New Pathway – Ukrainian News.
The Toronto Police is investigating last week’s vandalism of the Future Bakery location in Etobicoke, ON as a hate crime and a mischief of over $5,000. Both are serious charges, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the owner of the business and a former MP for Etobicoke Centre, explained to NP-UN.
Wrzesnewskyj has posted a reward of $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) who did the vandalism. The information can be provided anonymously by calling (416) 231-1491 and asking for Maria, he said.
Wrzesnewskyj said that the vandalized banner #STAND WITH UKRAINE has already been cleaned. But the famous mural, which has been on the front wall of the Future Bakery’s shop for 27 years, was permanently damaged. It has since been painted over with primer and the facade is awaiting a decision about its future look.
Ukrainian Canadian organizations, such as Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the local MPs Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre) and James Maloney (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), and the general public have expressed support to Wrzesnewskyj and Future Bakery and its personnel. Wrzesnewskyj said: “My belief in the goodwill of people has been reaffirmed, we have had literally 1000s of people, mostly electronically, but also in person come and express their support. That they’re shocked by this, that there’s no place in Canada for this sort of hatred”.
Wrzesnewskyj noted that many of his Russian Canadian customers and friends who he has known over the years have come by in person or called and said that this vandalism is not a reflection of the whole community. Wrzesnewskyj agreed with this and said that he doesn’t believe that this sort of action is a reflection of the Russian Canadian community. He said: “Unfortunately, there is so much pro-Putin propaganda, whether on the internet or through media, like Russia Today, that it has impacted some members of the community”.
Wrzesnewskyj explained that he also sees this vandalism as a personal attack, because of his position on Ukraine, in particular, during the pan-Canadian campaign #STAND WITH UKRAINE, carried out by Ukrainian Canadian Congress in anticipation of a potential Russian onslaught on Ukraine.
But Wrzesnewskyj considers it part of the process of denigrating the Ukrainian Canadian community in general as well as certain people individually. He said: “Six years ago, Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov referred to Ukrainian Canadians as the rabid Ukrainian diaspora. We have regularly been branded by the Kremlin and its media mouthpieces as a nest of Nazis in Canada. They have targeted people individually: [Deputy Prime Minister] Chrystia Freeland, myself, MP James Bezan. I’ve been targeted, quite specifically, a number of times in Russian media as far back as 12 years ago and more recently on the Dmitri Kiseliov show in 2019 in which he dedicated some 10 minutes to making the case that Ukrainian Canadians are a nest of Nazis and have taken control of the foreign policy of Canada’s government. They showed a picture of myself with my family in embroidered Ukrainian shirts. So when the most watched news program in Russia targets the community and then individuals specifically in the community, people within Canada watch this, they become zombified by it and it can have consequences”.
Undeterred by the act of vandalism, Wrzesnewskyj wrote in his piece in National Newswatch on February 14: “Canada must stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine not just because of the over 130 years of nation building contributions of Ukrainian Canadians; we should do so because of our geopolitical interests and common values”.
Share on Social Media