Mandryk: Sask. government must call out Trump’s abuse of Ukraine

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Most every day for the past three years now, the yellow and light blue flag of Ukraine has flown in front of the Saskatchewan legislature.

It’s a testimonial to how deep the Ukrainian connections are in a province in which 138,705 (or 12.2 per cent of the population, according to the last census) are of Ukrainian descent.

Most of those descendants are now great or great great grandsons and daughters of those who first immigrated to Western Canada starting in the 1890s until the 1920s. But while this makes the connections for most a century old, roots still run deep.

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As such, one shouldn’t underestimate the reaction from all Saskatchewan residents of Ukrainian ancestry to the brutal treatment Ukraine is now receiving at the hands of U.S. President Donald Trump.

In fact, one shouldn’t underestimate the counter-blast we are starting to see from all Saskatchewan residents and all Canadians to an Oval Office that has simply abandoned human decency by, essentially, condoning Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The unjust tariffs on Canada were bad enough. But the inhumane contempt Trump has shown for Ukrainians under attack has been beyond belief.

More than a week ago, we witnessed Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance berate Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for everything from his clothes (a president at war, he discarded a suit in favour of a sweater with Ukraine’s Tryzub or trident of Volodymyr the Great that’s come to represent people who will not yield their land) to his supposed failure to say “thank you” to the U.S. (which Zelenskyy has done on 33 occasions).

We have flown Ukraine’s flag in front of the Saskatchewan legislature for three years. We are one of the few jurisdictions outside Ukraine that annually commemorates the Holodomor in which Soviet Russians starved millions of Ukrainians to death.

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Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe should have made it known he stands with Zelenskyy. Certainly, NDP Opposition Leader Carla Beck did.

But even more puzzling has been the public silence from Moe and his Saskatchewan Party government to Trump’s move after the Zelenskyy meeting — the threatened deportation from the U.S. of nearly a quarter million Ukrainian war refugees.

He is threatening to deport 240,000 Ukrainian war ravaged refugees while offering Russian oligarchs quicker U.S. citizenship for $5 million. Let that sink in for a moment.

Again, the NDP noted this deplorable act, encouraging Saskatchewan to take in as many of these refugees as it could. To the credit of the Sask. Party government, it has now started to make some moves.

After being asked about the possible U.S. deportations, Finance Minister Jim Reiter said on Friday that he made inquiries to federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller on the potential fallout and what role this province could play.

Reiter then released a letter he sent that day that noted “Ukrainian culture and traditions are deeply embedded in Saskatchewan” and asked if the federal minister would consider reopening Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) visas for any Ukrainian war refugee forced to leave the U.S.

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“We’re watching with concern and interest in seeing what does play out there,” Reiter told reporters, adding that “Saskatchewan would be more than willing to do our share.”

Far beyond all of Saskatchewan’s deep Ukrainian roots and current commitment to help Ukrainian refugees caught up in the current war, this is simply the right thing to do. Credit Moe and Reiter.

However, Saskatchewan should also be obligated to speak out against what’s happening.

Perhaps Moe has decided to wait and see how this plays out. Given Trump’s erratic nature, it’s possible Moe and his Saskatchewan Party were waiting to see if these Trump threats come to fruition.

But perhaps it’s also possible that Moe — who has twice travelled to Washington during this trade war — is being influenced by the Republicans he’s spoken to who may be cautioning him against excessively speaking out against Trump. (This might explain his tepid response to tariff concerns.)

If so, this is the wrong response. Saskatchewan needs to remain committed to not only helping Ukrainians but also speaking out against their inhumane treatment at the hands of Trump.

We need to do more than wave their flag.

Mandryk is the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

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