The Ignatieff Storm

By Walter Kish

Michael Ignatieff, the recently made leader of the Liberal Party in Canada, has once again stirred up a hornet's nest within the Ukrainian Canadian community. This time, by removing Etobicoke Centre Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj from his “shadow cabinet”.  The February 5 issue of The New Pathway carried a blistering critique of this move written by Myroslava Oleksiuk who took Mr. Ignatieff to task for being overly “Russo-centric” on his views of Ukraine and Ukrainians.

The newspaper received a critical “Letter to the Editor” in response to Ms. Oleksiuk’s article from Steve Denyszyn, a member of the academic staff at the University of Toronto, which we printed in this issue of the newspaper adjacent to this column.  In his response, he challenges the notion that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj is an advocate for the Ukrainian Canadian community and that he was demoted because he was of Ukrainian Canadian descent. He further asserts that Ukrainian Canadians who are outraged by this move are being over emotional, indulging in “kitsch” and “blind nationalism”.  Further, he disputes that Mr. Ignatieff’s views on things Ukrainian cannot be equated to Vladimir Putin, and that Ukrainian Canadians are being less than ingenuous in claiming that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj had anything to do with free elections in Ukraine.

As impressed as we are with Mr. Denyszyn’s initiative in challenging Ms. Oleksiuk’s article, The New Pathway Board of Directors is questioning most of his arguments that are long on passion and short on facts.  We will grant that there is at least one point he makes that we can agree on.  We also don’t believe that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj was sacked because he was of Ukrainian Canadian descent.  Any new party leader will appoint to his cabinet or shadow cabinet people whom he is comfortable with and who will support him.  During the last Liberal leadership convention, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj was a supporter of leadership contender Gerard Kennedy, one of Mr. Ignatieff’s rivals.  One must also remember that it was Kennedy’s move to support Stephane Dion that allowed Dion to snatch the win away from the frontrunner Ignatieff at that convention.  It should be no surprise that Ignatieff would not look favourably on retaining in his shadow cabinet someone who was part of the internal opposition.  We are certain that the move was one of political pragmatism rather than of ethnic bias.

As for the remainder of Mr. Denyszyn’s assertions, we think they reflect, more than anything else, his unfamiliarity with Mr. Wrzesnewskyj, the organized Ukrainian Canadian community and the realities of Ukrainian – Russian relations.  While it is obvious that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj does not represent Mr. Denyszyn, we think it is safe to say that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj is highly regarded and supported by the vast majority of organized Ukrainian Canadian communities in Canada.  Mr. Wrzesnewskyj, as well as his whole family, have been active supporters of numerous Ukrainian organizations, charities, foundations and activities from the time the family first came to Canada.  Mr. Wrzesnewskyj is probably as fine an “advocate” of Ukrainians and Ukrainian culture as you will find either in Canada or in Ukraine.

It is also fact that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj was involved during the Orange Revolution which brought about the victory of the democratic forces in Ukraine.  His assistance in organizational efforts in the Ukrainian Canadian community as well as his assistance in lobbying within the Canadian government resulted in a large contingent of election observers being sent to Ukraine to help guarantee fair and transparent elections.  They also helped stimulate strong official Canadian government support for the reform movement in Ukraine.  Mr. Wrzesnewskyj continues to maintain ties with the reformist forces in Ukraine and is a player in current Canada – Ukraine political relations.

The last and probably most important issue over which we disagree with Mr. Denyszyn is that Ukrainian Canadians have nothing to fear from Mr. Ignatieff and that his views are not remotely close to those of Mr. Putin’s.  The facts strongly indicate otherwise.  We have all become familiar with Mr. Ignatieff’s published works wherein he unequivocally admits to having a Russo-centric bias when it comes to Ukraine and Ukrainian, one that belittles the legitimacy of the Ukrainian people, their language and their culture.  This is very similar to Putin’s and some Russians’ view that Ukraine and its people are not a true nation or distinct nationality.

Now, we have sufficient respect for Mr. Ignatieff’s liberal and intellectual qualities to know that such a view, regrettable as it may be, does not pose any real threat.  We have no fear that somehow this will lead to some kind of persecution or oppression of Ukrainian Canadians.

However, let us not forget that Mr. Ignatieff has a very good chance of becoming the Prime Minister of Canada in the near future.  In that capacity, he will have a very strong say and influence on Canada’s foreign policy including the policy on Ukraine.  His self-acknowledged negative bias with regards to Ukraine and Ukrainians thus has the potential of having very negative real consequences for Ukraine and its future.  That is a very definite and justifiable fear, and one not so easily discounted.  This is particularly so in view of the fact that Mr. Ignatieff has not made any real effort at distancing himself from his published musings or at trying to improve his understanding of and relations with the Ukrainian Canadian community.

On behalf of the Board and Editorial Staff, Mr. Denyszyn, we thank you for your letter and your opinions, however, we respectfully disagree with the majority of your theses.  Mr. Ignatieff’s and the Liberal Party’s shadow cabinet will be much the poorer for the absence of Borys Wrzesnewskyj.

Written on behalf of The New Pathway Board of Directors, Walter Kish, 1^st Vice President