Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Selkirk-Red River for raising this issue and a number of issues especially when the President of Ukraine is visiting here in Canada.
Canada's special relationship with Ukraine is based on the close ties established with the 1 million strong Ukrainian Canadian community. The Prime Minister has worked to put the G-7 focus on Ukraine.
Canada is hosting, as the hon. member has already said, a conference on partnership for economic transformation in Ukraine in Winnipeg on October 27 which will include representatives not only from the G-7 countries but the European Union, IMF, World Bank, European Bank, Russia and Turkmenistan.
Canada has encouraged the Ukrainian government to adopt genuine economic reform that would be supported by IMF and World Bank lending. We welcome President Kuchma's new reform program which represents a bold step forward.
Canada will continue to play a leading role in supporting reform in Ukraine. Canada and the United States were the only two countries to make pledges during a recent IMF meeting which considered Ukrainian financial needs for the fourth quarter of this year.
During the visit of President Kuchma to Canada this week several new initiatives have been announced. This package includes $23.8 million in technical assistance initiatives which target policy advice on reform, private sector development and nuclear safety issues; $13.5 million in balance of payments support and a new $20 million EDC line of credit.
Protection of the environment is of critical importance to Ukraine, and Canada is demonstrating its leadership in this area through a number of technical assistance initiatives targeting water resource management and nuclear waste management.
Canada was the first donor country to implement a major environmental project in Ukraine.
We are currently supporting a $5 million, three-year project to assist with the rehabilitation of the Dnipro River, the source of drinking water for 70 per cent of Ukraine's population and one of the country's most pressing environmental problems.