Ukraine’s Ambassador-designate to Canada Yuliya Kovaliv speaks to the representatives of Ukrainian Canadian community at the Old Mill complex in Toronto on April 30. Photo: NP-UN
New Pathway – Ukrainian News.
An Ambassador-designate of Ukraine to Canada Yuliya Kovaliv received a warm greeting from the Ukrainian community of Toronto on April 30. The Toronto and Ontario branches of Ukrainian Canadian Congress, together with Ukrainian World Congress organized a reception welcoming Yuliya Kovaliv in the Old Mill complex.
In her speech, Her Excellency thanked the Ukrainian Canadian community for its significant assistance to Ukraine in the time of the Russian aggression. She stressed that Ukraine at the moment needs heavy weapons for its Armed Forces and toughening of the sanctions against Russia, including switching all Russian banks off the SWIFT banking system and a full European embargo on the Russian oil and gas.
Yuliya Kovaliv also spoke about the need to provide more assistance for the people on the ground in Ukraine (“We need to understand that every package of food coming to Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol saves lives”) and for the displaced Ukrainians fleeing to different countries including Canada.
After the reception, Yuliya Kovaliv, together with the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Paul Grod, accepted two donations to UWC’s global fundraising campaign Unite With Ukraine. The donations came from the prominent business persons and Ukrainian Canadian community activists Borys Wrzesnewskyj and John Firchuk.
L-R: Irena Firchuk, Paul Grod, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Felix Wrzesnewskyj, Yuliya Kovaliv and John Firchuk in front of the Future Bakery building in Etobioke, ON on April 30 Photo: NP-UN
The funds raised within this global campaign are used to supply a range of needs to the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the front lines, including individual first aid kits; bullet-proof vests and helmets; night-vision goggles; communication equipment and fuel, among other things.
“Time is of the essence,“ said Borys Wrzesnewskyj while handing the $250,000 cheque for Unite With Ukraine to Yuliya Kovaliv at the Future Bakery’s location on North Queen Str. He added: “Every Ukrainian Canadian business person, depending on their means, needs to make a contribution to strengthen the Ukrainian military, it’s time for that now.“
Borys Wrzesnewskyj recalled the times when he and John Firchuk were growing up in the Queen and Bathurst area in Toronto where a lot of Ukrainian DPs settled after WW2. “This tragic cycle unfortunately is repeating, we are getting Ukrainian DPs in Canada again. It’s our time and our sacred duty now to help Ukraine,“ he said.
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