June 3, 2016

Vyshyvanka Day celebration by prime minister and Liberal MPs goes viral

More

Office of MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Liberal ministers and MPs, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko, and interns from the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program proudly wear vyshyvanky.

OTTAWA – May 19 was a celebration of color in the House of Commons. Over 20 Liberal Members of Parliament, including the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, donned traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts to celebrate international Vyshyvanka Day.

A number of firsts were set.

Two Cabinet Ministers, Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr and Minister of Small Business and Tourism Bardish Chagger, became the first Canadian Members of Parliament to answer questions during the live televised coverage of Question Period while wearing colorful Ukrainian embroidery.

Following the Question Period, Liberal Cabinet Ministers Chrystia Freeland, Ralph Goodale, Kent Hehr and MaryAnn Mihychuk gathered with 14 Liberal MPs (Randy Boissonnault, Bob Bratina, Terry Duguid, Julie Dzerowicz, Peter Fonseca, Yvonne Jones, Kevin Lamoureux, James Maloney, Marc Miller, Kyle Peterson, Don Rusnak, Sven Spengemann, Borys Wrzesnewskyj and Kate Young) for a vyshyvanka group photograph.

As this assemblage of Liberal MPs waited for the arrival of vyshyvanka-clad Prime Minister Trudeau, the Ukrainian Canadian MPs broke out into song with a boisterous rendition of “Vziav By Ya Banduru.”

Unbeknown to the MPs, their impromptu performance of the Ukrainian song was recorded and became a major news item in Ukraine. MP Wrzesnewskyj’s related Facebook posts on social media went viral with about 70,000 views.

As a result of the MPs’ performance of “Vziav By Ya Banduru” going viral on social media, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj, the chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group (CUPFG), laid down the gauntlet and issued a public challenge on behalf of the 89-member CUPFG to members of the Verkhovna Rada. In a letter addressed to the chair of the Ukrainian Parliament, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj challenged the Ukrainian national deputies to don their vyshyvanky, gather on the stairs of the Verkhovna Rada and sing an impromptu verse of “Vziav By Ya Bandura” or, to make it fair, Stompin’ Tom’s “The Hockey Song.”

To up the ante of the challenge, during his conversation with Ukrainian Parliament Chair Andriy Parubiy, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj personally wagered a case of Canada’s world-famous ice wine to see whose choral rendition is better.

When contacted by media, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj stated, “It is possible to build international goodwill using non-traditional forms of diplomacy. What better way than a sing-off in vyshyvanky amongst parliamentarians in Canada and Ukraine.”

Source: Office of MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj

Comments are closed.