Wrzesnewskyj helps steer passage of Holodomor bill through House

In this spirit of non-partisanship and goodwill, Wrzesnewskyj rose in the House of Commons to seek unanimous consent to pass at all stages his Bill C-450, An Act respecting a national day of remembrance of the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide and Conservative MP James Bezan’s Bill C-459, An Act to establish a Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Memorial. Both bills would establish the fourth Saturday in November as remembrance days for the Holodomor. Unfortunately, consent was blocked by a number of government MPs.

Then, in a still further attempt at non-partisanship and goodwill, Wrzesnewskyj rose immediately in the House to seek unanimous consent to only pass Mr. Bezan’s Bill C-459. Unfortunately, for the second time in the same day, a number of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons blocked the passage of their own caucus member’s bill to establish a national remembrance day in Canada for the Holodomor.

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.”

In recognition of Wrzesnewskyj’s crucial role in gaining all-party support, Bezan underscored in the House of Commons:

“Of course, I want to thank the member for Etobicoke Centre for his hard work on behalf of all Ukrainians and for making sure that we get this done today.”

In speaking with community leaders today, Wrzesnewskyj stated he would “like to congratulate Mr. Bezan on the passage of his bill and to thank him for his determination.”

For further information contact: Office of Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P. (613) 947-5000

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