A raucous and officially "uncontested" nomination in a west Toronto riding has aroused a storm of protest with the Ukrainian community in the forefront of it.

The latest development arising from the acclamation of Liberal "star" candidate Michael Ignatieff in Etobicoke Lakeshore on Nov. 30, 2005 was a demonstration in front of his campaign headquarters on Dec. 5, 2005.

The immediate cause of this were comments made to CBC Radio by outgoing Etobicoke Lakeshore MP, Secretary of State for Multiculturalism, Jean Augustine during the nomination meeting.

"On one side of the room were all the Ukrainian people, talking in Ukrainian, organizing each other in Ukrainian. And on the other side were the rest of us Canadians," she said, laughing.

"This outrageous slur is unacceptable to Canadians generally and to Canadians of Ukrainian origin in particular," stated Peter Schturyn, Vice President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Toronto Branch.

"There were fourth and fifth generation Canadians of Ukrainian origin who are members of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Federal Liberal Riding Association at the meeting. Is Jean Augustine saying that these Ukrainian Canadians aren't mainstream Canadians?"

"It is unacceptable for comments like those made by Augustine to go unsanctioned. These views are not consistent with Canadian values and the Liberal Party should discipline Augustine, not reward her with an appointment, " added Schturyn.

In his acceptance speech on the eve of his acclamation, Ignatieff called Jean Augustine "a remarkable Canadian" for whom he had the highest regard. "In her many roles but especially as Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Women, Jean Augustine made a remarkable difference. I am truly honoured to inherit her legacy."

Ignatieff, a Harvard University professor who has been living outside Canada for the past 30 years has been touted as a "star" Liberal candidate and a possible future prime minister.

Two local candidates, both of Ukrainian origin, attempted to run against Ignatieff for the nomination, but were prevented from doing so when the Ontario Liberal Party Executive deemed them ineligible.

The Ukrainian Canadians wanted to prevent Ignatieff from being nominated because of certain passages, contained in his 1993 book, Blood and Belonging, which they considered insulting to Ukrainians.

One such comment cited was the following:

"My difficulty in taking Ukraine seriously goes deeper than just my cosmopolitan suspicion of nationalists everywhere. Somewhere inside I'm also what Ukrainians would call a Great Russian and there is just a trace of old Russian disdain for these Little Russians."

Another comment that the Ukrainian Canadian group considered disparaging was:

"I have reasons to take the (sic) Ukraine seriously indeed. But, to be honest, I'm having trouble. Ukrainian independence conjures up images of peasant embroidered shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments, phony Cossacks in cloaks and boots."

Ignatieff replied that his critics took his comments out of context and invited them to read the entire chapter on Ukraine.

The Executive of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Federal Liberal Riding Association learned late on Nov. 25, 2005 that Augustine was resigning her seat in order to make room for Ignatieff as the sole, uncontested candidate in a surprise nomination meeting scheduled for Dec. 1, 2005.

Despite the abridgement of time, and the difficult nomination filing requirements, two candidates were in fact able to prepare and submit the required forms, including police and credit checks, as well as the required 30 signatures in support of their nominations, Nov. 26, 2005.

The two candidates delivered their nomination documents to Liberal Party headquarters in Toronto, only to find that the office was locked before the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline. Liberal party staffers could be seen through the second storey windows but they refused to answer repeated knocking on the doors and phone calls to the office.

The two potential candidates were Marc Shwec, a trilingual engineer and MBA, active in community and volunteer work and Ron Chyczij, also an MBA, the president of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Riding Association who is active in many community and volunteer projects.

Nov. 27, 2005 members of the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Riding Association along with other Ukrainian Canadian community members held a demonstration in front of the Liberal Party headquarters, which was reported across Canada.

"They're trying to prevent us from following what we feel is a democratic right," said Myroslava Oleksiuk, membership secretary for the riding association, as reported by the Canadian Press.

"This is not the kind of procedure that speaks well of the democratic process in Canada, for any party."

Oleksiuk said the riding association's calls were not returned and they couldn't get official comment from the party.

Steven MacKinnon, national director for the Liberal Party of Canada, wouldn't confirm the status of the two applications but said they were received.

"My understanding is nomination papers were deposited at the office and that there's no dispute they were there within the time frame prescribed," MacKinnon said.

"Presuming everything's in order then yes (the applications are valid)," he was cited as saying by the Canadian Press.

The next day Michael Crawley, President of the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) stated in a press release that the party had rejected the applications of both candidates.

The application of Shwec was rejected on the grounds that he "was not and does not appear to have ever been, a member of the Liberal Party of Canada."

But Oleksiuk confirmed that she accepted the application of Shwec on Nov. 17, 2005 in the course of the association's ongoing membership drive. "Normally, we wait until we have 25 or more memberships before we deliver them to Party headquarters downtown. We don't drive down each individual application and I, as the Membership Secretary, have the authority under the Constitution, to accept membership applications," Oleksiuk stated.

