Canada's new envoy to Ukraine signals a shift in strategy (08/30/98)

Canada's new envoy to Ukraine signals a shift in strategy

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - A brief address delivered in the past week by Canada's newly appointed ambassador to Ukraine, Derek Fraser, has signaled an apparent shift in Ottawa's foreign relations strategy vis-à-vis Ukraine from a political to an economic focus.

On August 21, the Canada-Ukraine Business Initiative and the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon with Canada's envoy to Kyiv at the Board of Trade in the provincial capital's downtown, in concert with its annual general meetings.

Mr. Fraser's predecessor, Christopher Westdal, had spoken at length about Ukraine's potential as a linchpin in a realigned European order, particularly with regard to cooperation with NATO and other international bodies. The new appointee asserted that his mission in Kyiv would function as an agency to further Canadian business interests.

Mr. Westdal and officials such as former International Trade Minister Art Eggleton, who recently visited Ukraine as minister of defense, had noted that Ukraine and Canada are not major trading partners and are not likely to become such in the near future, even as they expressed Ottawa's abiding interest in Kyiv's political security and sensitivity to the sentiments harbored by Ukrainian Canadians.

Mr. Fraser, on the other hand, drew on his experience as ambassador to Hungary in the recent post-Warsaw Pact transition period. He proudly recalled that during his tenure Canada became "Hungary's sixth largest trading partner, on par with Britain and the Netherlands, and ahead of Japan."

"Let's see what we can do in Ukraine," Mr. Fraser said.

The envoy, who was formally appointed on July 15 but did not arrive back in Canada from his previous posting in Athens until August 20, called himself "an activist," reiterating that he intends "to operate as [the Canadian business community's] lobbyist and agent in Kyiv."

Showing that he had a diplomat's knack for speaking to his audience, Mr. Fraser told his CUBI-CUCC hosts he is from "the Canadian equivalent of Transcarpathia" - British Columbia.

Asked after the luncheon whether Ukraine had achieved a stable presence on the geopolitical map and is entering a new phase of international relations that would enable it to concentrate on trade, Mr. Fraser said he wasn't ready to comment, but did say that "barriers are down, and trade should grow naturally."

But the veteran diplomat added that "it's wrong to simply announce that 'barriers are down' and sit back and watch things happen. We hope to facilitate the process."

He conceded that Hungary has had an easier task in effecting a transition from a centralized to a market economy because it endured only 40 years of Communist domination, while Ukraine was controlled even before the revolution under a largely centralized Russian imperial economic system.

Mr. Fraser has a B.A. and LL.B. from the University of British Columbia (1958 and 1963, respectively) and joined the Department of External Affairs in 1963.

He then served in Saigon, Bonn and Brussels, and was first secretary counsellor at Canada's Embassy in Moscow in 1973-1976. While in Ottawa, Mr. Fraser was director of the USSR and Eastern Europe Relations Division in 1984-1988, as well as acting director general of the International Cultural Relations Bureau.

After his tour of duty in Budapest, Mr. Fraser was director of the Central and Eastern Europe Relations Division, 1993-1995, and since 1995 was the ambassador to Greece.

Mr. Fraser was to depart for Kyiv on August 28.

On August 23, Mr. Fraser attended the seventh anniversary celebrations sponsored by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Toronto Branch at the St. Volodymyr Culture Center in Oakville, Ontario.

Mr. Fraser said he'd worked with the UCC in the past as director of the Soviet relations division, particularly in the area of human rights, and is looking forward to further cooperation. He highlighted his past consultations on efforts to secure the release of Valentyn Moroz and concerning the Vienna review meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

He affirmed that he would follow the course set by his predecessor, Mr. Westdal, and said he looks forward to greeting representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian community in Kyiv. "I extend my invitation to you - next week, next month, next year, in Kyiv," the new ambassador told the crowd.

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