Canada–Ukraine relations

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Canada-Ukraine relations
Map indicating locations of Canada and Ukraine

Canada
Ukraine

Canada–Ukraine relations are the bilateral ties between Canada and Ukraine.

Formal relations

Embassy of Canada in Kyiv
Embassy of Ukraine in Ottawa

Diplomatic relations were established between Canada and Ukraine on December 2, 1991.

Embassy of Ukraine in Ottawa opened in October of that same year, paid for mostly by donations from the Ukrainian-Canadian community. Ukraine opened a consulate general in Toronto in 1993 and opened another in Edmonton
in 2018.

The main bilateral agreement is the joint declaration of the "Special Partnership" between the two countries signed in 1994 and renewed in 2001.[3]

Sales of Canadian military hardware to Ukraine were permitted by the Trudeau government in December 2017 when Global Affairs Canada minister Chrystia Freeland lifted the prior restrictions.[4]

Free-trade agreement

On September 22, 2009, talks began between Canada and Ukraine on a free trade agreement.[5][6]

Ukrainian prime minister

Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement,[7]
and signed it in July 2016. It took effect on 1 August 2017.[8][9]

High level visits

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the Ukraine Reform Conference in Toronto.

In 1992, the

Ramon Hnatyshyn, visited Ukraine—his ancestral homeland with which he closely identified[10]—in his capacity as Vice-regent. In 2005 Governor General Adrienne Clarkson made a formal state visit and in 2009 Governor General Michaëlle Jean made another. Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma also undertook a visit to Canada in 1994, his first state visit abroad. Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien visited Ukraine in 1999, and in 2008, President Viktor Yushchenko
travelled to Canada on a state visit. In Ottawa, he addressed a joint session of the Canadian Parliament's Senate and House of Commons, a rare privilege for foreign dignitaries.

The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation occurred in March 2014. In September 2014, Ukrainians visited Ottawa to plead for weapons, including anti-tank missiles, surveillance gear and armoured vehicles, to subdue the separatists on their eastern border. Defence Minister Jason Kenney refused.

In July 2016, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau visited Canadian military trainers in western Ukraine. Petro Poroshenko thanked Canada for its contributions. The two signed a free-trade agreement.[11]

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, then former prime minister of Ukraine, visited Ottawa in May 2017 seeking weapons and met with Chrystia Freeland and Ralph Goodale.[12]

In July 2019, the Canadian government hosted the third

IMF took part.[14][4] The theme was Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.[14] Newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a new agreement for Canadian military hardware to be used as part of the effort to subdue the separatists in the east along the border with Russia. Justin Trudeau refused to sign the agreement.[15][16] Trudeau and Zelensky "declared a mutual interest in improving student exchanges and youth work permits" but nothing was done, and money was found to "promote gender equality".[16]

In January 2022, Foreign Minister

Operation UNIFIER.[17]

September 22, 2023, Zelenskyy spoke to the Canadian Parliament. Zelenskyy joined Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the rest of Parliament as they gave a standing ovation to

Nazi war criminals.[20]

Politics

Canada wants to promote democratic reform in Ukraine, encouraging Ukraine to engage and possibly join the EU and NATO,[21] and distance itself from Russia. Reform are a delicate matter in Ukraine, because the East vs. West trajectory (Russia vs. Europe) of the country is a sensitive political issue in Ukraine. Direct involvement in reform efforts by Canadian officials would violate international protocol (seen as interference in Ukraine's internal affairs), and possibly undercut pro-Western efforts in the country. Many Canadians (including members of parliament, and former Prime Minister John Turner) were part of an international observer team that monitored Ukraine's 2004 presidential election.[21] Canadian media were typically sympathetic to the Orange Revolution, with the national magazine Maclean's running a front-page story on the protests. Election irregularities documented by observer teams in 2004 led to a redo of the election, which resulted in the victory of pro-Western presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. Canadian Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, Canada's head-of-state, attended Yushchenko's investiture wearing an orange scarf, the colour of the pro-Western movement.[21]

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland's maternal grandparents and mother emigrated from Ukraine. She was actively engaged with pro-democracy and pro-Western movements in Ukraine during the late 1980s.[22] In 2017, allegations circulated in the Russian and Canadian press that Freeland's grandfather, whom she had described as a political exile "with a responsibility to keep alive the idea of an independent Ukraine," had been a Nazi propagandist, which her office denied and she implied were Russian disinformation.[23] However, it was later proven that her grandfather had indeed been the editor of a Nazi newspaper in Poland, and that she had known this for at least twenty years.[24]

