OPINION: Zelensky Appeal to Canada Boosts Support

MONTREAL - President Volodymyr Zelensky captured headlines across Canada on Friday Sep. 22, with a carefully choreographed visit to capital Ottawa and a speech to Parliament broadcast live on national TV.

The visit followed his addresses this week to a global audience at the UN General Assembly and to Americans in Washington DC.

MPs and dignitaries welcomed the head of State with several ovations, while Canadian deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, a Ukrainian speaker from Alberta, sat directly behind Zelensky and his wife.

Zelensky’s speechwriters were careful to stress the ties between Canadian and Ukraine, notably the 1983 erection of a Holodomor memorial in Edmonton, at a time when that was unimaginable in Soviet-controlled Kyiv. 

“Ukrainians feel they are at home when they are here in Canada,” he said to applause. Zelensky added that he hoped another monument— to Ukrainians’ successful resistance to Russia — could be erected in the near future.

The President added several linguistic touches: speaking at length in English, unlike his previous video address to Parliament, Zelensky added in conclusion in French, “Je te remercie, Canada,” and a phrase in the Indigenous language Inuktitut, “Ajuinnata,” meaning “persevere.” He learned this word from the Governor-General, Mary Simon, a Northern native.

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While Canadian support is clearly not on a level with the U.S. or United Kingdom, it remains substantial. 

As the Globe and Mail reported: “Ottawa announced another $650 million (Canadian) in aid over three years for Ukraine … This brings total Canadian government support since 2022 to more than $9.5 billion, including a $2.4-billion loan.

“The new aid will also finance 50 armoured vehicles, including medical-evacuation vehicles, that will be built by General Dynamics Land Systems workers in London, Ont.”

The current Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, may be living through his fin de régime, as voter support for his Liberals has plummeted this year. The Opposition leader, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, has shot ahead in polls. Poilievre, however, unlike some U.S. conservatives, has shown robust verbal support for Ukraine and was present in the House of Commons throughout Zelensky’s visit.

Zelensky’s visit concluded Sept. 23 with a visit to Toronto and meetings with leaders of the Ukrainian-Canadian diaspora of 1.2 million, in a country now also home to 175,000 refugees.