomor. Ukraine and Canada have established the fourth Saturday in November in each year as the annual day to commemorate the victims of the Holodomor.

If passed, this Bill will extend the annual commemoration of the victims of the Holodomor to Ontario. A memorial day will provide an opportunity to reflect on and to educate the public about crimes against humanity that occurred in Ukraine during the Holodomor.

“It is a tremendous honour to participate in [today’s] proceedings in a very small way by introducing the Private Members Bill, the Holodomor Memorial Day Act,” said Dave Levac, MPP Brant. “Let us never forget Holodomor. [Today,] as we gather here in the legislature in peace, let us commemorate the Holodomor each year on a day of peace.”

“We are rising above partisan politics to effect a necessary correction in history,” said Cheri DiNovo, MPP Parkdale-High Park. “The horror of the Holodomor was real, the millions dead must be honoured and mourned.”

“It is an honour for me as a Member of the Ontario PC Caucus to co-sponsor this Bill,” said Frank Klees, MPP Newmarket-Aurora. “Those who have advocated for many years to have the truth concerning the Holodomor publicly recognized can take heart knowing that their persistence has been rewarded.