On Wednesday, January 13, 2015 at St. Demetrius Hall in Etobicoke, the Canada Ukraine Foundation received a grant from the Ministry of Multiculturalism for the Holodomor National Awareness Tour. The three-year grant, valued at $1.5 million, will support the education of students, community leaders and the public on the historical events of the Holodomor Genocide in Ukraine in 1932-33.
The Holodomor National Awareness Tour, is a joint project between four organizations: the Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF, the project lead), the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (UCRDC) and the Holodomor Research and Educational Consortium (HREC).
The tour will take place on a customized RV, with a state-of-the-art interactive audio-visual technology centre on board. The RV will visit schools, universities, government offices, Ukrainian community and Canadian mainstream events, and festivals and gatherings across the country. The goal of the tour is to educate Canadians about the artificial famine created by Joseph Stalin, murdering millions.
Walter Kish, who attended the announcement, told the New Pathway there was a large crowd of around 150 people during the announcement of the tour, which included Minister Jason Kenney, UCC President Paul Grod and MP Ted Opitz. Mr. Kish noted that the project encompasses the whole of the Ukrainian community, evident by the high number of different Ukrainian organizations present at the event.
Mr. Kish was also grateful to the Canadian government which “continues to show its support for both Ukraine and the Ukrainian community in Canada. The Ukrainian community has really developed a strong relationship with the federal government especially within the past year.” He added that, currently, only five provinces have adopted teaching the Holodomor into their school curriculums and this project may be a good way to help to get other provinces on board.
According to the CUF news release, “The Holodomor is one of the greatest crimes against humanity”, said Prof. Jurij Darewych, the Chair of UCRDC. “Yet, despite its being recognized as Genocide by the Parliament of Canada, knowledge about this tragedy is not as widespread as it ought to be. The Holodomor National Awareness Tour will be an important tool in informing and reminding Canadians of this horrible example of man's inhumanity to man.”
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