Visit of the Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons, and a Parliamentary Delegation, Ukraine
From September 5 to 9, 2009, the Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P. Speaker of the House of Commons, led an official delegation composed of Mr. Tom Lukiwski, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Mrs. Judy Wasylycia-Leis, M.P., Mr. Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P., Mrs. Heather Bradley, Director of Communications and Mrs. Julie Pelletier, Secretary to the Delegation.
In Kyiv, the delegation met with:
- His Excellency Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine;
- Her Excellency Yuliya Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine;
- His Excellency Volodymyr Lytvyn, People's Deputy, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada;
- His Excellency Arseniy Petrovych Yatseniuk, People's Deputy;
- Mr. Kostyantyn Yeliseyev, Acting Foreign Minister;
- Ms Oskana Bilozir, People's Deputy, Chair of the Ukraine-Canada Friendship Group;
- Mr. Volodymyr Landik, People's Deputy, Deputy Head of the Ukraine-Canada Friendship Group;
- Mr. Borys Tarasiuk, People's Deputy, Leader of National Movement Party (Narodniy Rukh Ukrainy);
- Colonel Ilya Ivanovych Kaban, Chief of Staff - 1st Deputy Chief, Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- Mr. Andriy Kulilov, Journalist, ICTV Talk Show ‘'Freedom'';
- Mr. Yevhen Fedchenko, Director of School of Journalism Kyiv-Mohyla National University;
- Mr. Ihor Slisarenko, 5th Channel Presenter;
- Dr. Viktor Petrovych Andrushchenko, Rector of the National Pedagogic Dragomanov University;
- Dr. Vasyl Grygorovych Kremen, President of the National Academy of Pedagogic Sciences of Ukraine, Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
- Dr. Kateryna Borysivna Levchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on Human Rights and Gender Issues; and
- Mr. Valeriy Kopiyka, Director, Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University.
On the eve of a presidential election in January 2010, the visit served to highlight the importance Canada attaches to its relations with Ukraine and to strengthen parliamentary and diplomatic ties between the two countries. The delegation discussed political and economic issues of mutual interest, including Ukraine's response to the current economic crisis, the state of freedom of speech and press in the country, the parliamentary system, government structure and electoral process in Ukraine, especially with respect to the presidential election.
During the visit, the delegation delivered an address on the Canadian Parliamentary system to the students of the School of International Relations at the Taras Shevchenko National University. They also gathered to honour the memory of the Ukrainian soldiers who died during the Second World War and of the million of Ukrainians who died as the result of nation-wide famine in 1932-1933 at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the Holodomor Memorial.
In Kyiv, the delegation also had the chance to visit the Kyiv-Percherck Lavra, the Saint-Sophia Cathedral, the Saint Michael's Cathedral, as well as the Museum of Diplomatic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.