Visit to Canada of His Excellency Volodymyr Rybak, Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine (Verkhovna Rada), and a Parliamentary Delegation

From November 25 to 26, 2013, His Excellency Volodymyr Rybak, Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine, led a parliamentary delegation on an official visit to Ottawa at the invitation of the Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation was composed of Mr. Volodymyr Polochaninov, M.P.; Mr. Bohdan Beniuk, M.P.; Mr. Oleg Zarubinskyi, M.P.; Mr. Yevgen Kartashov, M.P.; Mr. Valentyn Zaichuk, Secretary General; Mr. Anatoliy Scherba, Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Andrii Korniichuk, Head of the Interparliamentary Relations Department. His Excellency Vadym Prystaiko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada also accompanied the delegation during their stay.

In Ottawa, the delegation met with:

• His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada;
• The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
• The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P., Minister of Employment and Social Development;
• The Honourable Chris Alexander, P.C., M.P., Minister of Citizenship and Immigration;
• The Honourable Thomas Mulcair, P.C., M.P., Leader of the Official Opposition;
• The Honourable Raynell Andreychuk, Senator, Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee;
• Members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA);
• Members of the Canada-Ukraine Friendship Group;
• His Worship Jim Watson, Mayor of the City of Ottawa; and
• Mr. Paul Grod, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

The meetings provided an opportunity for parliamentarians from both countries to discuss issues of mutual interest. For example, frank and fruitful exchanges arose on the Ukrainian government's recent decision to not sign an agreement that had been agreed to with the European Union. The need to foster Canada-Ukraine educational ties through student and youth exchanges was also mentioned on numerous occasions. To better achieve this goal, Chairman Rybak had decided to travel with three university rectors from Kyiv. The meetings also highlighted the close cultural and family ties of our two peoples and Canada’s support of Ukraine’s independence and statehood. The need to enhance the two countries’ economic ties through the signing of a free trade agreement was also discussed.