Procedure and House Affairs committee  My understanding is that there is a commission investigating interference in Canadian elections. I think that's a useful discussion to have, because it is going on. Could you refresh my memory on the first part of your question?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would just say that the Jewish community has its hands full right now too with what's going on in the Middle East. I'm sure that this is a distraction in some ways for them too. We all have an interest in making progress on it.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Could I answer that quickly? I have a box somewhere in my office—it's kind of messy, as you can see—of Soviet propaganda leaflets put out in the fifties, sixties, seventies and into the eighties. They're booklets cheaply printed and mass-produced on a whole variety of issues, bu

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Obviously, there's a long-standing Russian imperial narrative and a Soviet narrative about Ukraine and Ukrainians that we're struggling against. Our institute, for instance, studies the history of Ukraine, which is a battlefield from beginning to end. We're small in number and we

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Not on a formal basis...if you're talking about with the Jewish community. We, of course, interact with the Jewish community and the subject is still fraught. The whole subject of the Second World War is still fraught. I should say that, in Ukraine, there's been a lot of progress

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I could answer that. Our Canadian institute of Ukrainian studies is in discussions, obviously, with the university administration, and they are in discussion with the Jewish community. We are working towards some kind of a series of research initiatives, discussions, on these top

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The community is frustrated. Ukraine is in an existential struggle at this moment, as we speak, and this is a distraction. This is, as Mr. Michalchyshyn pointed out, an issue that has come back repeatedly because the Soviet government, and now the Russian government, have invest

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Could I just say...?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I was just going to say that, in connection with the free trade agreement, one of the things that I always took great pride in as a Canadian was that we had such bipartisan support for Ukraine. I was involved right at the beginning in the initial negotiations. This was under Prim

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Like I said, the first thing is to make sure that, when an incident like this arises, you don't overreact right away: Bide your time, say that you are investigating this, and bring the temperature down, because if you react in an emotional way, you're going to create all kinds of

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, I think that it is possible to approach communities for some input in advance—and not just the Ukrainian community. There are other issues I'm sure with other communities. I think that's what you would want to do, so they don't get caught off guard with this.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Can I add something?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I want to point out that Ukrainians and the Poles struck a historical commission in Ukraine and Poland to discuss these painful issues, and that commission has met and tried to resolve these differences in their views of history and everything. I think that's the way to go—to hav

International Trade committee  Obviously Ukraine has a tremendous brain trust. Our institute is involved with the academic community, and we know that Ukraine has a very highly educated workforce with lots of skills, and that some of them are already participating in the worldwide economy. Some of those people