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Canada's Prime Minister consults Ukrainian Canadian leaders on the Ukrainian Presidential elections and future Canada-Ukrain
Ottawa, Canada - March 11, 2010 -Prime Minister Stephen Harper met yesterday with key representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and the Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF) to discuss the recent Presidential Elections Observer Missions and the future of Canada-Ukraine relations.
The Prime Minister met with Paul Grod, UCC National President, Bob Onyschuk Q.C., Chair Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF), Ann Szyptur, UCC and CUF Board Member and Head of Mission for the 1st Round CUF/UCC election observer mission, and the heads of the Canadem and OSCE Canadian Observer groups, Senator Raynell Andreychuk and Senator Con DiNino. Also present were MP's James Bezan and Peter Goldring, who were members of the CUF and OSCE missions respectively.
Prior to the meeting, the UCC and CUF representatives were invited to the Speaker's Gallery during Question Period to receive greetings from Member of Parliament James Bezan in his statement in the House of Commons (40th PARLIAMENT, 3rd SESSION EDITED HANSARD NUMBER 006 Wednesday, March 10, 2010),
"Mr. Speaker, Canadians are known for promoting democracy around the world. This year was no different.
In February I had the privilege of travelling to Ukraine to observe another historic presidential election. I joined hundreds of dedicated Canadian volunteers, including the Hon. member for Edmonton East, Senator Raynell Andreychuk, and Senator Consiglio Di Nino. Our volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure the elections were both fair and democratic.
This afternoon, many of these observers will meet with the Prime Minister here in Ottawa to commemorate this historic event. Among them are representatives from the Canada Ukraine Foundation and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
Canadian Ukrainians have strong ties to their home country and we will continue to strengthen this bond. We are proud to support the people of Ukraine during these elections and in their continued democratic development.
I wish to thank each and every Canadian who volunteered in Ukraine and observed the presidential election."
During the meeting with the Prime Minister, CUF and UCC extended their appreciation to the Government of Canada for its on-going support to democratic reform of Ukraine. This support includes maintaining Ukraine as a key foreign policy priority for Canada and designating Ukraine as one of CIDA's top 20 funding recipients. Also, UCC and CUF thanked the Prime Minister for Canada's commitment to Ukraine's democratic development by sending a 200 person election observer mission to Ukraine for the 2nd Round of Presidential elections in January 2010.
"The Prime Minister expressed great interest in hearing our views about the election, its results and Ukraine's new President", stated Paul Grod, UCC National President. "We advised that the Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF) led observation mission found that on a balance Ukraine's Presidential elections of 2009/10 met the international standards for fair elections, although it noted a number of serious shortcomings. It is very important that Canada actively engages and encourages President Yanukovych to pursue free market reform and democratic initiatives. We must continue to advance key strategic initiatives of mutual benefit to Canada and Ukraine - especially the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement and a Youth Mobility Agreement."
CUF Chair Bob Onyschuk presented the Prime Minister with a personally autographed copy of "Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems", written by renowned Canadian author and poet, Randall Maggs. The book details the saga of hockey's greatest goalie, Terry Sawchuk. Maggs was recently named the 2010 recipient of the $25,000 Kobzar Literary Award -- one of the most prestigious and richest prizes in Canadian literature.
The UCC delegation also extended an invitation to Prime Minister Harper to attend the Triennial Congress of Ukrainian Canadians being held in Edmonton, AB from November 5-7, 2010 as part of the nation's celebration of the 120th anniversary of Ukrainian settlement in Canada and 70th anniversary of UCC.
The Prime Minister indicated that he would mention the UCC meeting to Ukraine's President Yanukovych during a scheduled telephone conversation which took place today.
The Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) is a Canadian charitable foundation established by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to coordinate, develop, organize and deliver assistance projects generated by Canadians and directed to Ukraine. CUF has organized and lead several internationally-acclaimed election observation missions to Ukraine, earning the highest award available to a Canadian civic organization - the Certificate of Commendation - bestowed by the Governor General of Canada in 2005.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) brings together under one umbrella all the national, provincial and local Ukrainian Canadian organization throughout Canada. Together with its member organizations, the UCC has been leading, coordinating and representing the interests of one of Canada's largest ethnic communities (1.2 million) for 70 years.
UCC Media Contact:
Darla Penner
Telephone: 204-942-4627
Email: dpenner@ucc.ca
Website: www.ucc.ca
