Statement by Michael Ignatieff (12/04/05)

Statement by Michael Ignatieff

Following is the text of a statement by Michael Ignatieff that was released on November 28 - Etobicoke, Ontario, via Canadian news services.

I was delighted to learn today that I have been confirmed as the Liberal candidate for the electoral district of Etobicoke Lakeshore. I look forward to running under the leadership of Prime Minister Paul Martin in the next election campaign.

I want to first thank Jean Augustine. She is a remarkable Canadian for whom I have the highest regard. She has set an example of service to the citizens of Etobicoke Lakeshore and to all Canadians that I will strive to emulate. In her many roles, but especially as secretary of state for multiculturalism and women, Jean Augustine made a remarkable difference. I am truly honored to inherit her legacy.

It was a special pleasure to meet with the many Liberals from Jean's successful campaign team in Etobicoke Lakeshore over the weekend. Their warm embrace of my candidacy has been deeply gratifying.

Now I would like to directly address the allegations that surfaced at the 11th hour in relation to my nomination.

I have a deep, personal affinity with the suffering of the Ukrainian people at the hands of Soviet Russia and a deep respect for the Ukrainian Canadian community. My own family escaped to Ukraine following the Russian Revolution, when they lost everything. My ancestors are buried in Ukraine. I have visited their graves. I have made it a point to understand the horror of mass killing and starvation imposed by the Soviet regime in the 1930s. I have lectured on the Ukrainian genocide in my courses at Harvard.

But my sympathy for the historic plight of the Ukrainian people goes much further. As a journalist, I have traveled many times to Ukraine and spent months there trying to better understand its history. I have taken my children to those national parks of Canada where Ukrainians were interned during World War I. I have tried to translate the horrible weight of the Ukrainian experience not only to them, but also to thousands of students and readers.

My family, like so many Ukrainian Canadian ancestors, left Ukraine to start a new life in Canada with nothing but the clothes on their backs. That is why there has always been a tremendous mutual respect between the Ignatieff family and the Ukrainian Canadian community. We all came here to build a great country, based on inclusion and not exclusion. That is why I am so pleased to see Canada and Ukrainian Canadians take such a leading and inspirational role in the modern Ukrainian democracy movement.

I was saddened to learn yesterday of an attempt to distort my words and pervert my meaning in a discussion of the Ukrainian experience in one of my books, "Blood and Belonging." Anyone who reads the entire chapter in question, rather than merely the phrases that have been cited in isolation and out of context, will quickly recognize that my sole purpose was to rebut, not assert, the odious stereotype of Ukrainians that has been wrongly and unfairly attributed to me.

This is a transparent attempt to twist my writings with the objective of sowing division and strife in Liberal ranks on the eve of a campaign. I am satisfied that tactics of this sort tend to rebound heavily on their perpetrators when weighed against the truth.

My record and writings on the subject matter of Ukraine and Ukrainian history are clear. I welcome anyone who wants to review that record to do so in its entirety.

Etobicoke Lakeshore is a wonderfully diverse multicultural constituency. I am committed to working with the Ukrainian Canadian community, as I am with all the communities in the riding. I look forward to meeting with Ukrainian Canadians and their leaders from Etobicoke Lakeshore and across Canada, to share views on the Ukrainian experience and discuss my writings with them. They will quickly recognize that Michael Ignatieff is a staunch friend and supporter of Ukrainian Canadians who has been wrongly maligned by persons with an agenda at variance with that of the Liberal Party.

Our agenda as Liberals is to build a great country based on democracy, prosperity and inclusion. I look forward to joining hands with all of the citizens of Etobicoke Lakeshore, including all its citizens of Ukrainian descent, as we work to realize these important goals.

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