Thank you very much, Chair. Thank you all for getting together to study Bill S-210.
Before I get to the heart of this simple bill, which promotes our celebration and understanding of the heritage of a group of heretofore federally unrecognized nation builders, Ukrainian Canadians, I would like to thank those who made today possible.
First, I would like to thank you, the committee, for studying this bill today. As you can see, I'm coming to you by Zoom from a hospital clinic where I'm receiving medical treatments. Some of you know that I will be stepping down from the Senate soon due to a medical condition that makes it very difficult for me to contribute effectively to the work of the chamber. I'm hopeful that should the committee move this bill to the House, the House might be able to deal with it quickly.
Second, I would like to thank member of Parliament Mr. Yvan Baker not only for his sponsoring of Bill S-210 but for the work that he has been doing to support the Ukrainian Canadian community throughout his tenure as a member of Parliament. As he said, Russia's illegal and genocidal war on Ukraine enters its fifth year.
This bill is important to Ukrainian Canadians in Canada and those fighting for survival in Ukraine. Why is that? It gives them hope: the hope that Canada will continue to support Ukraine and the hope that is necessary for Ukrainians to cling to as they fight valiantly to preserve their sovereignty against an aggressor that is attacking not only them, but also the foundations of our international rule of law. It is an aggressor that is a member of the UN Security Council, no less. It is an aggressor that flouts every agreement it has made to respect the sovereignty and security of Ukraine.
Here in Canada, the bill gives the Ukrainian Canadian diaspora, some 1.4 million strong, hope that the Government of Canada and the people of Canada can better understand the heritage and culture of the Ukrainian Canadian community and can recognize the contributions that members of that community, historically and currently, have made to the growth and development of our great country.
I am sure that by now all of you know that the story of Ukrainians who first came to Canada, those who answered Clifford Sifton's call to build the west, is about the men in sheepskin coats and women of strength and courage whose hard work turned our then emerging western provinces into the economic engines that they are today. Those are people whose children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on grew up to be farmers, carpenters, plumbers, lawyers, artists, musicians, doctors, hockey players, fishers, miners, teachers, bankers, clergy, soldiers, sailors, astronauts, parliamentarians and even a Governor General of Canada. Some of those contributors sit among you in the House of Commons. Some are in the Senate.
Indeed, it is Ukrainian Senator Paul Yuzyk who is widely considered to be the originator of the concept of multiculturalism, which is the foundation of the complex weaving of the tapestry that has made Canada one of the best countries in the world to live in. In a 1964 speech entitled “Canada: A Multicultural Nation”, he foresaw the potential strength of our multicultural experiment, saying, “If we succeed...in evolving the pattern of unity in continuing diversity...this will serve as precedent for other states in the world.... It will be Canada's contribution to the world.”
That is what I think Bill S-210 is all about. It affirms our recognition that our country is a multicultural country, that our Canada was built by hands of many colours, that our voice is composed of many tongues and that respect for each other begins with recognizing both our diversity and the common values that bind us together.
Indeed, it is this spirit of multiculturalism that makes Canada so different from all the other countries on this continent. This bill is a small recognition of that strength. It is through the creation of such recognition that we as members of Parliament and senators can confirm our own cultural roots as we simultaneously celebrate and respect the same for all those who labour to create the Canada we aspire to have, the Canada that demonstrates to the world that our multicultural experiment is indeed working.
I hope that you can unanimously support this bill, and I appreciate your studying it.
Thank you. Dyakuyu.