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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 24

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 4, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 24 - Feb/4/22
Mr. Irek Kusmierczyk (Windsor—Tecumseh, Lib.)
  • Feb/4/22 11:01:03 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago, I participated in a conference on integrating Ukraine into Europe's economic and security structures. I was studying overseas in Poland and invited the Ukrainian delegation of young people and professionals to my apartment. We talked about the yearning of Ukrainian people for true independence and for building stronger relationships with Europe. A year later, those same young people texted me from the streets of Kyiv during the Orange Revolution that reasserted Ukraine's independence. Today, I join the Ukrainian community in Windsor—Tecumseh anxiously watching the aggressive Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border. As Polish Canadians, we have seen this movie play out many times. A revanchist and imperialistic Russia is a danger, not only to Ukraine and bordering countries like Poland and the Baltic states. It poses a danger to democracy around the world. My message to our Ukrainian friends and to all Canadians is that Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Slava Kanadi. Slava Ukraini.
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