STORY SUBMISSION: Canadian Parliamentarians visit Ukraine to push for greater democracy
May 2012
Following an official visit to Ukraine, Liberal Member of Parliament Ralph Goodale said Canada can and should do more to encourage democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law in Ukraine.
Goodale was part of a six-day, three-city visit to Ukraine by seven Canadian MPs representing the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Goodale said Canadian policy needs to strike “the right balance of carrots-and-sticks.”
“Nearly 1.3 million Canadians trace their heritage to Ukraine, so Canada cares a great deal what happens here,” Goodale said. “We rejoiced about Ukrainian independence 20 years ago and we were even happier when greater democracy arrived with the Orange Revolution in 2004. But since then, progress has been slow and the country has recently slipped backwards.”
To reinforce the point that “Canada cares” and “the world is watching,” the Parliamentary Committee met with the families and lawyers of jailed political prisoners, citizens groups, independent media, academics, government and opposition leaders, regional officials and others.
They heard troubling reports of election tampering, improper legal proceedings, media muzzling, bribery and corruption.
Having been denied a formal visit to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko, the MPs stopped by informally at both the hospital where she’s being treated and the prison where she will be returned to demonstrate Canada’s deep opposition to Ukraine’s handling of Ms Tymoshenko and many other political leaders.
The Canadians called for competent independent medical attention for all these prisoners, their early release and demonstrably free, fair and transparent elections in Ukraine this fall.
In Canada, Goodale and the Liberal Party have repeatedly raised these issues in Parliament. Goodale has been urging Canada to supply at least 1,500 qualified observers for those elections, and wants the mandate of the Canadian International Development Agency to be bolstered to re-emphasize democratic development and support for civil society. He also wants Canadian broadcasters, including Radio-Canada International, to become more deeply engaged in Eastern Europe to help ensure an honest independent source of news and information.
In addition, Goodale says Canada should proceed with current negotiations for a Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, but ratification should be held in abeyance until the credibility of this fall’s elections can be determined.
The former Finance Minister also says Canada should raise in G-8 and G-20 forums the issue of money laundering in Ukraine, and the tools available in the international community to restrict the travel and the financial dealings of corrupt government officials and monopolistic oligarchs in the private sector.
Goodale added that “this trip has been invaluable in informing Parliamentarians of both good and bad developments in Ukraine. It has also demonstrated that Canadian concern about Ukraine, and the political will to help, cuts across all Canadian Party lines.”
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Photos attached:
- Ralph Goodale with Evgenia Tymoshenko in Kyiv, examining the situation of her jailed mother, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine
- At Holodomor monument in Kyiv, paying tribute to millions lost in the Stalin’s famine-genocide 1932-33
- The Foreign Relations Committee at Kharkiv Prison to which former Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko will be returned after her hospital stay
For additional photos, please visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgoodale/sets/72157629739390884/detail/
Contact:
Scott Bardsley
Office of Ralph Goodale, MP
613-295-1761
