Slava Ukraini

We stand with the Ukrainian people who with unwavering resolve are fighting back against a tsunami of violence, imperialism, and deceit. We watch in real time as lives, communities, and landscapes are destroyed. For nothing. For greed, ego, and conquest.

We remember that this kind of expansionist destruction is not new or unique.

As children, parents, and grandparents lose their lives with each passing day all across Ukraine, we remember those who have died in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. As the breathtakingly beautiful buildings of Kyiv are bombed, we remember the Buddhas of Bamiyan, the Great Mosque of Aleppo, and Temple of Bel at Palmyra. What we lose to war is indescribable.

We remember the lives, communities, languages, cultures, traditions, buildings and landmarks lost – historically and today – to colonization.

We reflect on the commonalities between all of these conflicts and conquests. We commit to holding our governments now, and in times of relative peace, to account for past atrocities, for a global economic system that often does not value human life, and for the global relationships and transactions that we are entwined in today that risk future wars.

We urge the Canadian government to treat all refugees with compassion, dignity, and welcome. Canada and Cape Breton are rich beyond measure and only benefit from open borders.

We are transformed by, and in awe, of the Ukrainian people’s love for their homeland, their freedom, and their insistence on a world in which these kinds of atrocities are no longer tolerated.

Slava Ukraini, translated as Glory to Ukraine, was forbidden in the Soviet Union and efforts were made by the Soviet Union and later Russia to discredit it. Today it is a Ukrainian national salute and a symbol of Ukrainian sovereignty and resistance.