Sub-national ties

The "Welcome to Canora" statue, "Lesia"

Much of the relationship is based on the legacy of migration. Ukrainians did not migrate to Canada equally from all parts of Ukraine, or settle equally everywhere in Canada. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Ukrainian immigrants settled in the Canadian prairies and account for the region's strong ties to Ukraine,[25] especially Western Ukraine, from which most majority of them had come. Ontario also drew Ukrainian immigrants, especially in the immediate post-war period.[26][page needed] Prevented during the Soviet period, migration to Canada from Ukraine resumed after its 1991 independence under provincial immigration programs.[27] Migrants came to Saskatchewan and Manitoba after they set up these programs, having identified Ukraine as a potentially significant source of skilled workers.

Most Ukrainians who migrated to Alberta between 1893 and 1929 came from a few small districts in western Ukraine, many of them in the current Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Alberta premier Ralph Klein visited Ivano-Frankivsk in 2002, and governor of Ivano-Frankivsk Mykhailo Vyshyvaniuk reciprocated with a visit to Edmonton in which the two governments signed a trade and cooperation agreement.[3] Alberta was expected to sign a similar agreement with neighbouring Lviv Oblast.[3]

Premier Roy Romanow's also visited Ukraine in 1995[28] and invited Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma to Saskatchewan in 2000. Delegations at the ministerial level to Ukraine from Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan led to agreements and memoranda of understanding on culture, education and economic matters. The prairie provinces also established formal advisory committees:

  • Saskatchewan-Ukraine Advisory Committee
  • Manitoba-Ukraine Secretariat
  • Advisory Council on Alberta-Ukraine Relations).[29]

Beyond a number of regional twinning agreements, e.g. Saskatchewan-Chernivtsi oblast,[30] a number of Canadian cities are also twinned with Ukrainian municipal counterparts at the local level, including Toronto/Kyiv, Winnipeg/Lviv, Vancouver/Odesa, and Saskatoon/Chernivtsi.

Humanitarian and development aid to Ukraine

Canadian organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, are active in providing different kinds of aid to Ukraine. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded the establishment of Centre for Small Business and Economic Development (SBEDIF) in Ivano-Frankivsk.[21] An additional CA$3.8 million was committed for a regional network project to support small business growth and economic development in five additional communities in the same oblast of Western Ukraine.[21]

The Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce (CUCC) plays an important role in promoting trade and business ties between the two countries.[31]

In 2016, Global Affairs Canada established the Canada-Ukraine Trade and Investment Support (CUTIS) Project, which is budgeted for five years and was designed "to lower poverty in Ukraine through increasing exports from Ukraine to Canada and investment from Canada to Ukraine".[32]

As recently as July 2016 Canadian non-governmental organizations also have substantially provided aid to the

War in Donbass.[33]

On 22 March, 2022,

Reuters News, which employed Freeland for a decade, had an article titled "On the Ukraine refugee crisis, watch Canada",[34] and then in early April 2022 the Trudeau government cleared the immigration barriers for Ukrainian refugees.[35][36]

Educational contacts

The longest standing educational partnership at the post-secondary level is that of between the

Ramon Hnatyshyn Canadian Studies Centre, a research and teaching unit created in 2003 and devoted to Canadian studies at Chernivtsi National University. The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy also established a Canadian Studies Center in 2009 to foster greater contact and scholarly exchange.[37]

Bilateral exchanges between Canadian and Ukrainian universities exist in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Canadian universities and colleges with active exchange programs include: University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, Queen's University, St. Thomas More College and MacEwan University.[citation needed]

In 1991, with the support of the Ukrainian Studies Foundation of Toronto, the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (CUPP) was created. CUPP has provided Ukrainian university students with an opportunity to learn how democracy functions in Canada by working closely with Canadian Members of Parliament of all parties. Ukrainian students are competitively selected from among 48 participating institutions of higher-learning in Ukraine.[38]

Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War

See also: Operation Unifier, Operation Reassurance, and List of people and organizations sanctioned during the Russo-Ukrainian War § By Russia

Since the February 2014

Harper Ministry, with Rob Nicholson
as Minister of Defence.

