Conservative MP Jason Kenney, a supporter of many Ukrainian-Canadian causes has been in the news recently using ministerial letterhead to raise money for his Party:
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is being called on to resign by the NDP after his office sent out a letter to Conservative MPs asking for fundraising help to mount an ad campaign aimed at bolstering support among ethnic communities
…
Kenney has been leading the Conservatives’ efforts over the last five years to improve his party’s fortunes among ethnic voters.
“There are lots of ethnic voters,” the media plan says. “There will be quite a few more soon. They live where we need to win.”
With this recent news, you can’t help but think how genuine has been his support of Ukrainian-Canadian causes like the Holodomor and WWI internment?
Update: The entire document in question has been posted online, here’s a section targeting key ridings by ethnicity – including ‘Ukranian’ (does no one use spell check anymore?)
World heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko has been spotted by People magazine lounging on the beach and attending the Golden Globes with “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere, spending the last month-plus in Los Angeles as he prepares for a busy year of fighting.
In a Wednesday telephone conversation with The Times, Klitschko, 34, said he and Panettiere have enjoyed dining and taking in shows in Hollywood, downplaying the connection at first — “that’s an old story” — but when he was asked if he was in love, he answered, “Yes, I am.”
Inspired to join the A-list?
“As heavyweight champion of the world, I think it’s automatic that I’m already there, right?” Klitschko asked.
Pause.
“I rely on my own
performance to get there, not on gossip,” he said. “It’s all good with us, but I’d like to rely on my own performance to be noticed, not by who I’m with.”
Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs) would like that notoriety to include a July 2 bout against Britain’s World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion David Haye,
…
If Haye doesn’t happen, Klitschko said he will fight Poland’s former world cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek in September at a new soccer stadium in Poland. If Klitschko-Haye gets made, then it’ll be WBC champion Vitali vs. Adamek.
“We’re a team,” WBO and IBF champion Wladimir said of his brother. “We’ll unify all the heavyweight titles under our family’s name and that’s our goal for this year.”
Klitschko invited his Southland fans to come watch him fight overseas.
“My brother had a day named after him on the official Los Angeles calendar; we both live out here a bit and my girlfriend’s from here,” he said.
On January 25th the eldest Canadian who was of Ukrainian descent passed away:
A Manitoba woman believed to be the oldest Canadian has died at age 111.
Elizabeth Buhler, who died Sunday in Winkler, Man., would have turned 112 in February.
She was born Feb. 8, 1899, in Ukraine and moved to Canada with her husband in 1925.
Buhler’s daughter, Justina Suderman, said her mother kept a positive attitude, despite enduring hard times in the former Russian empire and farming during the Great Depression.
Buhler’s religious faith and regular exercise were the keys to her longevity, said Suderman, also noting her mother ate whatever she wanted and was fond of cooking with lard.
The following is a tribute to her from Parliament:
Buhler’s age cannot be verified because her family says all birth records were destroyed during the years Josef Stalin was leader of the Soviet Union. But the family says Buhler always said she was born in Ukraine on Feb. 8, 1899.
She was just weeks shy of giving birth to her first child, Isaac, when she and her husband, who she married on Sept. 7, 1924 in Russia, her parents and several other family members, uprooted and left for a new life in Canada in 1925.
Buhler’s secret to longevity?
"Exercise," said her 80-year-old daughter, Lena Pranke, noting her mother had several plaques recognizing she’d been the oldest participant in a fundraiser involving a 10- kilometre walk.
"And good solid food," her 76-year-old daughter, Mary Dyck, said. "Her faith in God has been there all along."
Buhler had a hard life on their farm south of Winkler near the American border, which she left with her husband in 1956, to allow their son to work it. They raised a son and five daughters on the farm and the couple moved to a house in Winkler where they took in boarders. Her husband died at 69.
"They were married 43 years so she has been a widow almost as long as she was married," her 74-year-old daughter, Justina Suderman, the baby in the family, said.
Today, when she has a good day in the Salem Home where she lives, Buhler can sing hymns she learned as a child, laugh, and have conversations with people. Recently, she insisted that she wanted to remarry, but the family talked her out of it, noting there were no males in the seniors’ residence old enough for her without robbing the cradle.
On a not-so-good day, Buhler is hard to wake up and difficult to get a response from.
There were times when Buhler might not have come anywhere close to living to 111.
The first time was during the Russian Revolution when anarchists came intent on pillaging her house and killing the family. Buhler, whose maiden name was Unger, picked up a guitar and began singing until the commander ordered his men to leave and not steal anything.
The next time was when she was giving birth to her final child. The baby turned out to be a breech birth and, even though she was in a hospital for the first time, the family says because the nurse was out on a date and the doctor wasn’t around, the baby died, nearly taking Buhler with him.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who flew into Kyiv today to meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and impressively asked tough questions regarding the Holodomor genocide and the pro-Russian regime’s crackdown on human rights:
Harper also focused on human rights issues during the meeting and made clear reference to an estimated 10 million deaths at the hands of Josef Stalin, The Canadian Press reports.
Yanukovych has been reluctant to recognize the genocide.
Human rights abuses seem to be a priority for Harper during his visit to Ukraine. He appeared emotional earlier in the day while visiting an outdoor site marking the genocide, and was scheduled to meet with those who have allegedly faced state intimidation due to their political views.
He also laid a symbolic jar of grain at a monument in honour of those who died in the 1932-1933 famine and is meeting with the leader of Ukraine’s opposition.
Yanukovych has faced accusations of attempting to control national media and using police to crack down on historians, academics and students.
Canada considers the event, known as Holodomor, to be a genocide. But Yanukovych chose his words carefully, instead referring to it as a "horrible event in the history of the Ukrainian people and in the history of our neighbouring peoples."
Later in the day, after meeting with opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Harper once again drove home his point.
"Our presence here and our meeting symbolizes the importance of democracy," he said, before going on to meetings with those who have allegedly faced state intimidation due to their political views.
During the discussions Monday, the two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding that would allow Canadian and Ukrainian citizens between 18 and 35 to travel and work for up to one year in each other’s countries.
"Our two countries have strong ties underpinned by the more than 1.2 million Ukrainian descendants living in Canada today," Harper said in a release.
"Today’s agreement will create exciting work and travel opportunities for our youth, forging new bonds between our countries for generations to come."
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who flew into Kyiv today to meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and 
He also laid a symbolic jar of grain at a monument in honour of those who died in the 1932-1933 famine and is meeting with the leader of Ukraine’s opposition.