Thursday, April 17, 2014 – Queen’s Park – in a Member Statement, MPP Donna Cansfield commemorated the 28^th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant catastrophe.

MPP Cansfield’s statement was special because it reminded Canadians and the world that we must be vigilant and pay attention to the events in Ukraine.  YPSWA members consulted with MPP Cansfield on this topic before it was made into a statement in the House.

She started her statement with the Chernobyl anniversary, emphasizing Kremlin’s control over the nuclear plant and its secretive nature. After explaining that 600,000 people were exposed to high-level radiation, she stated that in modern day Crimea, a Ukrainian territory illegally annexed by Russia through an illegitimate referendum that Canada and the world does not recognize, there are rumors that new government sponsored by Kremlin wants to build a nuclear plant in Crimea.  That is why, MPP Cansfield emphasized, we as concerned citizens need to be vigilant to events in Ukraine.

She concluded her statement by quoting PM Harper that the world must recognize that Russia’s activities in Ukraine pose the worst threat to global peace since the end of the cold war. Recently quoted Prime Minister Harper said, “The situation is getting worse… without any doubt whatsoever, this is strictly the work of Russian provocateurs sent by the Putin regime.”

Quote:

Mrs. Donna H. Cansfield: “Mr. Speaker, 28 years ago, on April 26, 1986, in the north central part of Ukraine, 100 kilometres north of Kiev, near Chernobyl and Pripyat, a nuclear explosion considered the worst nuclear power plant incident in history occurred. Classified at the highest level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, it was a catastrophic event where 600,000 people were exposed to high-level radiation, and many died.

This plant was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union. Quoting Medvedev, “The mere fact that the operators were carrying out an experiment that had not been approved by higher officials indicates that something was wrong with the chain of command…. In part, the tragedy was the product of administrative anarchy or the attempt to keep everything secret.” And there is talk of building a nuclear facility in the Crimea.

As concerned citizens, we must be vigilant. In this difficult time, we must remember and we must stand with the people of Ukraine. We must be firm in our convictions to support the people in their struggle for democracy and territorial integrity.

Prime Minister Harper has stated that the world must recognize that Russia’s activities in Ukraine pose the worst threat to global peace since the end of the Cold War. “The situation is getting worse,” he said. “Without any doubt whatsoever,” this is “strictly the work of Russian provocateurs sent by the Putin regime.”

Mr. Speaker, all of us must be vigilant.”

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