“The bonds of friendship between Canada and Ukraine are strong and deep, and we are proud to support Ukrainians in their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous society,” said the Prime Minister. “On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to commend participants in this electoral observer mission and thank Senator Andreychuk for accepting this important role.”
On October 28, 2012, Ukraine will be holding parliamentary elections. Canada and the international community have identified these elections as a key benchmark for Ukraine 's democratic development, given growing concerns about Ukraine ’s commitment to international standards of human rights, democracy and rule of law. This includes ongoing concerns with the imprisonment of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and other members of the opposition.
Canada is sending a total of 500 election observers to Ukraine : 420 of the observers will form part of Canada ’s independent international observation mission, Mission Canada-Ukraine Elections 2012, and will be implemented by CANADEM. The remaining 80 observers will participate as part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly observation missions.
Canada has a long history of providing observers to elections around the globe. Since 2004, Canada has sent observers to four previous Ukrainian elections. This fifth observer mission to Ukraine will be one of the largest deployments of observers that Canada has ever sent to monitor elections overseas.
