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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Innocents Abroad No Longer

13 October, 1998 - 00:00


Flying to a major conference on Ukraine in Ottawa, my mind wandered
back almost two decades, when I first saw a Ukrainian Catholic mass in
North America. At the end the parishioners would all kneel down and sing
with heartfelt emotion a traditional hymn that begins "God, one and great,
save us Ukraine."

I wondered how they would react to the keynote speech I had prepared,
the main thrust of which was why Ukraine has so many problems and cannot
seem to solve any of them. I thought I might even get lynched, but somebody
had to tell the truth, and I had accepted the invitation.

As it turned out, only the Ukrainian ambassador seemed truly perturbed.
People came up to me afterward, saying that they already knew about all
the problems I had mentioned, but that they had never heard anybody try
to explain them systematically.

One said, "Good for you; they need a good kick in the pants." Former
Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty told me that he had been asked by one
Canadian-Ukrainian whether he thought I might have laid it on a bit thick,
to which he replied, "No, he's being diplomatic. I'd have been more blunt."
And later, in his presentation, he was just that, as also was former State
Property Fund Chairman Volodymyr Lanovy. The "former" status of two such
competent figures is part of the problem I talked about.

The Ukrainian emigration has come a long way from the enthusiasm with
which it greeted this nation's independence. They are sick of all the corruption,
indecision, and general floundering around. Ukraine has not at all been
the country they expected it to be, and there are few things they will
support here. And the fact that the government of independent Ukraine has
alienated even those who once kneeled down and with tears in their eyes
prayed for Ukraine's freedom is a graphic illustration of just how badly
that government has done.

 

 

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