sa国际传媒 politicians dropped the routine business for a moment this week to grapple with the horror that is unfolding in Ukraine. The brief speeches were thoughtful and heartfelt.
But there is a feeling of powerlessness, listening to the expressions of goodwill and solidarity, while Ukrainian-Canadians are communicating in real time with friends and family under active attack.
Energy Minister Bruce Ralston spoke for the NDP government in condemning the war. He has a personal interest in Ukrainian issues derived from people in his Surrey riding. He spent years advocating for provincial recognition of the Holodomor, the genocide by way of starvation inflicted on Ukraine in 1932-33 by Stalin that killed up to ten million people.
He introduced a private measure years ago to create an official day in remembrance of that horror. sa国际传媒 was late compared to other provinces in doing so, but eventually designated the fourth Saturday in November as “Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day. (“Holodomor” references hunger and extinction.)
“This is a dark day,” he said. “An historic moment, a moment fraught with danger.” It’s caused “great distress” for many British Columbians, he said, particularly those of Ukrainian descent.
As an example, Ukraine’s honorary counsel to B.C, Lubomyr Huculak, said he was in the midst of dealing with the plight of a young student in Vancouver whose family had just notified her they could send no more money, because of curtailments on banking activities.
Meanwhile, Russia’s honorary counsel to B.C, Vancouver executive Erin Chutter Campbell, formally resigned her post. She declined to discuss it, but there is no doubt it is due to the invasion. Similar symbolic moves are being advocated at sa国际传媒 liquor stores, which are removing Russian products. The government stores stock seven brands of Russian vodka.
Although there’s not much sa国际传媒 can do practically at this point, Ralston said: “This is a moment when all peoples who believe in peace and democracy need to assert their support and solidarity. We stand with the people of Ukraine. We must.”
sa国际传媒 Liberal house leader Todd Stone, who has Ukrainian heritage, spoke of the fear gripping many people.
“This is indeed a time when we must stand in solidarity against unchecked militarism and violations of the peaceful international order that so many have fought and died to secure, and a time to assure people experiencing fears and anxieties here in sa国际传媒, in Ukraine and all around the world that good people are ready to respond and prevail.”
sa国际传媒 Green Leader Sonia Furstenau said all three parties are “wholly in solidarity with each other and with the people of Ukraine and wholly against the acts of violence and war that are unfolding right now.”
Hundreds of thousands of people in sa国际传媒 have blood ties or ancestral links that bring the war closer. The census counts 230,000 residents of Ukrainian heritage and 131,000 of Russian descent in sa国际传媒 There are 19,000 and 8,400, respectively, in the Victoria metropolitan area.
Premier John Horgan on Friday condemned the invasion and hoped “Mr. Putin will see the error of his ways and the wrath of the international community will be sufficient for him to turn back on this horrific course that he is on.”
CTV reporter Rob Buffam called into the news conference from the Victoria Ukrainian Cultural Centre, and relayed the intensity of anxiety to Horgan, describing how a distraught woman there had just finished a phone call to a cousin in Kyiv who was taking her children to a bomb shelter.
Horgan said sa国际传媒 is working with Ottawa to be ready to offer whatever assistance it can to people caught in the war.
The most immediate economic impact in sa国际传媒 is the price of gas. Horgan warned it’s going to be a “challenging” summer. His first reference was to recall the brief period of rationing in December when the supply system crimped for a time.
He said British Columbians understood that was a short-term measure, “and now we go into international disruptions to supply chains that are going to have an impact on supply.”
Measures taken earlier to empower the utilities commission to demand reasons for price hikes will come into play, he said. “There is now a watchdog … making sure that we are not being gouged, that if prices do go up, there’s a rationale for that.”
Maybe someone can explain $2-a-litre gas, but a rationale for how it all came to this will be a long time coming.
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