Bill C-450

1st Session, 39th Parliament,

55-56 Elizabeth II, 2006-2007

house of commons of canada

BILL C-450

An Act respecting a national day of remembrance of the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide

WHEREAS an estimated ten million Ukrain- ians died of starvation in 1932-33 in a deliberately induced Ukrainian famine, organ- ized and master-minded by the Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin;

WHEREAS this horrifying slow death from starvation was an attempt to destroy aspirations of an independent Ukraine and to erase in the people all aspirations of freedom;

WHEREAS it is recognized that information about the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide of 1932-33 was suppressed, distorted or wiped out by Soviet authorities;

WHEREAS this horror has inflicted a deep and lasting scar on the Ukrainian community throughout the world;

WHEREAS many survivors of the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide of 1932-33 and their descendants immigrated to Canada and contributed to its positive development;

AND WHEREAS Canadians cherish and defend human rights, value the diversity and multicultural nature of Canadian society, have always rejected intolerance and ethnic exclusion and condemn all war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocides;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide Remembrance Day Act.

UKRAINIAN HOLODOMOR-GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE DAY

2. Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the fourth Saturday in November shall be known as “Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide Remembrance Day”.

3. For greater certainty, Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide Remembrance Day is not a legal holiday or a non-juridical day.