On 17 April 2014 the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) offered assets and members to NATO and called this engagement Operation REASSURANCE.[39] In September 2014 the Ukrainians visited Ottawa to plead for weapons, like anti-tank missiles, surveillance gear and armoured vehicles, with which to subdue the eastern separatists along the border with Russia. Their quest did not bear fruit.[40]

At the Brussels NATO Ministerial conference in February 2015, Nicholson offered no weapons to Ukraine, agreeing with Ursula von der Leyen then the German Minister of Defense. "We've been very clear in our support for Ukraine. We've signed a defense cooperation agreement, and we have been sending considerable non-lethal aid to Ukraine over the last number of months, as well as assistance in other forms, and that's what we're going to continue."[41] On 14 April 2015 the new Minister of National Defence, Jason Kenney, announced Canadian military personnel would instruct Ukrainian forces as part of a $700 million gift he called Operation UNIFIER.[42]

It came to light in July 2015 while Stephen Harper was still in power, that more than 5,400 Eryx anti-tank missiles, 10 Husky VMMD and Buffalo (mine protected vehicle), four specialized landmine detection systems and 194 LAV-II Light Armoured Vehicles had been declared surplus by the Canadian military instead of being sent to aid the Ukrainians.[40]

On 4 November 2015 Justin Trudeau inaugurated his

Minister of Defence. Sales of Canadian military hardware to Ukraine were permitted by the government of Trudeau in December 2017, as Global Affairs Canada minister Chrystia Freeland lifted restrictions.[4]

Soon after the 2019 Canadian federal election was won by Trudeau, who had faced down Andrew Scheer, a supporter of sending Canadian peacekeepers to Ukraine, Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Vasyl Bodnar in the government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy revived the idea of sending Canadian peacekeepers to the war-torn Donbass territory of Ukraine.[43]

Freeland was named

FINTRAC. Freeland was accused by the KGB of promoting anti-Soviet sentiment in Kyiv in the late 1980s.[22]

On 1 February 2022 rumours of open conflict were thick and a helpful list of Canadian sanctions tools was provided by consultant attorneys. There were then three pieces of secondary legislation that collectively formed the "Sanctions Regime":[44]

On 23 February Canada announced first round of new economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine crisis. The United States, the European Union, Germany and Britain also announced financial punishments of Russia. Trudeau said his government "will ban Canadians from all financial dealings with the so-called" DPR and LPR. He was also to "ban Canadians from engaging in purchases of Russian sovereign debt." Trudeau promised to "sanction members of the Russian parliament who voted for the decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent."[45]

On 24 February Russia invaded Ukraine.

On 27 February

most-favored nation status", which automatically places a mandatory 35% tariff on all imports from the two countries.[49]

On 6 March Transport Canada fined the owners of a plane that was chartered by Russians. Russians can still travel as passengers.

Notice to Airmen drafted for the occasion. The regulator said it "will not hesitate to take further enforcement action should additional incidents of non-compliance with the regulations and restrictions be found."[52] On 15 March 15 more Russian officials were sanctioned. More than 900 "individuals and entities" had been targeted by then.[53] The Russians responded on 15 March and targeted 313 Canadian individuals.[54] On 18 March a report documented the Russian seizure of Canadian (and other) flagged aircraft.[55]

The L3 Harris Wescam gyro-compensated cameras were revealed to be the choice of the manufacturer of the

Bayraktar UAV for their drones were pledged by the Trudeau government in late March.[56]

On 24 March it was revealed to a Parliamentary committee that the CAF had barred its active-duty service members from entering the Ukraine Foreign Legion.[57]

Before 21 April Canada had sent 4,500 M-72 rocket launchers and 100 Carl Gustaf anti-tank systems to Ukraine.[58] On 22 April Canada sent from its warehouse of 37 units an unknown number of 155mm M777 Howitzers.[59][58] On 26 April Canada pledged to send eight Rohsel light armoured vehicles to Ukraine.[60]

On 8 May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[61]

On 8 June Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly announced a ban under the SEMRR on the export of 28 services vital for the operation of the oil, gas and chemical industries, including technical, management, accounting and advertising services.[62]

