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8THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012No. 26Canada’s Supreme Court to hear appeal of Wrzesnewskyj’s court challengeby Christopher GulySpecial to The Ukrainian WeeklyOTTAWA – Canada’s Supreme Court hasscheduled a special one-day hearing onJuly 10 to determine whether or not formerLiberal Member of Parliament BorysWrzesnewskyj gets a chance to reclaim theHouse of Commons seat he lost in lastyear’s general election.Conservative Ted Opitz, who narrowlywon the suburban Toronto riding ofEtobicoke Center by 26 votes, is appealinga May 18 Ontario Superior Court rulingthat threw out 79 votes and declared the2011 election results in that riding “nulland void” over numerous voting irregularities.Under Canadian law, an appeal of a lower-courtdecision overturning an electionresult goes directly to the country’s highestcourt.Mr. Wrzesnewskyj, who represented theriding since 2004 and launched the courtaction, was hoping the Supreme Courtwould hear the case on June 27 and returna ruling as soon as possible following itsthree-month summer recess. However, Mr.Opitz asked the court to schedule oralarguments in October when its fall sessionwould commence.Mr. Wrzesnewskyj said that, under theCanada Elections Act, the Supreme Courtmust address an appeal of a lower-courtruling regarding a disputed election result“without delay and in a summary manner.”He said he believes the governingConservatives were trying to stall the proceedingsso they could “prepare themselves”if and when a by-election wascalled. (A Forum Research Inc. telephonepoll conducted just hours after the releaseof the Ontario court decision gave Mr.Wrzesnewskyj a 10-percentage-point leadover the Tory incumbent.)“That’s why people are cynical aboutpolitics,” said Mr. Wrzesnewskyj. “It’s notabout the Conservatives doing what’sright. It’s about using poll numbers to theiradvantage.”He explained that in early JuneEtobicoke Center residents received phonecalls from people saying they were callingon behalf of Prime Minister StephenHarper and Mr. Optiz that accused Mr.Wrzesnewskyj of trying to “overthrow”last year’s election result and warned constituentsthat their votes will be “takenaway” by the Ontario court ruling.A Conservative spokesman has confirmedthat the party has made the callsbut would not say whether votes werebeing “overthrown” or “taken away.” Thefederal Liberal Party may file a complaintwith Elections Canada about the robocalls.During the question period in theHouse of Commons on June 4, interimLiberal leader Bob Rae characterized thephone calls as “a contempt of the judicialprocess and an attempt to close down andshut down democracy in EtobicokeCenter.”C i t i z e n s h i p , I m m i g ra t i o n a n dMulticulturalism Minister Jason Kenneyresponded by stating that “like every party,the Conservative Party has a right to communicatedirectly with voters on issues ofpublic concern” he accused Mr.Wrzesnewskyj of demonstrating “that hehas no shame, this time by fund-raisingbased on false allegations that he retractedin court.”On June 1 Mr. Wrzesnewskyj sent out ane-mail asking for $5 in donations towardhis Fair Fight in Etobicoke CenterCampaign, which has raised over $100,000(about $98,000 U.S.) thus far.In the message, he said the Liberals“need to be ready for the worstConservatives have to offer” in the riding:“improper phone calls, attack ads andother voter-suppression tactics importedfrom the United States.”Although Mr. Wrzesnewskyj’s case centeredon 181 ballots that should not havebeen cast at 10 out of 236 polls, he chosenot to take the risk of including allegationsof ballots “that never made it into the box,”since there is no Canadian case law dealingwith the issue of voter suppression andhe didn’t want the case dragging on foryears without a resolution.However, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj havesworn affidavits from three ElectionsCanada officials, filed with the court, whichdescribe two Opitz campaign workers,including his campaign manager, RomanGawur, intimidating voters at a polling stationlocated at St. Demetrius UkrainianCatholic seniors’ residence that was temporarilyclosed.Although the polling station – where Mr.Wrzesnewskyj has received some of hisbiggest support in past elections –reopened about 30 minutes later, many ofthe residents had by then left by bus for aday trip to a nearby casino.Should there be a by-election and Mr.Wrzesnewskyj wins back his House seat,he said he would push for legislation dealingwith voter suppression.In the meantime, he’d like to have theopportunity to face the electorate again.Rather than asking the Supreme Courtof Canada to intervene, Mr. Wrzesnewskyjbelieves Mr. Harper should have followedthe lead of his prime ministerial predecessors,when courts have thrown out electionresults five times since 1949, and immediatelycalled a by-election. Instead, Canada’stop court will for the first time decidewhether Mr. Opitz remains as the MP forEtobicoke Center or if voters return to thepolls in that riding.Should the appeal be unsuccessful,Prime Minister Harper will have sixmonths (following an 11-day waiting periodafter the House of Commons speakerdeclares the riding vacant) to call a by-election.Although Mr. Opitz did not respond to aninterview