The Parliamentarians-Scott Reid, MP

Rory J. Koopmans, B. Admin.
#6, 14504-108 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5N 1G8

January XVIIth, MMXV

Hon. Gordon Dirks, B. Ed., M. Ed., MLA
Minister of Education, Progressive Conservative, Calgary-Elbow

Dear Gordon:

In Committee, Scott Reid, MP talks about being proud of Ukrainian-Jewish heritage but also how worrisome the Ukrainian-Russian situation is & how he is stressed over if it isn't resolved, many innocent families could get killed. All in a stupid political chess match over territory disguised as a front for protecting Russians in the Crimea region.

"I have a Ukranian-Jewish ancestor; my great-grandfather came from Ukraine & went to Russia & Poland in the early decades of the XXth (20th) Century before the Russian revolution, and later emigrated to Canada & thereby spared his descendants the Holocaust, which came XX (20) years after that. I would that this is the kind of difficulty we can have. The Crimea in particular, which is the focal point of this, not only has strategic importance because Sevastopol is a naval port, but also has an ethnic mix that contains some Jews there as well, though it is a very small population."

Number CCXLIII (243),

Rory

Source: Scott Reid, MP, Conservative, Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington.