Ukrainian Canadian Congress announces $25,000 contribution
OTTAWA – The dedication of the site for Canada’s Memorial to the Victims of Communism – “Canada, Land of Refuge” – took place in Ottawa on November 2. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) announced a contribution of $25,000 to the memorial.
UCC
Ukrainian Canadian congress CEO Ihor Michalchyshyn and UCC Executive Committee member Cassian Soltykevych at the unvieling ceremony of the Memorial for the Victims of Communism.
Mélanie Joly, minister of Canadian heritage, and Arif Virani, parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage (multiculturalism), took part in the solemn ceremony.
The ceremony included an Indigenous blessing, testimonies of survivors of Communist regimes, and the presentation of a plant that will be incorporated into the landscape of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism.
The site of the memorial is on the west side of the Garden of Provinces and Territories in the Parliamentary Precinct in Canada’s capital. Construction will begin next year, and the memorial is scheduled to be completed in late 2018-early 2019. In December 2015, the government of Canada announced it will provide matching funds of up to $1.5 million for the memorial.
Minister Joly stated, “I am pleased that the Memorial to the Victims of Communism – ‘Canada, a Land of Refuge,’ is one step closer to becoming a reality with today’s site dedication ceremony. This memorial will be an evocative tribute to those who fled repressive regimes and made their lives in Canada. I thank Tribute to Liberty and all the communities for their support and vision.”
On behalf of the board of directors of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, National President Paul Grod announced that the UCC will make a $25,000 contribution to the memorial through Tribute to Liberty, established in 2008 to spearhead the construction of Canada’s Memorial to the Victims of Communism.
“The UCC makes this donation to honor and pay tribute to all those who suffered the brutality and cruelty of over 70 years of Soviet Communist occupation of Ukraine,” stated Mr. Grod. “Millions of Ukrainians were murdered by the Soviet Communist regime. Millions more suffered in the forced labor camps of the Gulag. It is very important that Canada remembers the victims of Communist terror and imperialism. This memorial will ensure that our children will learn the lessons of history so that these crimes are never committed again.”
The UCC expressed its sincere gratitude to the many Ukrainian Canadians whose donations have made the construction of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism possible.
“Many members of our community were forced to leave Ukraine to escape Communist tyranny or are direct descendants of those who did,” stated UCC CEO Ihor Michalchyshyn. “Here in Canada, they found liberty and peace. Here, they preserved and nurtured their culture, language and traditions. Due to the generous support of members of our community, Canada will soon have a place to honor the hundreds of millions of victims of Communism around the world.”
The “Arc of Memory” design of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism is described as “a sculptural array of over 4,000 bronze rods intended to express the vastness of Communist oppression and invite visitors to reflect on Canada as a free and welcoming country.”