Ukrainian Canadians have good reason to be angry with the hierarchy of the Liberal Party in Ontario over the Ignatieff fiasco, and may want to vent their frustrations at the polls. But the worst thing we could do is take it out on our supporters in the Liberal Party. If anything, this makes it even more important that we elect our representatives and friends within the Liberal Party. Because should Michael Ignatieff win, he will most likely be given a cabinet post and we will need our supporters in the caucus to counterbalance whatever negative influence he may bring to power.
We have always maintained that our community needs supporters on both sides of the House. In the next issue of Ukrainian News we will be singling out those MPs and other candidates from the opposition parties who deserve our community's support. In this issue we will focus on the Liberals.
First and foremost is Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre). As Ignatieff's immediate neighbour he will play a decisive role in counterbalancing whatever influence Ignatieff may bring. He is also a victim of the Ignatieff affair, which was designed as a payback by the outgoing MP for Etobicoke Lakeshore, Jean Augustine. Those Ukrainian Canadian members of the Etobicoke Lakeshore riding association and executive whose democratic rights were denied by the farcical coronation of Ignatieff, were people that Borys Wrzesnewskyj brought in when he first won the riding association presidency in 2002. If people want to give the party hierarchy which imposed Ignatieff upon Etobicoke Lakeshore a lesson, then in addition to ensuring Ignatieff's defeat, they should ensure Wrzesnewskyj is returned with an even bigger majority.
As a very pro-active MP when it came to issues of importance to our community, Wrzesnewskyj has drawn up a most impressive track record during his short 17-month tenure.
Wrzesnewskyj's crowning moment was last year's Orange Revolution and the role he played in convincing the government to send in the record 500 election observers who played such a critical role in ensuring Ukraine's emergence as a democratic nation.
Another critical success that Wrzesnewskyj helped attain is the redress agreement which will provide a beginning total of $25 million for educational projects among a number of ethnocultural groups who suffered from discrimination in the past. The Ukrainian community is among them.
Wrzesnewskyj has also played a major role on immigration issues and on correcting the abuses inherent in the Denaturalization and Deportation (D &D) process. As new legislation on Citizenship and Immigration is being planned, his presence in the next parliament becomes all the more necessary.
If one strongly pro-active MP can make such a difference, think what two of them could do. And that's exactly what we'll have if Andriy Hladyshevsky (Edmonton Strathcona) joins Borys in the next parliament. Hladyshevsky has assumed an enviable resume with his volunteer work on behalf of the Ukrainian Canadian community.
Currently, he is President of the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko and National Vice President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Hladyshevsky has also served as President of the Ukrainian Professional & Business Club of Edmonton, been a member of both the Edmonton Ukrainian Male Chorus and the Dnipro Chorus (the latter for 24 years), is a Founding Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and Advisory Council Member of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, among other things.
Andriy is not afraid to address the issues that affect our community honestly and forcefully. He can be expected to represent our interests most effectively in parliament. Andriy also has a major advantage over Borys in terms of geography. Wrzesnewskyj represents a riding in the City of Toronto, which has an overabundance of Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers. If Andriy is elected he will be one of maybe two or three Liberal from Alberta. Considering that Anne McLellan has never had an easy race in her 12-year career, he may even be the only one. Either way, given his impressive credentials, if the Liberals are returned to office and if Andriy is one of those few Liberals elected in Alberta, he will undoubtedly be considered for a cabinet post.
To win, Andriy has to take the riding away from an incumbent Conservative. If he is to do so he will need a lot of support from members of our community who voted either Conservative or NDP in the last election. We know that there are many members of our community in Edmonton Strathcona who virtually loathe the Liberal Party. We know this because we've talked to them and we know the reasons why they feel this way. What we recommend they do is put aside their feelings about the Liberal Party for now, and consider instead what a great benefit Andriy's election would bring to our community.
No MP from any party has done more to try and correct the injustice of the D & D policy than Andrew Telegdi (Kitchener-Waterloo). As Chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, Telegdi has led his group in coming up with a series of recommendations that will end D and D once and for all by making the citizenship revocation process judiciously fair. These recommendations must be enacted if the Charter rights of 6 million naturalized Canadians are to be protected. That is something that will be dealt with by the new parliament. That makes it essential that Telegdi be returned.
Finance Minister Ralph Goodale (Wascana) has always maintained close ties with the Ukrainian community in Regina and is aware of our community's concerns. His major accomplishment for the Ukrainian community in the last parliament was the $25 million redress allocation. He was the minister who put this through and he made it clear that this was only the beginning. For this he deserves our support.
Walt Lastewka (St. Catherines) has gone a long way in the last parliament. He has always maintained close ties with the community, but has become much more proactive since Wrzesnewskyj came along. He played a major role in both convincing the government to send the 500 election observers to Ukraine and in the redress solution. We need to re-elect Lastewka.
Jim Jacuta (Edmonton-Leduc) has a long record of service for the Ukrainian community including a long period on the Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Alberta Provincial Council. He is Ukraine Project Director at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and organized and trained several thousand volunteer election observers during Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Jim would greatly enhance the Ukrainian presence in the House. However, Conservative James Rajotte won the 2004 election by a margin of over 12,500 votes, so Jacuta is going to need all the support he can get.
Which brings us to the question of Anne McLellan (Edmonton Centre). Last election we called upon voters to throw her out, primarily because of her role in overseeing the D & D program as Justice Minister. Since that time Anne has done a number of positive things for our community and credit should be given where credit is due. The most important of this was the pivotal role she played in getting the government to send the 500 election observers to Ukraine. She has also helped Hladyshevsky considerably, was genuinely shocked by the Ignatieff fiasco and tried to work behind the scenes to correct it. While we are not prepared to come around a full 180 degrees and endorse Anne McLellan, primarily because of D & D, which is made even worse by the fact she served on the board of directors of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, we can however urge our readers in Edmonton Centre to examine both the positives and the negatives when making their decision.