"The Call for a Candidate Nomination Meeting was made before I could deliver the application of Mr. Shwec, and others, to LPC(O) offices. That has now been done and as far as the Constitution of the Party is concerned, Mr. Shwec is a member in good standing," said Oleksiuk.

Oleksiuk added that she has not received a membership application from Ignatieff. "I don't know what riding association Mr. Ignatieff belongs to. The Constitution of the Liberal Party of Canada requires that members be 'ordinarily resident in Canada.' I understand that Mr. Ignatieff has spent the last 30 years living and working outside of Canada," said Oleksiuk. "If I had been asked, as Membership Secretary, to accept a membership application from Mr. Ignatieff, I would have questioned his eligibility for membership, particularly if it was made at a point in time when he was still working outside of Canada."

Chyczij's application was rejected because he had not resigned his position on the executive of the riding association.

"Despite repeated calls to LPC(O) offices, none of which have been returned, I have yet to be personally notified of the reason that my application appears to have been rejected. One of the difficulties of this entire process has been the severely short time lines established by the Party. As you know, the time between the Call of the Meeting and the deadline for submission of nomination applications was less than 24 hours, and there is a tremendous amount of work involved in completing an application, including police and credit checks. Nevertheless, both applications were correctly completed and submitted in keeping with the constitution of the Liberal Party," said Chyczij.

"I am prepared to submit my resignation as President of the riding association, if the constitution requires me to do so," he added.

Meanwhile, Ignatieff issued his own statement, in which he said the comments quoted in the press were taken out of context.

"Anyone who reads the entire chapter in question, rather than merely the phrases that have been cited in isolation and out of context, will quickly recognize that my sole purpose was to rebut, not assert, the odious stereotype of Ukrainians that has been wrongly and unfairly attributed to me.

"This is a transparent attempt to twist my writings with the objective of sowing division and strife in Liberal ranks on the eve of a campaign. I am satisfied that tactics of this sort tend to rebound heavily on their perpetrators when weighed against the truth," he added.

Ignatieff also stated that: "I have a deep, personal affinity with the suffering of the Ukrainian people at the hands of Soviet Russia and a deep respect for the Ukrainian-Canadian community. My own family escaped to Ukraine following the Russian Revolution, when they lost everything. My ancestors are buried in Ukraine. I have visited their graves. I have made it a point to understand the horror of mass killing and starvation imposed by the Soviet regime in the 1930's. I have lectured on the Ukrainian genocide in my courses at Harvard."

However, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress called Prime Minister Paul Martin, to withdraw his support of Ignatieff's nomination as a Liberal candidate.

Nov. 29, 2005, Edmonton East MP Peter Goldring entered the fray issuing a press release that demanded "that the federal Liberals disassociate themselves from the imposed candidacy of Michael Ignatieff, based on Mr. Ignatieff's published views towards Ukrainians."

"Liberals simply cannot appreciate how hurtful and insulting the Ignatieff candidacy is to so many people of Ukrainian descent and to so many others who support democratic reform - in Canada and elsewhere," said Goldring.

Nov. 30, 2005 at the Valhalla Inn Ignatieff arrived through a back door for his nomination meeting just after 6 pm on a late flight from Boston, only to be greeted with cries of shame, shame".

Members of the riding association, who were told Ignatieff wanted to meet with them at 5 pm, waited in a side room with party officials only to find the doors to the main meeting room locked upon emerging.

In the meantime party officials had brought in several busloads of people who weren't members of the riding association.

"When party officials finally opened them, the room was already packed with these outsiders, let in through side doors, who were sitting in most of the available chairs. Riding members, many of whom are seniors, were forced to stand at the back, out of view of the media cameras," stated the riding association in a press release.

"Essentially we are a democratic party and a democratic party says you win your nomination," said Oleksiuk rising on a point of order.

"If you and the prime minister will not do so, we ask you to have the moral integrity to state openly that Michael Ignatieff is being appointed the official candidate by the prime minister," she added only to have her microphone turned off.

"What is most shocking is the attempt by the Chair, Liberal Party President Mike Eizenga, to muzzle the members," said Oleksiuk after the meeting.

"When I stood up to challenge the chair on a point of order, the microphone in the centre of the room was turned off. It was clear that Mr. Eizenga was not going to let me make my point until the meeting threatened to break down in chaos with the protesting of the members of our riding association," said Oleksiuk.

One Liberal, who declined to give his name, expressed outrage at the process.

"We sent 1,000 observers to Ukraine last year so that what happened there can happen here? This is railroading in the worst sense," he said, as protesters behind him chanted, "no backroom deals".

Association members walked out of the meeting in protest after their challenges were rejected.

In his acceptance speech, Ignatieff devoted half of it to explain his love for Ukrainians and his horror at the famine-genocide.