Annually, on the fourth Saturday in November, Holodomor Memorial Day is commemorated across Canada.
The day remembers the great famine of 1932-1933 when millions of Ukrainians starved to death.
Today has also been proclaimed as Holodomor Memorial Day in Oakville by Mayor Rob Burton.
During November’s town council meeting, Ward 6 councillor Natalia Lishchyna spoke of the importance of the proclamation to raise awareness of the deliberate starvation of the Ukrainian people by Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin.
“The Ukrainian word Holodomor means murder by starvation,” she said, speaking first in English and then in Ukrainian. “Under horrifying and unimaginable conditions, up to 10 million men, women and children perished from starvation.”
“Today, efforts to raise awareness of this tragic genocide against the Ukrainian people is stronger than ever.”
In the 2016 census, 3.6 per cent of Oakville residents reported having Ukrainian heritage.
