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!

Last week the Globe and Mail after briefly covering Canada’s recognization of the Holodomor as Genocide, decided to re-hash an old op-ed from a Russian newspaper written by Alexander Solzhenitsyn of the Gulag Archipelago fame. Solzhenitsyn made the world aware of the brutality of the Gulag and the Soviet labour camp system, and was jailed and even exiled for his writings and his family property turned into a collective farm. In 1994 he was allowed to return to Russia, and his anti-communism views dissolved into rampant Russian nationalism.

While some newspapers printed his writings at the time the lower house of Russian Parliament vehemently denied the genocide, the Globe and Mail decided to also publish it – two months later.

An outcry poured out from the Ukrainian community, and the Globe and Mail almost a week later printed miniscule rebuttals while better ones from much more credible people existed elsewhere.

Tonight, the Toronto District School Board had approved the recommendation to exclude the newly federally recognized Ukrainian genocide famine known as the Holodomor from their new Gr. 11 class on Genocide.

From the Memorandum:

Recommendation 3: It is recommended that students be taught the importance of establishing intent when characterizing a crime against humanity as a genocide.

Students will be expected to study other examples of genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, war crimes and human rights abuses in the 20th and 21st centuries based on their personal interests and appropriate academic resources. These examples might include Cambodia, Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, the Ukrainian Famine, East Timor, Bosnia, Darfur, the former Yugoslavia and others. While it is noted that more people died in the Ukrainian Famine than in all of the genocides that are included in the course, the Review Committee did not recommend altering the course at this time but this should be considered when the course is reviewed.

Recommendation 4: It is recommended that the number of actual case studies not be expanded at this time.

Recommendation 5: It is recommended that a teacher course review committee be set up in the third year with a view to re-examining the curriculum content and the course description.

Despite the efforts by presenters Andrew Melnyk, Valetnina Kuryliw, Luba Tarapacky, Alex Chumak and Chrystyna Bidiak the Holodomor was chosen not to be added to the curriculum. While members of the board assured the genocide would still be mentioned, it would not be a main point of focus like the Holocaust, Armenian and Rwandan Genocides.  The board has decided not to renew interest in updating the curiculum for another three years.

Private Members Bill C-459 (now law):

Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the fourth Saturday in November shall be known as “Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day”

Reads the newly assented law by Selkirk-Interlake MP James Bezan. On Tuesday in the House of Commons, in one motion moved by Bezan the bill was deemed to have been read a second time, considered in committee, reported, concurred in, read a third time and passed. The bill then went the Senate, where it passed all stages on Wednesday. The bill received Royal Assent yesterday at Rideau Hall.

This bill is about recognizing a historic wrong ignored by the West. The communist ideology of Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin targeted and exterminated millions of Ukrainian men, women and children through forced famine.

-James Bezan

In a show of solidarity, opposition Etobicoke-Centre MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj supported the move and ensured the bill would pass at all stages. Wrzesnewskyj already had Bill C-450 for quite some time respecting a national day of remembrance of the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide in first reading, but rose immediately in the House to seek unanimous consent for Lezan’s Bill after a number of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons blocked the passage of their own caucus member’s bill, twice!

With Mr. Bezan having voted in favour, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj then crossed the aisle and together and alongside of Mr. Bezan began a series of intense negotiations with the Hon. Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity).

During these negotiations, Wrzesnewskyj and Bezan were adamant that the Holodomor bill pass all stages of the House of Commons today, and proceed immediately to the Senate. Wrzesnewskyj underscored that he did not want the bill to go to committee where it would potentially be delayed and not be reviewed until the Fall when an expected election could derail its passage.

Minister Kenney stated amendments and word changes were necessary and that this would require the bill to go through the committee stage. However, following discussions, amendments were agreed to and an agreement was struck to pass this historic bill at all stages.

In the concluding remarks during his address in the House of Commons on the historic passage of the Holodomor bill through the House of Commons, Wrzesnewskyj stated:

“Discussions have taken place this afternoon among all parties and in the spirit of those two words, БІЛЬШ НІКОЛИ – “never again”, at the end of today’s debate there will be an unusual display of goodwill among all parties and respect for the millions who perished. There will be agreement on amendments to the Holodomor famine-genocide bill which will allow its passage at all stages so it can be sent to the Senate.” – (courtesy: UCC Press Release 5/28/08)

Senator Raynell Andreychuk also sponsored the bill through the Senate:

It is important that this bill be recognized by Parliament and the Government of Canada, which will allow us to honour the victims and survivors of the Holodomor that are in Canada, Ukraine and around the world. It will also let Ukraine and the International community know that Canada supports calling Holodomor, a genocide

Also a big thanks to the many other politicians who showed their support:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Hon. Stephen Dion, Hon.  Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe, Secretary of State Jason Kenney and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko who visited Canada this week.

БІЛЬШ НІКОЛИ – “never again”

After a successful landing in Ottawa visiting the House of Commons and the last stop of the Holodomor Flame tour, President Viktor Yushchenko visited various other provinces. Unfortunately the President missed his first and only stop in Alberta to visit the Ukrainian village and Albertan Premier Ed Stelmach who is of Ukrainian descent. Blaming a tight schedule, this would have been a historic meeting of the only Ukrainian government figureheads in the world. Although an article printed weeks ago already anticipated this cancellation, citing a political struggle between Stolmach and Harper:

Considering the average Ukrainian wedding lasts three days, six hours of face time with Yushchenko seems downright inhospitable. But was it deliberately designed that way by Harper and his envious Ottawa Conservatives? Especially with the PM trying to hog the spotlight by recently promising to back Ukraine’s bid to join NATO.

Off to Winnipeg next to meet with Premier of Manitoba Gary Albert Doer. The two signed an agreement between Dnipropetrovsk region and Province of Manitoba in trade-economic, agricultural, scientific and humanitarian cooperation. He also spoke at the Manitoba legislature and promised to ensure the Holodomor is featured in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a national museum planned for Winnipeg, which is still in the fundraising stage. (Pictures and Video).

Yushchenko was in Toronto last night at the Economic Club, saying Ukraine was on the verge of becoming the next modern power (Article + Video):

“We are in a very dynamic process … that has never been like this before,”

…

“Three years ago no one in the world recognized us as a market economy. Today we are the 152nd member of the WTO (World Trade Organization).”

Yushchenko also met with Toronto mayor David Miller as well as Toronto’s Ukrainian community (article + video) in the West End.