Politics

Dear Minister, We would like to raise an issue of importance to our organization and the broader Ukrainian Canadian community. As you are probably aware, the second report prepared by Canadian sports lawyer Richard McLaren for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and issued on December 9, 2016 provided plenty of evidence of a sophisticated doping scheme sponsored and orchestrated by Russia’s Sports Ministry, its national anti-doping agency, and its FSB intelligence service. The scheme included switching and changing urine samples by opening “tamper-proof” bottles and using numerous other methods to bypass and cover up drug tests, which gave Russian athletes an unfair advantage over their counterparts from other countries over the course of five years. It is a historic fact that authoritative regimes place a big importance on the success of its athletes on the international arena. Russia under Vladimir Putin’s rule is no exception. However, this culture of organized cheating on the highest level is unacceptable in sports as it undermines the trust in the system of fair athletes, their coaches, national federations and millions of spectators around the world...

Mr. President: The League of Ukrainian Canadians takes this opportunity to call your attention to the case of Nataliya G. Sharina, who has become a subject of the Ukrainian Diaspora’s deepest concerns. Nataliya Sharina is the former Director of the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow, who has been detained on the suspicion of inciting ethnic hatred and embezzlement of library funds. The Ukrainian Diaspora has closely followed her court hearings of November 3rd and November 23rd, 2016 and is well aware of the evidence presented against N.G. Sharina...

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) welcomes the adoption by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) of two resolutions confirming the resolute position of PACE on the continuing Russian aggression in Ukraine. The resolutions were based on two reports: "Political consequences of Russian aggression in Ukraine" presented by rapporteur Kristýna Zelienková (Czech Republic) and "Legal remedies for human rights violations on the Ukrainian territories outside the control of the Ukrainian authorities" presented by rapporteur Marieluise Beck (Germany)...

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) is appalled by the decision on 11 October 2016 of the Moscow Oblast Court to uphold the ruling of the Nohinsk municipal court calling for the demolition of the Holy Trinity Church of the Bohorodsk Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate. The demolition of the Holy Trinity Church would be sacrilegious and further trample on the basic religious rights of the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate in the city of Nohinsk by leaving them without any place of worship...

Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij and Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Ukrainian World Congress. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the UWC concluded this Memorandum “recognizing the need for effective joint action of the Ukrainian State with Ukrainians beyond its borders, defending human, civil and national rights of Ukrainians in the world, consolidating the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, securing its territorial integrity, furthering the democratic process in Ukraine, its Euro-integration and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”...

The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists of Stepan Bandera condemns plans to conduct on September 18, 2016 elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the occupied territories of Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. We appeal to governments to not recognize the election results and to encourage the international community to do likewise...

The latest escalation in Russia’s information blockade of occupied Crimea last week may, as suggested, be due to zeal by de facto prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya and her team of zealous ‘extremism’-hunters. The move does, however, seem potentially more sinister following Russia’s closure on Sunday morning of all crossing points between mainland Ukraine and occupied Crimea and unsubstantiated reports of a ‘battle’ or attack by Ukrainians on Russian soldiers. Apparent attempts to blame the physical blockade on Ukraine seemed especially implausible given the huge amount of military technology which Russia had transported into Crimea the day before...

The International Council in Support of Ukraine, in conjunction with the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists of Stepan Bandera, condemns the plan to conduct elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation on September 18, 2016 in the temporary occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. We appeal to Prime Minister Trudeau to not recognize the election results and to encourage other governments to do likewise...

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) calls on the Government of Canada to swiftly adopt a "Magnitsky Amendment" to the Special Economic Measures Act. The United States adopted the Magnitsky Act in 2012. Magnitsky legislation is named after the late Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer and fraud investigator who uncovered evidence of a major theft of tax money by government officials - but was then arrested for it himself, imprisoned, tortured and left to languish for 358 days before he died in jail at age 37...

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the so-called ‘referendum’ held in Crimea and the invasion and military occupation of Ukraine by the Putin regime. To mark this solemn occasion, Official Opposition Foreign Affairs critic, Tony Clement, and Defence critic, James Bezan, call on the Liberal government to clearly state that it will never recognize the illegal occupation of Crimea: “It is deeply concerning that the Liberal government, in a statement released today, refused to repeat what we have been saying all along: that Canada will never recognize any part of Ukraine as Russian territory. Crimea is Ukraine, Donbas is Ukraine and they always will be. Canada must not waver in standing with our partners and allies in support of the people of Ukraine, and their quest for peace and democracy...