CANADIAN FRIENDS OF UKRAINE КАНАДСЬКЕ ТОВАРИСТВО ПРИЯТЕЛІВ УКРАЇНИ AMIS CANADIENS DE L'UKRAINE Home | About CFU | Canada-Ukraine Relations | International Statesmen Dinner | Profile in Courage Dinner | Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Centre | Crimea Project | Canada-Ukraine Library Centres | Teachers Awards Project | Election Projects | Meet our Board Members | Our Honorary Patrons | Famine Genocide Awareness Projects | Famine Genocide Lecture 2006 | Coming Events | Recent Newsletters | Press Releases | Contact CFU | Support CFU

Canadian Friends of Ukraine have taken the lead in fostering inter-parliamentary and inter-governmental cooperation between Canada and Ukraine.

For more than a decade, our organization has hosted public forums, parliamentary round tables, information exchanges, and other democracy-building initiatives between Ukraine's leading political figures and their Canadian counterparts.

These activities have provided a forum for discussing important issues like electoral reform, censorship and the media, NATO expansion, judicial reform, constitutional and parliamentary reform, election monitoring, global trade, and institutional transparency.

A number of prominent Canadian parliamentarians have lent their support to the activities of our organization by becoming Honorary Patrons of Canadian Friends of Ukraine. These committed Canadian lawmakers join the many legislators, diplomats, journalists, and policy experts who have participated in the projects and events sponsored by the CFU both in Canada and Ukraine.

The Hon. Maxime Bernier, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, meets with representatives of Canadian Friends of Ukraine, Margareta Shpir and Lisa Shymko to discuss Canadian foreign policy vis-à-vis Ukraine.

The Hon.  Volodymyr Lytvyn, Speaker of Ukraine's Parliament, welcomes CFU President Jurij Darewych and Lisa Shymko during the Speaker's reception at the Parliament of Ukraine in Kyiv.

The Hon. Peter MacKay, Canada's Minister of Defence, meets with CFU representatives Margareta Shpir (left) and Lisa Shymko (right) to discuss Canada's role on the international stage, including the question of NATO expansion.

The Hon. Borys Tarasyuk, Ukraine's former Minister of Defence (2nd from the left), posing with his Canadian hosts-- representatives of Canadian Friends of Ukraine Margareta Shpir, Lisa Shymko, Jurij Darewych, Bohdan Myndiuk -- following Mr. Tarasyuk's Foreign Policy Luncheon address at the Royal Canadian Military Institute in Toronto.

James Bezan, MP, meets with Canadian Friends of Ukraine representatives Lisa Shymko and Margareta Shpir to discuss efforts to pass legislation recognizing the Ukrainian Terror-Famine of 1932-33 as an act of Genocide. Mr. Bezan is the author of a Private Member's bill on the Ukrainian Genocide.

	In 2004, representatives of Canadian Friends of Ukraine meet with parliamentarians Peter MacKay (3rd from right) and Judy Wasylycia-Leis (2nd from left) on the eve of the third-round presidential elections in Ukraine, during which time the House of Commons recognized a Statement initiated by Canadian Friends of Ukraine reaffirming the unanimous support of the House for free, fair and transparent presidential elections in Ukraine.
	Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy meets with Ukraine's former Prime Minister, the Hon. Yevhen Marchuk in Ottawa in 1997 during a visit hosted by Canadian Friends of Ukraine.
	December 2003, the then Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Bill Graham, hosts a meeting with Canadian Friends of Ukraine, the Hon. Borys Tarasyuk (former Minister of Foreign Affairs), the Hon. Yulia Tymoshenko (current Prime Minister of Ukraine), parliamentarians from Ukraine and representatives of Canadian Friends of Ukraine to discuss Canada's role in the OSCE in advance of Ukraine's 2004 presidential elections.
	Prime Minister Paul Martin meets with representatives of Canadian Friends of Ukraine, Jurij Darewych (President) and Lisa Shymko (Exec. Director)  to discuss issues involving Canada-Ukraine relations.
	December 2003: Canadian Friends of Ukraine hosts a Roundtable on Parliament Hill with representatives of DFAIT, CIDA, CBIE, parliamentarians, and foreign policy experts with special guests, the Hon. Yulia Tymoshenko (former Prime Minister of Ukraine), the Hon. Serhiy Holovaty (former Minister of Justice), and other Ukrainian parliamentarians.
	The Speaker of Canada's Parliament, the Hon. Peter Milliken (3rd from right) meets with Canadian Friends of Ukraine and the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Hon. Yulia Tymoshenko (2nd from right) and Deputy Stepan Khmara (2nd from left) following their presentation in the House of Commons. Canadian Friends of Ukraine hosted the high-level parliamentary delegation's program in Toronto and Ottawa.