request, he said in a statementthat 52,000 people in Etobicoke Center“followed the rules and cast their ballots,”but that their “democratic choice has beencalled into question by the [Superior Court]decision relating to 0.15 percent of thoseballots [rejected by the court].”According to Elections Canada, 52, 794ballots were cast and 271 were rejected inEtobicoke Center in the May 2, generale l e c t i o n . T h e gap b e t we e n M r.Wrzesnewskyj’s results and those of Mr.Opitz was under 0.05 percent.Mr. Opitz has vowed to remain in officewhile the case remains under appeal and,under Canada’s Elections Act, he can do so.However, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj said it was“impossible to determine what the will ofthe electorate was,” in light of the SuperiorCourt ruling. Therefore, he called on Mr.Opitz to do the “honorable thing” and standdown as the sitting MP until the high courtissues its ruling, or at the very least abstainfrom voting on legislation in the House ofCommons and participating on Housestanding committees on citizenship andimmigration as well as defense, both ofwhich he is a member.Mr. Wrzesnewskyj – who was nominatedas the Liberal candidate in EtobicokeCenter on June 12 at a meeting held at St.Demetrius seniors’ residence, a location hechose for its “symbolic importance” – haslaunched a YourVoteMatters.ca websiteand will soon open an office in the ridingto promote democratic rights acrossCanada. Should there be a by-election, itwill serve as his campaign headquarters.“The working assumption that votersuppression never occurred in Canada inrecent history is simply not true,” said Mr.Wrzesnewskyj. “The age of innocence isover.”Open World Leadership Program delegates from Poltava visit Greater Rochesterby Tamara DenysenkoROCHESTER, N.Y. – Five Open WorldProgram delegates from Poltava, Ukraine,visited Greater Rochester under the auspicesof the Open World Leadership Center atthe U.S. Library of Congress on June 2-10.The young professionals, MykytaVo l o vo d , I va n C h a b a n , D my t r oHerashchenko, Iryna Kornilo and NataliyaUdovychenko, participated in a weeklongprogram focusing on non-profits and NGOdevelopment. Joining them as group facilitatorwas Lyudmila Suprun from Kharkiv,Ukraine.An extensive and interesting programprepared by a long-time internationallyfocused community activist, Josephine M.Perini, president of the RochesterInternational Council (RIC), was administeredby the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation inWashington (USUF). The RIC founded in1948, is a nonprofit organization providingeducational and social programs and servicesthat promote understanding amongpeople and showcase the richness anddiversity of other cultures. The USUF is anorganization that since 1991 has createdand sustains channels of communicationbetween the United States and Ukraine forthe purpose of building peace and prosperitythrough shared democratic values.The intense program included learningopportunities at diverse Rochester areaOpen World delegates receive certificates of recognition: (seated, from left) Ron andLois Dworsky, Jean Sikora, Stephany Wowkowych, John and Janet Salzer, (standing)Lyudmila Suprun, Dmytro Herashchenko, Iryna Kornilo, Nataliya Udovychenko,Josephine M. Perini, Tamara Denysenko, Ivan Chaban and Mykyta Volovod.non-profit organizations: the American RedCross, Rochester Works Catholic FamilyCenter, Hillside Family of Agencies, Centerfor Disability Rights, AIDS Care, Center forG ove r n m e n t a l Re s e a rc h , C a re e rDevelopment Services and Lifespan ofGreater Rochester. Informational meetingswere held at Irondequoit Town Hall,Rochester City Hall and U.S Senate andHouse of Representatives district offices.Lively exchanges of ideas were held withstudents at Greece Olympia High School,members of the Rochester YoungProfessionals group and attorneys atUnderberg & Kessler, LLP, and Pelkey &Pelkey, PC, law firms.The Poltava delegates had the opportunityto learn more about the GreaterRochester Ukrainian American communitywith visits to St. Mary ProtectressUkrainian Orthodox Church, St. Josaphatand Epiphany Ukrainian Catholic Churches,the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church, theUkrainian Cultural Center and CentennialMonument in Irondequoit. The UkrainianFederal Credit Union and the Ukrainianarchives at Rush-Rhees Library atUniversity of Rochester highlighted thecommunity’s economic, social and culturalachievements over the past 100 years.A visit to the annual Greek Festival, theStrong National Museum of Play andNiagara Falls rounded out the weeklongvisit. During the farewell dinner held at St.Mary’s Church hall, the 20th anniversary ofthe establishment of sister cities tiesbetween Irondequoit and Poltava was recognizedwith certificates of appreciationfrom Poltava city and regional councils, andOlga Klymko, chair of the Poltava committee.The building of friendship ties andstrengthening of international understandingbetween America and Ukraine wouldnot have been possible without the supportof community volunteers and host families,such as Ron and Lois Dworsky, Susan andRichard Rice, Janet and John Salzer, BethPeters, Jean Sikora, Berl and Julia Stein,Slavko and Zhanna Wirlo, StephanyWowkowych, Kristina Madonia, and Walterand Tamara Denysenko.