The recent visit to Canada of President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko felt much like a homecoming in Ottawa.
More than a million Canadians arrived here from Ukraine in this century, and they have helped to build our country into the powerhouse it is today. Prime Minister Stephen Harper provided a warm welcome on May 26 to President Yushchenko at a special sitting with Members of Parliament, Senators and invited guests in attendance.

Prime Minister Harper addressed President Yushchenko and the assembly: “This may be an historic day, but it has been a long time coming. Many Ukrainians have preceded you here. Roughly 100 years ago, there began the mass migration of tens of thousands of your countrymen and countrywomen to Canada… They were hardy, hard-working and hopeful people, who saw in our largely untouched country a land of great opportunity.

“Many were attracted to the vast open grasslands of the Canadian Prairies, which, while unsheltered from the harsher elements, reminded them of the steppes back home,” continued Prime Minister Harper. “We often forget how difficult those pioneering days really were. Many of those settlers endured terrible hardships, but they prevailed and built the farms, families and fraternities that were vital to the social and economic development of western Canada.”

The assembly was reminded that the Government of Canada under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was the first western nation to recognize Ukraine independence from Russian tyranny in 1991.

Prime Minister Harper noted that Canadian support at that time was unanimous: “As you know, Mr. President, when those who would turn back the clock in Ukraine tried to stop the Orange Revolution, all the parties of both houses of this Parliament and all the people of this nation joined with your country and with your courageous leadership to say, ‘Never again will Ukraine lose her freedom.’”

The prime minister also noted a Private Members Bill currently before Parliament to provide legal recognition for the genocide in Ukraine under the brutal communist dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. On this 75th anniversary of Holodomor, we must remember the past so that it can never again be repeated.

Canadians are not afraid of history or the truth, and we embrace our cousins in Ukraine in their quest for peace and prosperity.

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The audio version of Garry's June 2, 2008 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here