See also

References

  1. ^ For a detailed discussion of Canada's early diplomatic engagement with Canada, see Bohdan Kordan, "Canadian Ukrainian Relations: Articulating the Canadian Interest," in L. Hajda, ed. (1996), Ukraine in the World: Studies in the International Relations and Security Structure of a Newly Independent State. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  2. ^ Goncharova, Olena (August 24, 2021). "How Canada became first in West to recognize Ukraine's independence. Canada spent 61 billion dollars in 2022 on Ukraine military and economy". Kyiv Post. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Embassy of Ukraine in Canada - Political Affairs".
  4. ^ a b c "Ukraine reform hindered by corruption, U.S. says, as new leader makes North American debut in Toronto". National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. The Canadian Press. 2 July 2019.
  5. ^ Tymoshenko hopes for more effective cooperation with Canada after creation of free trade area, Interfax-Ukraine (September 23, 2009)
  6. ^ Minister Day Announces Free Trade Talks with Ukraine, Government of Canada (September 22, 2009)
  7. ^ Milewski, Terry (13 July 2015). "Canada-Ukraine trade deal announced by Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Stephen Harper". CBC.
  8. ^ "Text of the Canada–Ukraine Free trade agreement – Table of contents". Global Affairs Canada. 2016-09-15.
  9. ^ "Minister Carr hosts Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Joint Commission meeting". Global Affairs Canada. 2018-10-19.
  10. ^ "The Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn". Archived from the original on 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  11. ^ "Justin Trudeau visits Canadian military trainers in western Ukraine". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Ukraine seeks weapons from Ottawa to help fend off Russia-backed rebels". The Globe and Mail Inc. 18 May 2017.
  13. ^ "Defence Minister Sajjan Concludes Trip to Ukraine". Government of Canada. 22 May 2019.
  14. ^ a b "Ukraine Reform Conference July 2-4, 2019 - Toronto, Canada". Global Affairs Canada. 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  15. ^ "Zelenskiy: Ukraine, Canada to sign agreement on supply of military hardware". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 2 July 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Trudeau and Ukraine's new president agree to talk about expanding free trade". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 July 2019.
  17. ^ Defence (2021-03-11). "Operation UNIFIER (Ukraine)". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  18. ^ "Zelenskyy joins Canadian Parliament's ovation to 98-year-old veteran who fought with Nazis". 24 September 2023.
  19. ^ Tasker, John Paul (September 27, 2023). "Trudeau apologizes after man who fought in Nazi unit was praised by parliamentarians at Zelenskyy event". CBC News. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  20. ^ Ramzy, Mark (2023-09-28). "University closes endowment fund named after veteran in Nazi controversy". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  21. ^ a b c d e "Canada and Ukraine". 2 September 2021.
  22. ^ a b Miles, Simon (11 October 2021). "KGB archives show how Chrystia Freeland drew the ire (and respect) of Soviet intelligence services". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  23. ^ "Freeland warns Canadians to beware of Russian disinformation". The Globe and Mail. 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  24. ^ "Freeland knew her grandfather was editor of Nazi newspaper". The Globe and Mail. 2017-03-07. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  25. ^ Cameron MacLean (27 February 2022). "From perogies to politics, Ukrainians have made an indelible mark on Manitoba's identity: The first family of Ukrainian immigrants arrived in Manitoba in 1891". CBC News.
  26. ^ Lubomyr Y. Luciuk and Bohdan S. Kordan (1989), Creating a Landscape: A Geography of Ukrainians in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  27. ^ "The Post-1991 Program". Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta.
  28. ^ "PREMIER SIGNS SASKATCHEWAN-UKRAINE CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT". Archived from the original on 2013-09-17. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
  29. ^ "Publications Centre". publications.saskatchewan.ca.
  30. ^ "SASKATCHEWAN RENEWS TWINNING AGREEMENT WITH CHERNIVTSI REGION". Government of Saskatchewan. October 4, 1995. Archived from the original on 2013-09-17.
  31. ^ Calendar of events, Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce
  32. ^ "Our Focus". Canada-Ukraine Trade and Investment Support. 17 July 2023.
  33. ^ Burridge, Tom (11 July 2016). "Canadian-Ukrainian relations: As thick as blood?". BBC News.
  34. ^ Lam, Sharon (22 March 2022). "On the Ukraine refugee crisis, watch Canada". Reuters.
  35. ^ "Feds announce additional measures for refugees fleeing Ukraine". CTV News. 9 April 2022.
  36. ^ "Ukrainians begin to settle in Canada as Russia's war continues: 'More comfortable here'". Global News. 9 April 2022.
  37. ^ "Centres". www.ukma.edu.ua. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  38. ^ "Updated program of CUPP Anniversary Celebration". www.webservicecenter.net. Archived from the original on 2006-07-03.
  39. ^ "Operation REASSURANCE". Government of Canada. 2022-03-25.
  40. ^ a b "Millions in military gear goes to scrap heap instead of Ukraine". Ottawa Citizen. 5 July 2015.
  41. ^ "Top NATO General Warns of Russian Reaction to Arming Ukraine". The New York Times. 5 February 2015. Archived from the original on 20 February 2015.
  42. ^ Johnson, Richard (27 November 2015). "Canada's colder war in Ukraine". The Washington Post.
  43. ^ "Canadian-led peacekeeping mission in Ukraine 'Plan B' for Kyiv, official says". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 November 2019.
  44. ^ "Canada considers amendments to sanctions regime targeting Russia". Borden Ladner Gervais S.E.N.C.R.L., S.R.L. 1 February 2022.
  45. ^ "Canada announces first round of economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine crisis". Reuters. 23 February 2022.
  46. ^ a b "Canada Impounds Russian An-124". Canadian Aviator Magazine. 12 March 2022.
  47. ^ "Canada orders two Russian planes out of its airspace after they declared they were 'humanitarian' flights". BellMedia. cp24. 28 February 2022.
  48. ^ a b "Canada Nixes Russia Trade Status, Sanctions Rosneft and Gazprom". Bloomberg. 3 March 2022.
  49. ^ "Canada Slaps Sanctions on Russia Over Ukraine Invasion". Voice of America. 5 March 2022.
  50. ^ "Canada Fines Private Jet Chartered By Russians". Forbes. 6 March 2022.
  51. ^ "Canada will impose sanctions on 10 individuals close to Russia's Putin, says Trudeau". Reuters. 7 March 2022.
  52. ^ "Massive Russian plane stuck at Toronto Pearson after being grounded indefinitely". CTV News. 17 March 2022.
  53. ^ "Canada imposes additional sanctions on enablers of President Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine". Government of Canada. 15 March 2022.
  54. ^ "Russia sanctions 313 Canadians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau". Anadolu Agency. 15 March 2022.
  55. ^ "Canadian aviation company caught in Russia's confiscation of hundreds of foreign-owned jets". The Globe and Mail Inc. 19 March 2022.
  56. ^ Pugliese, David (22 March 2022). "Canadian drone cameras purchased for Ukraine but no word on shipments".
  57. ^ Cecco, Leyland (24 March 2022). "Canada bars its soldiers from joining Ukraine's foreign legion".
  58. ^ a b "Trudeau says Canada is sending artillery to Ukraine. Here's what that could mean". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 April 2022.
  59. ^ "Canada announces artillery and other additional military aid for Ukraine". 22 April 2022.
  60. ^ Boynton, Sean (26 April 2022). "Canada to send 8 armoured vehicles to Ukraine amid heavy weapons push".
  61. ^ Simpson, Katie (May 9, 2022). "How Justin Trudeau's people arranged his whirlwind visit to a Ukraine at war". CBC News. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  62. ^ "Canada imposes sanctions on Russian oil, gas and chemical industries". Government of Canada. 8 June 2022.

