Prime minister, MPs welcome students from Ukraine for Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Paul Martin and fellow Liberal MPs Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Center) and Walt Lastewka (St. Catharines), both of Ontario, welcomed to Canada's national Parliament 28 future leaders of Ukraine participating in the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (CUPP).

The university students, who just arrived from Ukraine, began their internship with parliamentarians on a high note with this personal welcome from the prime minster.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the CUPP, which is supported by the Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation of Toronto. Under the direction of the president of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation, Ihor W. Bardyn, the CUPP has provided Ukrainian university students an exceptional opportunity to learn how democracy functions in Canada by working closely with Canadian Members of Parliament of all parties.

An enthusiastic supporter of CUPP and the Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation of Toronto, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj and his family foundation Dopomoha Ukraini/Aid Ukraine, recently donated $15,000 to the Chair of Ukrainian Studies Foundation to help bring the 28 Ukrainian students to Canada.

Commenting on the importance of the CUPP for Ukraine's future, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj underscored that: "The establishment of the CUPP in 1990 was significant because it came at a time when Ukraine faced immense challenges in establishing a multi-party democratic state as a fully independent nation. The experience gained by the more than 500 graduates of the CUPP program proved vital not only during Ukraine's initial steps toward a functioning civil society, but just as importantly during the recent Orange Revolution when Ukraine's continuing democratic development was at a crossroads."

"Today, CUPP graduates are using their experiences and skills developed in Canada to work for the betterment of Ukraine and are employed in the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Parliament of Ukraine, Ukraine's Constitutional Court, at various institutions of higher learning throughout the country, the United Nations, the World Bank and many other institutions and organizations," the MP noted.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 22, 2005, No. 21, Vol. LXXIII

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