Cabinet Committee | Jul. 01, 2003 | Eugene Harasymiw
Denis Coderre vs Wasyl Odynsky

ALBERTA UKRAINIAN SELF-RELIANCE LEAGUE
10611 - 110 Ave.
Edmonton, AB T5H 1H7
Phone/fax: (780) 457-5170

July 1, 2003       Via fax as per list

TO:
Members of Social Union Committee of Parliament
Members of Special Committee of Council
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Committee Members:

Appended is a letter recently forwarded to the Hon. Denis Coderre concerning the case of Wasyl Odynsky. The Hon. Minister has recommended that Mr. Odynsky's Canadian citizenship be revoked.

We have approached numerous MPs since that letter was forwarded in an attempt to determine which committee actually votes on Mr. Coderre's recommendation. That MPs in our parliamentary system do not know the answer to this simple question is an alarming reflection on the obsession with secrecy in which this government appears to be consumed.

Should those Honourable Members who do vote on this issue choose to accept the Hon. Minister's recommendation, then they should know that their action will:

  • fly in the face of the Hon. Allan Rock's explicit promise made when he was Justice Minister that: "The key criterion in all these proceedings [i.e. denaturalizaton and deportation] is the existence of some evidence of individual criminality. If that cannot be proven, no proceedings will be considered."
  • uphold a process that is inherently unfair, unjust, discriminatory and, quite frankly, cowardly
  • condemn a Canadian citizen, his family and his community in circumstances where that individual is not guilty of any wrongdoing
  • approve a process (i.e. denaturalization and deportation) that bases its results on hypothetical events generated by the "he must have" syndrome, which has no place in this nation's justice system or its citizenship laws
  • ignore the express objection of Liberal Party policy conventions held in Canada's four most populous provinces, where resolutions condemning that process have been unanimously passed
  • deny many of the 200 interveners the opportunity to have their views opposing this process heard, thus making a mockery of these "consultative" hearings
  • signal to Canadians that the present government is more interested in gathering potential campaign funding from vengeful and isolated supporters of denaturalization and deportation than in dispensing justice
  • create a precendent by opening a torrent of witch-hunts aimed at uncovering alleged war criminals presently residing in Canada and from those arriving at our borders in the near future from areas of the world where war crimes are being perpetrated "as we speak".

    • Therefore, you are urged to do the honourable thing and reject the recommendation of the Hon. Minister. Abstaining from voting or deliberately making oneself unavailable at the time the vote is taken is not an acceptable "Canadian" option.

    Have a nice Canada Day.

    Yours,

    Eugene Harasymiw, LL.B.
    Chair
    Civil Liberties Standing Committee

    Faxed to:
    Allan Rock (613) 947-4276
    Stephane Dion (613) 992-3700
    David Anderson (613) 952-1458
    Ralph Goodale (613) 956-8382
    Sheila Copps (613) 994-1267
    Anne McLellan (613) 943-0044
    Martin Cauchon (613) 995-0114
    Jane Stewart (613) 992-6382
    Pierre Pettigrew (613) 995-9926
    Don Boudria (613) 996-9123
    Claudette Bradshaw (613) 992-8083
    Robert Nault (613) 996-1759
    Elinor Caplan (613) 992-0887
    Denis Coderre (613) 995-9755
    Sharon Carstairs (613) 947-7125
    Rey Pagtakhan (613) 996-9125
    Susan Whelan (613) 995-0033
    Wayne Easter (613) 995-7408
    Lucienne Robillard (613) 995-8632
    Lyle Vanclief (613) 996-8652
    Herb Dhaliwal (613) 995-2962
    Robert Thibault (613) 996-9857