Hundreds gather at Place du Canada on Sunday
Blue and yellow flags were raised and could be seen through the snowflakes as chants of liberty were heard: “UK-RA-I-NA! UK-RA-I-NA! UK-RA-I-NA!”
Michael Shwec, president of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Ukrainian Congress, organized the event to raise awareness within the Montreal community and show solidarity to his compatriots in Ukraine.
“They are under tremendous stress, they’re suffering out there, the country’s been bombarded, all areas of the country,” Shwec said, “and we want to show them that the Ukrainian community of Montreal is definitely behind them.”
Shwec also wishes this demonstration will help unite the Montreal-Ukrainian community.
“Most people here have family in Ukraine and we need to congregate, stay together in our own community to show support to one another,” he said.
His daughter, Adelia Shwec, was also present at the event. “We’re here today because Ukraine believes in peace and a democratic future, and it’s a sovereign country,” she said.
“Our people are dying so the least we can do is come support them at this protest.”
Adelia Shwec denounces the attacks of Putin on her population as hatred towards Ukrainians.
“Our aggressive neighbor wants to destroy all of Ukraine and its people, its identity,” she said.
Ivanna Skotar, a family friend of the Shwecs, agreed. “It’s not part of Russia, it never will be,” she said.
Skotar was also present to show support to her community. “We’re Ukrainian, we wear our hearts on our sleeves,” she said, holding up her Ukrainian flag proudly.
Michael Shwec acknowledged the outpour of support that has come from the Canadian population over the last few days and called on the people to increase the support they can lend to Ukraine.
“The arena of the battle is Ukraine, but it’s really a world problem. Democracy is really at stake here,” he said.
On Feb. 26, Canada and other western allies announced that Russia was removed from SWIFT, a “global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.”
Shwec said this is a good move, but insists on all governments of the world to show support by creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
“If you can stop the Russian bombers from bombing kindergardens, hospitals and civilians then it’ll make a tremendous difference. So, I think that’s really the next step,” Shwec said.
The Canada-Ukraine Foundation already had a team stationed in Ukraine for humanitarian purposes prior to the war. They are scaling up what they usually do to lend a hand to the people trying to evacuate the country and offer support for those staying behind.
“We’re getting ready for immigration to Canada,” Shwec said, “As a community in Montreal, we’re gearing up to help anybody who might want to come and be with us here in Montreal.”
Even though the Canadian government match of $10 million has already been met, the Red Cross is still accepting donations.
According to their website, the Red Cross’ support “could include preparedness, immediate and ongoing relief efforts, long-term recovery, resiliency, and other critical humanitarian activities as needs arise, both in Ukraine and surrounding countries, including supporting populations displaced.”
“At home, you can share the right information with your friends and family, because there’s a lot of disinformation coming out from Russia,” Shwec said.
“He won’t get away with this, it’s ours, it’s our country […] our grandparents fought for this. We’re not handing it over easy, it’s not happening,” Skotar said.
