Minister Kenney and Diversionary Tactics in Ukraine

Mental Callisthenics with Vujko Ilko

By Oksana Bashuk Hepburn

“I cannot believe what I’ve just heard,” says a distressed Vujko Ilko over the phone. “Who is advising the Minister?”

Uncle Ilko must be referring to a Ukraine-related issue. His voice has the mental-callisthenics-on-Ukrainian-themes tone.

“What’s up, ‘Unc’?”

“Apparently, our Minister of Citizenship and Immigration spent four days in Kyiv last week ostensibly to pressure Ukraine to tow the EU line and get the Association Agreement signed. Yet, his teleconference, I’m told, barely mentioned opposition leaders Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuri Lutsenko whose incarceration Europe deems to be the main impediment to the Agreement. Instead, he concentrated on old WWII issues.”

“Aren’t they important, Vujku?”

“Sweetheart, they are, especially to historians. Right now, when Ukraine’s future is on the line - Europe or Russia - historic memory is a convenient distraction. Remember how former President Viktor Yushchenko used it to seduce people in Ukraine and the diaspora with calls to recognize OUN, UPA? It was a diversionary tactic: divide, betray and conquer.”

“Indeed. First we applauded; then realized it was smoke and mirrors to split Ukraine’s east and west, and sabotage the Orange Revolution.”

“Tochno. You’d think we’d be smarter now. Clearly, someone with an agenda got to Minister Kenney. Merely days after the EU wags its finger at President Viktor Yanukovych and tells him to free the opposition leaders by May or no Association Agreement, Minister Kenney fails to push with all of Canada’s might. At this critical time, he was lobbying Ukraine to join an international organization to commemorate the Holocaust.”

“Really, Vujku? Surely, Canada is doing enough on that front including the preferential treatment in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). Did he ask Ukraine’s Jewish leaders to support the Holodomor initiatives and call on Israel to do the same? The media is full of stories about oligarchs with dual passports - by the way, that’s illegal in Ukraine - undermining the Holodomor, Ukrainian language official status, and other national symbols. What a shameless position to take for amassing their billions in Ukraine.”

“The Minister’s focus on historic events is badly timed given Ukraine’s dire reality. The day after the Minister’s “successful” trip, President Yanukovych thumbed his nose at Canada and the rest of the free world: Yulia Tymoshenko’s lawyer Serhij Vlasenko was stripped of his parliamentary seat.

“Did the Minister deal with selective justice –Yulia’s and Yuri’s imprisonment?”

“He referred to them in an answer in the Q&A during the teleconference from Kyiv. Apparently, there was a lack of urgency to see them freed or to the consequences for undermining a key democratic institution, the Opposition. The main message was trade and economic development, and civic society building; definitely about the carrot - more visas and program money - than the stick. And Jewish issues like Ukraine’s membership in the international body to deal with the Holocaust, visits to Babyn Yar and other sacred sites, as well as Canada’s Ukrainian Jewish Encounter Initiative which has Baryl Rodel on its board.”

“Was his wife Altee, a staffer at the Deschnes Commission, part of that whole era of hunting alleged war criminals?”

“Yes. That too was more about smoke and mirrors than justice. False accusations; millions of tax dollars spent, and not the slightest attempt to deal with perpetrators of Communist atrocities. Apparently, the B’nai Brith has yet to pay Mr. Wasyl Odynsky and ruining his life with false accusations. Now the Minister is spending money and time on “reconciliation”. Here’s a ‘to-do’ list for him: fix the unbalanced treatment of human rights at the CMHR; pursue Communist criminals; ask hard questions on why there is such disparity between the rich in Ukraine with their billions abroad and the rest of the population.”

“Vujku, I’ve pulled up the Minister’s press release. It says Canada calls for the end to selective justice in Ukraine as well as the other stuff you mentioned. He also visited the Ukrainian National Holodomor Memorial Museum and Monument.”

“Saw that! It’s a good thing that the media handlers provided a more balanced spin. The fact remains: the Minister was diverted from convincing Ukraine’s regime to meet requirements for European integration. And now? Escalation of violations - selective justice against Vlasenko, the beating of a newspaper editor, and a call for revolution by the Opposition. Canada addresses historic issues while Yulia is under 24-hour camera surveillance and Lutsenko’s wife must strip before she’s allowed to see her husband. Winners of the last election - like Arkadij Kondratskyj - must flee for their lives while their staff is terrorized and sits in prison. Really, if Canada is determined to address historic injustices why not mention the forced crossing of the Soviet Red Army Ukrainian recruits? Some twenty-five thousand perished in the Dnipro River close to where the Minister was staying. Also, at that time of war, Communist leaders, like that of Lazar Kaganovich, said that the more who die, the better, and that all Ukrainians are traitors and there will be fewer survivors to deport to Siberia. Don’t you think that has relevance in ‘reconciliation’ talks?”

“Vujku, this is bad. What should we do?”

“For starters, set your agenda and make sure it doesn’t get hijacked by other interests.”