In the previous issue we focused on three candidates from Ontario who can be best expected to represent our community's interests in Parliament. In this issue we focus on three from Western Canada.

As we mentioned in the previous editorial, this is a short list consisting of those who have either distinguished themselves within the community itself by taking pro-active stands, or have done so as sitting members of parliament. The critical words here are distinguished and pro-active. And the list is not comprehensive because it only refers to those about who we have the most available information. Some may be excluded because we do not have enough available information to make a recommendation. And simply being of Ukrainian origin does not automatically mean that we are endorsing a candidate as "most likely to provide the best representation for our community".

Certainly we encourage members of our community, and candidates of Ukrainian origin to stand for election. And if you have a candidate of Ukrainian origin in your riding, then vote for him or her. This also applies to candidates who have good ties with our community. But there have been cases where MPs of non-Ukrainian origin have taken a much more pro-active role in defense of the community's interests than have MPs that actually are of Ukrainian origin. That's why these individuals are being singled out. The three from Western Canada who have distinguished themselves are as follows:

Inky Mark (Conservative, Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette)-For Inky Mark, the issue of Ukrainian Internment and Redress has become a personal crusade. No Member of Parliament has devoted more time and attention to this issue than Mark. Recently he re-introduced Private Member's Bill C-331, which calls for restitution for the unjust internment of Ukrainian Canadians during World War I, along with Bill C-333 which calls for restitution to the Chinese community for the head tax of the first half of the 20th century. Mark had originally introduced Bill C-331 back in 2001.

Mark has also championed other Ukrainian issues. He has been a consistent opponent of the Denaturalization and Deportation (D & D) process and has called for changes to the Citizenship Act to prevent such abuses in the future.

The Ukrainian Canadian community first honoured Inky Mark by bestowing the Honorary Life Member award of Canada's National Ukrainian Festival and, most recently, by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) and the National Congress of Chinese Canadians for introducing the two redress bills. UCCLA describes him as "the best friend the Ukrainian Canadian community has had in Parliament".

Peter Goldring (Conservative, Edmonton East)- Married to a Canadian of Ukrainian origin, Peter Goldring is most familiar with the issues that concern our community.

He has been an outspoken critic of D & D both in and outside Parliament. He even wrote a newspaper column on the Wasyl Odynsky case in which he pointed out the gross injustice of the citizenship revocation process. In the column (which appeared in the Ukrainian News issue of July 24-August 6, 2002) he noted that Odynsky was cleared of all charges of war crimes and had been an outstanding citizen of Canada for the last 50 years.

Goldring was also very pro-active on the issue of the World Genocide Museum in Winnipeg (as opposed to one dealing strictly with the Jewish Holocaust). He devoted one entire issue of his constituency informer to this matter, highlighting the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide and other acts of genocide throughout history.

Goldring has been pro-active on issues relating to the Ukrainian community and can be expected to do the same in the future.

David Kilgour (Liberal, Edmonton-Beaumont)-As a Progressive Conservative and as a Liberal, David Kilgour has always put the interests of his constituents ahead of Party discipline. That's what got him kicked out of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, that's what designated him a junior cabinet member under Jean Chretien, and got him kicked out of cabinet by Paul Martin.

During his 25 years of service as a Member of Parliament, David Kilgour has consistently championed causes that affected the Ukrainian community. Anyone who reads his 1988 book "Uneasy Patriots: Western Canadians in Confederation" will realize that Kilgour is very familiar with the history of Ukrainians in Canada and is well aware of the issues that concern the community.

David Kilgour was very supportive of the Ukrainian community in its fight against the injustice of the D & D process and lobbied his fellow cabinet ministers on the community's behalf.

He has been a very consistent supporter of our community and deserves to be re-elected.