The Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation

January 2, 2001

The Right Honourable Jean Chretien Prime Minister of Canada Parliament Hill, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister,

Please allow me on behalf of the seventeen Associations across Canada of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation to congratulate you personally and the Liberal Party of Canada on the successful elections. We wish you and your government a most rewarding term of office.

I am writing to share with you some of our views on two issues of considerable importance to our membership and, we feel, to the general well being of Canada: Multiculturalism and relations between Canada-Ukraine. These are elaborated in the enclosed discussion paper The Canadian Issues Roundtable: Moving Forward.

Ukrainian Canadians proudly consider ourselves one of the founding peoples of Western Canada; we are mindful of our contributions and thankful for the ensuing opportunities. Nonetheless, we are concerned about current Multiculturalism policies and programs; in particular a shift away from enhancing and promoting Canada's cultural pluralism in the context of Canadian unity towards fighting racial discrimination. Although both are important, they are not the same.

Let me state categorically that our Federation supports racial equality and welcomes progress in that regard. What troubles us deeply, is that the program's apparent move from the focus on the need for one's own identity in the development of a Canadian one. Indeed, we consider that the West's current disenchantment can be traced, in part, to this key issue of relationships between individual Canadians and a national identity. We urge your government to be mindful of the fact that Multiculturalism is relevant to all Canadians; racial equality only to some. Substituting the latter for the former leaves many Canadians unrepresented.

The need to deal with Multiculturalism as a separate issue from racism was underscored on Parliament Hill in September at the UCPBF's Canadian Issues Roundtable. We were pleased to have had Mr. Walter Lastewka representing the Liberal Caucus. However, despite long-standing assurances to the contrary, we were disappointed that Dr. Hedy Fry, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism had no political or official representative. Furthermore, our efforts to obtain funding for this Canada-wide consultation (follow-up Roundtables are being repeated throughout Canada) from the Multiculturalism Program was denied. This, just a few days before the event. The explanation: a post-fact policy shift requiring all monies for the World Conference on Fighting Racism in Africa.

Prime Minister, we seek reassurance that program shifts will not undermine national policy; that all Canadians are valued in this country; and, that your officials reflect these key components of Canada's ongoing nationbuilding efforts.

In another area, we wish to share our perspective on Canada's relations with Ukraine, in particular as it impacts on global peace and security where we urge Canada to play a significant and expanded role in partnership with Ukraine.

We are encouraged by Canada's ongoing involvement with that county. It is our view that an independent, economically viable Ukraine is of incomparable strategic importance to the world. It is a balance to Russia's huge restructuring problems due, in part to its enormous size and, in our view, to its preoccupation with its past glory. Many of us know first hand how dubious it was: one of history's most oppressive regimes, symptoms of which contributed to its collapse and continue to pose some of the weakest links in global security today.

Now, as in the past, Canada can play an important global role. It is our view that Canada can help Russia by steering its focus on progress at the domestic level while discouraging delusions about past glories. To this end we wish to see Canada develop policy options concerning Ukraine that are independent of Russia's strategic interests. This could be a key element of our "special relationship" with Ukraine and a central feature of Canada's contribution to global peace and security.

As another element of expanded special relationship, we urge Canada to increase its commitment of technical assistance to reflect the general interests of Canada and, in particular, that of its Ukrainian Canadian community. To that end, its greater involvement in the full range of policy and program deliverables is needed as well.

Both the Canada-Ukraine relations issue and Canadian Diversity were discussed at the Roundtable and contributed, among others, to the preparation of the Discussion Paper which we wish to share with you and your two Ministers. We will be seeking to meet with them in the near future to pursue these issues further.

I take the opportunity to wish you the very best for the New Year.

With warm regards,

Oksana Bashuk Hepburn
President

cc.Mr. John Manley, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Dr. Hedy Fry, Secretary fo State for Multiculturalism
Mr. Eugene Czolij, President, Ukrainian Canadian Congress
Mr. Walter Lastewka, MP

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