UCCLA seeks clarification from prime minister (10/29/00)

UCCLA seeks clarification from prime minister

CALGARY - In the wake of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's call for a federal election, set for November 27, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association has asked the prime minister to clarify his position on redress for the wrongs done to Ukrainian Canadian during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920.

Writing on behalf of the UCCLA, Borys Sydoruk, director of special projects, made the following request of the prime minister:

"In June 1993, while still Leader of the Opposition, you wrote of your personal commitment, and that of the Liberal Party of Canada, to securing redress for the wrongs done to the Ukrainian Canadian community during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920. I attach a copy of that letter for your information.

"We presume that other, more pressing issues, have kept you from following up on that pledge to date. However, we do wish to know if you intend to honor your pledge of support for redress to the Ukrainian Canadian community if you are elected again for a third term.

"Although we recognize that you will be very involved with the election, we would ask for your response no later than November 6 so that we can alert our community to your intentions on this matter. There are some 1 million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage who can make a more informed decision on how to vote if they have a forthright answer from you on this issue.

"Thank you for your attention to this request and for your anticipated cooperation. We will be making our request of you public within the next few days so that there is no ambiguity about our having offered you this opportunity to communicate your views on redress to a significant portion of the Canadian electorate before the election is held."

UCCLA Chairman J.B. Gregorovich, commented: "While the UCCLA is non-partisan, we do feel that the prime minister has an obligation to tell our voters whether he intends to honor his promise on redress before they vote for or against him and the Liberal Party of Canada. It is only in an election period like this that we can realistically expect to get his attention. If Mr. Chrétien fails to respond we will have to conclude that he and the Liberals are either indifferent to how over a million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage feel, or has no intention of honoring the pledge he made just before another federal election brought him to power."

He added that the UCCLA will circulate a press release reporting on Mr. Chrétien's response, and the UCCLA's reaction "in time for our [Ukrainian Canadian] community's voters to come to their own conclusions about whom to vote for."

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