Ontario’s Holodomor Bill on its way

New Ontario Logo From the Toronto Star:

Levac (L–Brant), Klees (PC–Newmarket-Aurora) and DiNovo (NDP–Parkdale-High Park) come from three different parties, so their collaboration was as novel as it was uplifting. Together, they had drafted the province’s first-ever tri-sponsored private members’ bill. And it had just passed third reading to establish the fourth Saturday in November each year as Holodomor Memorial Day.

The memorial day, Levac said, will provide an opportunity to reflect on and to educate the public about crimes against humanity that occurred in Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 under the Stalin regime, when as many as 10 million people perished in a man-made famine and genocide.

In winning passage of the bill, there was, Levac said, a compelling human imperative at play – an obligation to "speak of the unspeakable."

There was no better bill than this to have produced such historic collaboration, DiNovo has said.

"A very ugly silence has been broken," she said. Voices have been raised around the world now in Ontario to say "This happened."

All the bill needs now is the Royal Assent to make it a law. You can view the bill here.

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