Statements by Members of Parliament
on
Liberal MPs on
CMHR
One of the fundamental and most
basic of human rights is the right to nourishment - the right to food. In the case
of the Holodomor, this was the first genocide that was methodically planned out
and perpetrated by depriving the very people who were the producers of food, of
their nourishment. What is especially horrific is that the withholding of food was
used as a weapon of genocide and that it was done in a region of the world that
was known as the “breadbasket of
The Holodomor - the famine-genocide
perpetrated by Soviet authorities from 1932-33 against the Ukrainian people - has
been recognized as such by the Parliament of Canada, and provincial legislatures
in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec.
The Canadian Museum For Human Rights
presents an opportunity to illustrate the promise and the importance of human rights,
but sadly part of its mission will necessarily also be to educate Canadians about
the consequences of denying those rights. The Holodomor is as graphic and moving an illustration
as can be imagined of the denial of the basic Human Right to Food. It is a story that is well known and well understood
in the Ukrainian Canadian community since there are few families in that community
who were not touched in some way by this man-made catastrophe, but it is not as
yet widely known or understood in the broader Canadian community. A gallery devoted
to the issue of the Human Right to Food as illustrated by the experience of those
who were denied this basic right through the famine-murder of the Holodomor would
fit precisely within the mandate of the CMHR and would forward its important mission.
It is particularly appropriate
that the CMHR, located in the city of
We, federal Liberal MPs, hold that
this publicly funded national Canadian museum should create and operate a permanent
gallery dedicated to the Holodomor, and that the Board of Directors of the CMHR
should embrace and include respected members of the Ukrainian Canadian community
with expertise in the Holodomor.
It was the Jewish-Polish scholar
Raphael Lemkin, known as the “Father of The Genocide Convention” who coined the
term “genocide” when referring also to the Holodomor in his 1944 book Axis Rule
in Occupied Europe. Unfortunately, the full extent of this horrific “genocide by
famine” of millions of Ukrainians was suppressed behind the Iron Curtain during
the subsequent 58 years by the Kremlin’s communist regime.
By taking a leadership role in
establishing a permanent gallery for the Holodomor,
By having the Holodomor in a permanent
zone (exhibit) in our national human rights museum,
Borys
Wrzesnewskyj, MP -
Etobicoke
Centre
Gerard
Kennedy, MP -
Parkdale–
Kevin
Lamoureux, MP -
Hon.
Navdeep Bains, PC, MP - Mississauga–Brampton South
Bonnie
Crombie, MP -
Mississauga–Streetsville
Holodomor’s
Tragedy Deserves Appropriate Recognition in CMHR
February 24, 2011 - I have heard from
many Ukrainian Canadians who took the time to share their concerns about the representation
of Holodomor in the
I believe the Holodomor genocide
should be given a prominent presentation that is independent of the Mass Atrocity
gallery [and] rightly expose the violations of human rights and restore the dignity
of victims through the acknowledgement of their suffering. Visitors to the Museum
will learn of the Holodomor genocide and enlighten them to strive for human rights
for all people.
The Holocaust and the Holodomor
were both black spots of history of humanity. Having both stories as prominent displays
is imperative. Nations must learn so these tragedies will never happen again.
I also believe the Ukrainian community
should have a representative voice on the CMHR Board of Directors.
The new Canadian Museum For Human
Rights will be a beacon of hope for all, and I am grateful for the support of our
federal government. It will educate Canadians, especially our youth, and help them
understand the sacrifices many immigrants made to escape tyranny and come to
Joy
Smith, Conservative MP for Kildonan -