There is a lot I can agree with in this statement. I can even agree with some of the endorsements -- most particularly that of David Kilgour, who has been a steadfast supporter of the Ukrainian community for the entire quarter century of his parliamentary service.

But one point I CATEGORICALLY PROTEST -- is the endorsement of Anne McLellan. If Allan Rock can be considered the Godfather of D&D -- then Anne McLellan is the Stepmother of this policy.

You state:

Number one -- it's not over until the government decides not to appeal it to the Supreme Court. They may still do that and judging by statements made in the Jewish media, such an appeal may be under way.

Number two -- who appealed the Reilly decision in the first place? I direct you to the official parliamentary transcripts of the March 24, 2004 meeting of Parliament's Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

Please use this link:

and scroll down to 16:55 Hon. Andrew Telegdi.

Even if the courts decide D&D violates the Charter of Rights which, I assume the writers of this letter mean when they state:

"However, as a result of the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal within the last month in the Oberlander case we believe that the issue of revocation of citizenship related to alleged World War Two activities is well on its way to being behind us and that the decisions of the higher courts will be respected, just as they have been respected on other Charter of Rights issues."

It still doesn't answer the question: What the hell was a woman with Anne McLellan's background in law doing, pursuing such an obvious Charter violation in the first place?

If anybody on this "undisclosed list" wants more information on Anne McLellan please e-mail: [email protected] and I will send you an electronic file of the June 16, 2004 editorial in Ukrainian News. (Unfortunately, I don't have a copy on my home computer, but I'll make sure I have one by tomorrow).

Lastly, if we are going to be rating parties according to their stand on issues of importance to the Ukrainian community, please visit the Ukrainian Canadian Congress site at:

http://www.ucc.ca/

You will find that both the Conservatives and the Liberals did their best to obfuscate their replies.

The only party that answered directly and supported the Ukrainian community positions was the NDP.

Marco Levytsky

[...]
[Submitted to an undisclosed mailing list and to the [email protected] mailing list.]
[...]

Signed by: Jim Jacuta, Bohdan Klid, Halyna Klid, Rudy Pisesky, Sharon Pisesky, Halia Radiuk, Bill Shostak, Nick Seredych, and Paul Yewchuk.