“Tomorrow, Canadians will commemorate the grim anniversary of one of the worst atrocities in human history. Eight decades ago, Josef Stalin’s Soviet regime caused the deliberate mass starvation of millions of people in Ukraine.
“Ukrainians call this the Holodomor, often simply translated as murder by hunger. The great legal scholar Raphael Lemkin said the Soviet famine was a clear case of genocide, a term that Lemkin himself coined.
“As Prime Minister Harper said at the Holodomor Memorial in Kyiv: ‘To contemplate an act of malevolence on that scale truly focuses one’s mind on the nature of this evil.’
“Five years ago, Canada recognized the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33 as an act of genocide. Every year, Canadians mark the fourth Saturday in November as Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (“Holodomor”) Memorial Day by participating in memorial gatherings that are held across the country, including on Parliament Hill.
“The Ukrainian-Canadian community, which has made so many significant contributions to this country over many generations, has helped to ensure that we properly honor the memory of those who perished in one of the greatest tragedies of the last century.
“In commemorating the Holodomor, Canadians reaffirm our commitment to advance freedom, human rights, and the rule of law, and to oppose tyranny in all its forms.”
