On April 29, 2008 MP Joy Smith spoke strongly in support of a private members bill tabled in the House of Commons by MP James Bezan that would establish a Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day and recognize the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 as an act of genocide.

“1932 and 1933 were one of the darkest chapters in human history. I feel very strongly that this was an engineered famine, that it was a deliberate genocide against the innocent men and women and children in Ukraine,” said MP Joy Smith. “This year is the 75th anniversary of this terrible genocide, which was orchestrated under the Communist Dictator Joseph Stalin. As the Chair of the Canada Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, I am grateful to my colleague MP James Bezan for introducing this historical bill and I call on all members to support it.”

Canada, with over 1,100,000 Canadians of Ukrainian descent, has a longstanding and special relationship with Ukraine. This year Ukrainians around the world will be observing a year long commemoration of the 75th year since the tragedy of the Holodomor genocide occurred.

An important part of the year long commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Holodomor Genocide will be the Remembrance Flame. This Flame will travel to 33 countries around the world in an effort to raise awareness of Holodomor before ending its journey in Kyiv, Ukraine in November for the final 75th anniversary commemorations. On April 18th, the Flame arrived in Canada at the National Launch and began its journey across Canada, escorted by Holodomor survivor Mr. Stefan Horlatseh.

Background

MP Joy Smith has served on the Executive Committee of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group since being elected in 2004 and traveled to Ukraine during the historic Orange Revolution in 2004, to volunteer as an elections monitor. 

Last December, Joy Smith, Member of Parliament for Kildonan-St. Paul, was elected Chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group. The aim of the group is to provide a structure for the exchange of visits, information and ideas between Canadian parliamentarians and prominent representatives from Ukraine.