Further reading

  • Bogdanova, Iryna. "Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Unfolding Ukraine's Trade Potential with the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement." East/West 8.2 (2021): 151-191. online
  • Hinther, Rhonda L. Perogies and Politics: Canada's Ukrainian Left, 1891-1991 (University of Toronto Press, 2018). online
  • Isajiw, Wsevolod W. "The Ukrainian Diaspora." in The call of the homeland (Brill, 2010) pp. 289–319.
  • Kordan, Bohdan S., and Mitchell C. G. Dowie. Canada and the Ukrainian Crisis (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2020). 152 pp online review; focus on Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014
  • Kravchenko, Volodymyr V. "The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies: Foundations." East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies (EWJUS) 6.1 (2019): 9-49. online
  • Kukushkin, Vadim. From Peasants to Labourers: Ukrainian and Belarusan Immigration from the Russian Empire to Canada (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2007) online.
  • Luciuk, Lubomyr Y. Searching for place: Ukrainian displaced persons, Canada, and the migration of memory (University of Toronto Press, 2000).
  • Martynowych, Orest T. "A Ukrainian Canadian in London: Vladimir J.(Kaye) Kysilewsky and the Ukrainian Bureau, 1931–40." Canadian Ethnic Studies 47.4 (2015): 263-288. excerpt
  • Nikolko, Milana. "Diaspora mobilization and the Ukraine crisis: old traumas and new strategies." Ethnic and Racial Studies 42.11 (2019): 1870-1889. online; focus on 2014 and 1930s
  • Rudling, Per A. "Multiculturalism, memory, and ritualization: Ukrainian nationalist monuments in Edmonton, Alberta." Nationalities Papers 39.5 (2011): 733-768. online

External links

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