Zuzak
GRC Report; Wed., Jun. 06, 2007
(1)
Denaturalization and Deportation: On 17May2007, a
“Cabinet
committee” of unknown composition met in secret to consider the
recommendation
of Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, that the
citizenship
of Helmut Oberlander, Jacob Fast, Vladimir Katriuk and Wasyl Odynsky be
revoked. On 24May2007, Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice, issued a
press
release stating that the government had revoked the citizenship of
Helmut
Oberlander (again) and Jacob Fast. It was later revealed that Vladimir
Katriuk
and Wasyl Odynsky received letters from the government stating that
their
citizenship would not be revoked.
A
very negative article by Stewart Bell
appeared in the National
Post and the Edmonton
Journal demonizing
Mssrs.
Oberlander and Fast. A more even-handed article by Kirk
Makin and Jane
Taber in
the Globe and Mail also discussed the decision on Wasyl Odynsky. Andrew
Telegdi
issued a very critical press release and later questioned Diane Finley
sharply
at a 29May2007 meeting of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and
Immigration
(CIMM). The Ukrainian
Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA)
issued a
media release praising the decision on Wasyl Odynsky and called on the
government to either abandon the d&d policy or to apply it
evenhandedly to
also target Communist war criminals. Brian
Caldwell continues to report
in the
Kitchener-Waterloo
Record and the Guelph
Mercury.
Marco
Levytsky has written a detailed
explanation and editorial
on the subject in the May 30 - Jun. 12, 2007
issue of
the Ukrainian News, which also includes a perspective of Lubomyr
Luciuk
on the
Wasyl Odynsky case. These thirteen articles are archived in the Furman
Files on
my website at
http://www.willzuzak.ca/tp/furman/furman.html
(2)
Oberlander Petition:
On or about 29May2007, Ernst Friedel of the German Canadian
community has posted a petition calling for the government to reinstate
the
citizenship of Helmut Oberlander at
http://www.petitiononline.com/ober2007/petition.html
The text of the petition is also archived
at the Furman link indicated above.
I
would urge recipients of this report to
sign this petition and to also encourage their friends and
acquaintances to do
so. Remember that Josef Furman and Yura Skomatchuk are still at risk.
Both
Helmut Oberlander and Jacob Fast are of Ukrainian nationality (i.e.
Ukrainian-born), although they are of German ethnicity. It is crucial
that the
d&d policy be discredited and abandoned and that the government
apologize
for initiating it and provide financial compensation to its victims.
(3)
Bykivnya Commemoration:
The year 2007 is the 70th anniversary of the
Great
Terror of 1937 targeting all levels of Soviet society. In Ukraine,
hundreds of
thousands of its victims were buried in the Bykivnya Forest not far
from Kyiv.
The Action Ukraine Report of 21May2007 (AUR#845) has compiled 15
articles
commemorating this slaughter and is archived in the Holodomor file at
http://www.willzuzak.ca/tp/holodomor/holodomor.html
or specifically at
http://www.willzuzak.ca/tp/holodomor/bykivnya20070521AUR845.html
I
have taken the liberty of inserting a
rebuttal by Halya Coynash in AUR#846 to a negative article (item 13,
AUR#845)
by Vladimir Matveyev. I also appended a second article by Dr.
Kulchytsky from
AUR#847 (item 27) to his original article in AUR#845 (item 8).
(4)
http://www.avaaz.org
: Avaaz appears
to have become a very active
worldwide organization bringing attention via petitions and activism to
some
very crucial problems throughout the world. In my opinion, it is
worthwhile
subscribing to its mailing list.
Respectfully
submitted
Will Zuzak, 2007-06-06