Marco Levytsky, NP-UN National Affairs Editor.
During his visit to Kyiv, August 22-25, Parkdale – High Park MP and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism) Arif Virani, met with about 20 alumni of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program (CUPP).
Under this program, which was established in 1991, university students from Ukraine complete an internship in the offices of Canadian Members of Parliament. The purpose of the program is to introduce these students to the Westminster Model of parliament, the operation of Canada’s parliamentary democracy, and the manner in which Canadians govern themselves.
The CUPP program provides the interns with practical experience in the operation of the House of Commons, including the opportunity to meet with officers and officials of Parliament such as the Auditor-General, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, and the Privacy Commissioner. Through a fill-time internship in the offices of individual Members of Parliament during the Spring or Fall sitting of Parliament, as well as through seminars and discussions with Members of parliament and Officers of Parliament, the interns acquire hands-on experience in the operation of a parliamentary democracy.
The CUPP program, in its 27 years of operation, has graduated almost 1,000 interns. As a result, the bi-lateral exchange has influenced the career paths and leadership pursuits of numerous citizens of Ukraine of a younger generation. Many have gone on to become elected members of Ukraine’s parliament, as well as ministers, deputy ministers, parliamentary committee heads, parliamentary assistants, provincial deputy assistants, government officials, and active members of democracy-building NGOs. Other CUPP alumni have served as members of Ukraine’s delegations to the Parliamentary assembly of the council of Europe, and the World Congress of Ukrainians. Still others have served, or currently serve at the United Nations, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and as translators for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the International Monetary Fund (IMP). They have established the Professional Government Institute which helps the Government to prioritize programs and projects and monitors the Government’s performance; Teach for Ukraine which is a two year leadership development program to help children to pursue university studies; the Ukrainian Leadership Academy which provides students in their gap year between high school and university to spend one year in a leadership program to instill patriotism and commitment to work in government and NGO structures in Ukraine; the Anna Mazurenko Children’s Health Centre in Lviv to help children and families cope with health problems and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as number of other important projects.
CUPP has a proven record as a foreign-aid program, which benefits Ukraine and its neighbouring countries. In turn, Canadian Members of Parliament have benefitted by the exchange of information about Ukraine and its people.
Asked by this newspaper to assess the program, Virani termed it “terrific”. “They are doing amazing things. There is a deputy minister in government. There is a deputy director. There are two lawyers in the group, there is someone working for USAID, there is an investment consultant. These are people that are succeeding. These are people that are part of the economy that you are building right now. These are the leaders. The leaders that we had hoped to groom, have groomed and are now in action.”
“It is truly a great initiative and it’s something Prime Minister Trudeau actually cares a lot about. You probably know that he is also the minister responsible for youth and youth engagement is actually one of the hallmarks of our government,” he added.
Asked further whether this project would be worthy of federal government financial support since the private funds were drying up, Virani replied:
“That’s a great question. I mean we are definitely committed to… youth programs. I know the youth program has sustained itself on a private basis for many, many years. I definitely want to see it continue and in what shape it continues is an open question… We haven’t received any independent solicitation for any sort of government support, but if that solicitation came in, we would obviously evaluate it.”
Well Virani may not be aware of this, but a formal application to bring 20-30 interns at a cost of $12,000 per participant per year and a request for assistance in the amount of $360,000.00 per year for the next five years was presented to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Karina Gould, last year.
Shortly after submitting the request, CUPP Director Ihor Bardyn and Ukrainian National Federation (which is currently funding the program) President Taras Pidzamecky met with Davenport MP Julie Dzerowicz. She was prepared to champion the request and asked them to include the participation by females in the CUPP internship in the request. They did that and pointed out that in fact in the past several years females outnumbered the males. However, they never received a letter acknowledging the request and did not hear anything more from Dzerowicz.
Frankly, it’s time for the government to step up to the plate and support the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program. And it is something the members of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group and all other MPs who have benefitted from this program should bring to the government’s attention.
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