ON Friday, the 22nd of September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a fiery speech before the Canadian Parliament, condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as part of efforts to gather additional support for his war-torn country.
This marks Zelenskyy’s first visit to Canada since the invasion and his second address to the Canadian parliament.
From Parliament Hill in the Capital Ottawa, Zelenskyy strongly rebuked Russia’s genocide recalling Holodomor – the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in the 1930’s as a result of Soviet policies, also known as the Great Ukrainian Famine.
This comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged an additional P650-M Canadian dollars or $482-M worth of aid to Ukraine over 3 years for 50 armored vehicles that will be built in Canada.
To date, the Trudeau government has already provided nearly 9-B Canadian dollars or $6.7-B to Kyiv in military, financial and humanitarian support since the war began.
It can be remembered that Zelenskyy last addressed the Canadian parliament virtually in March last year.
The Ukrainian president arrived in Canada late on Thursday following a trip to the United States where he met with President Joe Biden and U.S. Lawmakers in Washington DC.
However, reports say that Zelenskyy’s warm welcome in Canada is a contrast to his reception in the United States just a day before.
There, the Ukrainian President’s request to speak before a joint session of the U.S. Congress was turned down with House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy telling reporters, “We just didn’t have the time.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy on many occasions thanked Trudeau and the lawmakers of Canada for the unwavering support given to the Ukrainian people.
‘‘And most of all, I would like to thank you Canada for the purely human thing – for making Ukrainians feel at home when they are here in Canada. Thank you,’’ President Zelenskyy stated.
‘‘Can we give up? No. Can we betray the good in human nature? No. Can we agree to evil? No. Can we allow our identity to be erased? No. Ukraine and Canada are the same,’’ he added.
‘‘Are you a nutter Canada? Are you a nutter Ukraine? Slave Ukraina,’’ President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Lastly, it can be noted that Zelenskyy also expressed hope that a monument would one day be raised in Canada to honor the victory of Ukraine and its people in this said war.
