Ukraine’s president to pay 1st visit to Canada since start of war
Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address Canadian parliament on 2nd day of trip
Barry Ellsworth |20.09.2023
TRENTON, Canada
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will pay his first visit to Canada this week since the outbreak of the war with Russia and speak to parliament, Canadian media said Tuesday.
Zelenskyy will arrive in Canada on Thursday, but he will first make a stop in Washington, D.C. that day to drum up support for continued US aid at a time when a partisan divide in Congress is clouding the issue.
There is no wavering backing for Ukraine in Canada, though, as the country has maintained fervent support from the outset of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
Canada has the second largest diaspora of Ukrainians in the world with a population of about 1.4 million. As of July, nearly 170,000 Ukrainian refugees had come to Canada since the beginning of the conflict.
While the Canadian visit has not been officially confirmed, the two-day stop has been reported by all major Canadian media as coming from reliable but anonymous government sources.
Friday’s address to parliament will not be Zelenskyy’s first, as he delivered a speech via video a few weeks before the outbreak of hostilities with Russia.
Canada has sent more than CAN$1 billion ($744 million) and has joined its allies in proclaiming that backing Ukraine is the defense of the sovereignty of all countries from powerful forces.
US President Joe Biden wants another $24 billion in security and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, but the Republicans, who are now in control of the House, are moving toward a policy of “America First” advocated by former President Donald Trump.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address Canadian parliament on 2nd day of trip
Barry Ellsworth |20.09.2023
TRENTON, Canada
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will pay his first visit to Canada this week since the outbreak of the war with Russia and speak to parliament, Canadian media said Tuesday.
Zelenskyy will arrive in Canada on Thursday, but he will first make a stop in Washington, D.C. that day to drum up support for continued US aid at a time when a partisan divide in Congress is clouding the issue.
There is no wavering backing for Ukraine in Canada, though, as the country has maintained fervent support from the outset of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
Canada has the second largest diaspora of Ukrainians in the world with a population of about 1.4 million. As of July, nearly 170,000 Ukrainian refugees had come to Canada since the beginning of the conflict.
While the Canadian visit has not been officially confirmed, the two-day stop has been reported by all major Canadian media as coming from reliable but anonymous government sources.
Friday’s address to parliament will not be Zelenskyy’s first, as he delivered a speech via video a few weeks before the outbreak of hostilities with Russia.
Canada has sent more than CAN$1 billion ($744 million) and has joined its allies in proclaiming that backing Ukraine is the defense of the sovereignty of all countries from powerful forces.
US President Joe Biden wants another $24 billion in security and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, but the Republicans, who are now in control of the House, are moving toward a policy of “America First” advocated by former President Donald Trump.
Rachel Aiello
Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter
Updated Sept. 19, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be visiting Canada later this week and will deliver an address to Parliament, CTV News has learned.
Zelenskyy is expected to arrive late Thursday. Sources said he will deliver a speech to Parliament on Friday morning, rounding out parliamentarians' first week back on the Hill.
He will then head to Toronto and depart later that day, spending approximately 24 hours in this country.
This visit—his first since Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine—has not been officially announced, but preparations are already underway in the nation's capital.
Zelenskyy will be coming to Canada following a visit with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, D.C., and on the heels of his Tuesday address(opens in a new tab) at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
The Ukrainian president delivered a straightforward and emotional virtual address translated from Ukrainian to the Canadian Parliament in March 2022(opens in a new tab), imploring members of the House of Commons, Senate, as well as the top officials and special guests present, for further urgent assistance.
If his Tuesday remarks in English to a room full of international officials offer any indication of the message Zelenskyy will be sharing with a Canadian audience, it is likely he will call allies not to succumb to war fatigue, and to be unified and steadfast in their opposition to Russia.
"When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there. Each decade, Russia starts a new war," Zelenskyy said.
"The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources, into a weapon against you. Against the international rules-based order. Many seats in the General Assembly hall may become empty, empty if Russia succeeds with its treachery, and aggression."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, June 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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