Press Release: January 6th 2006

“Greetings from the campaign trail.

On this very special day Sheila and I would like to wish all Ukrainian-Canadians a Merry Christmas.

The Ukrainian-Canadian community has written a vital chapter in the Canadian success story. For generations they have invested their hopes, dreams and pride in the building of a new life – and a new country – here in Canada: a country founded on the values of mutual respect, which today looks upon its
multiculturalism as one of its greatest strengths; a country in which people from all over the world have embraced the new, but also celebrated the richness of their unique heritage.

In recent years, Canada and the Ukrainian-Canadian community have enjoyed a blossoming relationship with the emerging democracy of Ukraine. In Canada’s International Policy Statement we made Ukraine one of our 25 development partners. Recognizing our special relationship, Canada sent some 500
official observers – the largest-ever election observers mission in our history – to monitor the re-run of the Ukrainian presidential election, in 2004.

And in recent months we signed an historic agreement-in-principle with the Ukrainian-Canadian community here at home, to publicly commemorate and educate Canadians about the unjust internment of Ukrainian-Canadians during and immediately following the First World War.

For generations the vitality and dynamism of the Ukrainian-Canadian community has flourished in Canada and helped to build the cosmopolitan and proudly multicultural country we love today.

In light of our long and storied history it is my pleasure – as the first star glimmers in the sky and families gather for kutia on Svyat Vechir – to wish you Khrystos Narodyvsya.”

Liberal Party of Canada Press Office: (613) 783-8888

Ostap Skrypnyk, Executive Director
Ukrainian Canadian Congress
Tel: (204) 942-4627
Fax: (204) 947-3882
ostap.skrypnyk@ucc.ca
www.ucc.ca