Last Thursday was the final sitting of the Manitoba legislature before it breaks for the summer, and a historic bill passed that received little media fan-fare:

The lone opposition bill passed was one establishing the fourth Saturday in November as Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Holodomor Memorial Day.

Bill 217 received royal assent on June 12, 2008 and was introduced by Selkirk-Interlake MP James Bezan who also got a similar bill passed in the Senate along with Etobicoke-Centre MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj to recognize the genocide nationwide.

First Saskatchewan, now Manitoba and Ontario is next with Bill-C61 that has been ordered referred to the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills.

Contact your Trustee by phone, email or fax and demand that the Holodomor be included in the genocide studies. A list of contacts can be found at:
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/boardroom/trustees/index.asp

Send an email to the Chair and members of the School Board requesting the same:
John Campbell, Chair and Members of the TDSB
john.campbell@tdsb.on.ca
Gerry Connelly, Director of Education
Gerry.Connelly@tdsb.on.ca

Come out to the Special Board meeting, June 12, 6:00pm at the TDSB Board Room,
5050 Yonge St., Toronto.

When calling trustees you can start out with:
Have they ever heard of the Holodomor — the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine?

More than likely they will say they haven’t thus allowing us to inform them, etc.

Then challenge their vote if you detect that they are going to vote against inclusion of the Holodomor – as they should be voting on an informed basis and for sound pedagogical reasons. Keep track of those who say they haven’t heard of it or those who seem to know little about it and send them supplemental information and request an in person meeting to brief them
The TDSB committee clearly stated that they did not exclude the Holodmor,  that there is plenty of opportunity to research it and study it. But we all know that if a topic is not a mandatory part of a curriculum (which it is not, only 3 are), the teachers will not teach it and the kids won’t find ‘it’ to research it.

This is a very important point, and the TDSB have been able to answer
questions using this very point, which is a lameduck argument.
Purpose in writing/calling:
Include the Holodomor in the core curriculum – genocide studies
Why:

• Canadian government recognized Holodomor as genocide and identified the 4th Saturday in November as Holodomor Memorial Day.
• Several provinces recognized Holodomor as genocide – Bill is currently before Ontario Legislation.
• Scholars and Historians have documented the famine as a genocide. New documents are emerging almost daily.
• Over 3,000,000 of the victims were children.
• 15 countries, with more to follow, have recognized the Holodomor as a genocide.
• Director’s Report acknowledges that more people died in the Ukrainian famine than in the 3 genocides currently approved.
• The Holodomor was the only genocide to be executed in peace time.
• Largely ignored, no media coverage due to Stalin being an ally of the West.
• Holodomor meets the Geneva Convention’s definition of Genocide.
• Communist propaganda, supported by NY times journalist Walter Duranty, was purposely misleading. FDR referred to Stalin as “Uncle Joe”
• Stalin’s crimes exceed those of Hitler by a factor of 3-4 times.
• Communists and Leftists continue to cover up Stalin’s crimes.
• Many school boards in Canada, US and other countries are teaching about the Holodomor as an act of genocide.
• Russia continues to deny it, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
• The Holodomor is not general public knowledge.
• The Holodomor can be easily incorporated into the existing core program, as teachers have indicated. Resource materials are available and a summer writing team can easily prepare a teaching unit.
• Overall, the intent of the Holodomor was to wipe out the Ukrainian people.
• No reason was given or suggested by the TDSB why the Holodomor cannot be included. The Review Committee is not well represented and has no specialist on Ukrainian or East European history.
• There was no consultation with the Ukrainian community, given that there are over 100,000 Canadians of Ukrainian origin in the GTA.
• With the recent visit of President Yushchenko and the media coverage of the Holodomor, students are asking questions and would like to do further research.
• The Ukrainian documentation centre has a wealth of books and other materials on the Holodomor.
• The Holodomor is an example of a Communist-perpetrated genocide.
• Stalin’s Holodomor gave the greenlight for Hitler’s Holocaust, since the Holodomor was successfully concealed and hidden to the West.
• At the June 2nd meeting, Board officials mislead the public by stating there are resources available on the Holodomor within the TDSB course.

These are only guidelines. I hope you find these useful. Feel free to expand or use other arguments.

From the latest ePoshta.

UPDATE:   Looks like the Toronto Sun has taken notice of tonight’s vote, also here is a press release for tonight.

By Alex Chumak, Former Toronto School Trustee

What does one have to do to persuade the Toronto District School Board to include the Holodomor/Genocide as part of its curriculum? At the present time, the Toronto Board will be teaching the following genocides -the Holocaust, Armenian and Rwandan – in its Genocide Program. These were the recommendations of a Review Committee that ostensibly researched many genocides and concluded to teach only these three.

To its credit, the Toronto Board has established an appeal process where the wider community could express its views on the genocide program and request that, in this case, the Ukrainian genocide should be included in the curriculum. Presumably, the information provided at the appeal would be evaluated on its merit, considered carefully and, based on the information given, would render a decision that is both fair and educationally sound. Not so with the Toronto Board’s Program and School Services Committee which was hearing the appeal.

On June 2, 2008 , under the auspices of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee – Toronto Branch, the Holodomor committee presented educational reasons why the Holodomor should be included in the Board’s curriculum. The deputants argued passionately, with adequate documentation and sound educational arguments, that the Holodomor should be included in the curriculum. But this did not happen.

Continue reading TDSB turns a blind eye to the Holodomor →

This Thursday the Toronto District School Board will vote on the recommendations made last week notably to exclude the Ukrainian Holodomor famine genocide from its curriculum. Please show your support by sparing only an hour of your time:

Thursday June 12th, 2008 @ 6pm
Toronto District School Board
5050 Yonge St, North York (Google map)

By car: Just north of the 401 on Yonge & North York Blvd., by Mel Lastman Square & Toronto Centre for the Arts
By subway: A quick walk from the TTC North York Centre station, one stop north of Sheppard

Has no one given them a copy of one our country’s newest laws? Saskatchewan has also recognized the genocide with Manitoba and Ontario on it’s way. They already include the Holodomor in its curriculum in Illinois, Minnesota, California and of course Alberta.

Let the members of the board know what you think! E-mail Trustees Chris Bolton, Cathy Dandy, John Hastings, Maria Rodrigues and Chris Tonks.

Thanks to the League of Ukrainian Canadians for keeping us informed!

UPDATE: What can you do to help? e-Poshta‘s latest newsletter has a great write up on how to show your support, download it here!