Hello everyone! My name is Emily Halldorson, and I am the Vice President of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, Winnipeg Branch. The AUUC is a national organization established in Winnipeg in 1918 with the building of the Ukrainian Labour Temple. It was formed by the many progressive Ukrainian immigrants who wanted an organization that served their cultural, educational, artistic and social aims. The organization continues to be the progressive wing of the Ukrainian community, standing in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Indigenous Canada, Palestine, Venezuela, Cuba, and around the world, who are fighting for peace, justice and human rights, and the ability to survive and thrive. We do our best to offer a space for these communities and others, a space for organizing and celebrating here in Winnipeg at the Ukrainian Labour Temple, our little home in the North End.
In 2024, I had the honour of taking part in the 30th Che Guevara Volunteer Work Brigade. We were welcomed by the Cuban people with love and affection, and given the opportunity to see what the revolution made possible, and what life can look like without capitalist greed. One moment that sticks with me is when we visited a home for children without family support. The parents of these children were dead, incarcerated or otherwise unable to care for them. A member of our group had grown up in the child welfare system here in Canada, and I will never forget her impassioned remarks about how the Canadian system paled in comparison to what she saw there in Cuba. We truly do not take care of each other like the Cubans do.
In fact, not only do Cubans take care of each other, they take care of others. Cuba shows a true spirit of internationalism, which is essential to our future beyond capitalism. As many know, Cuba educates doctors from around the world, providing free high quality education which enables these students to return to their countries of origin and provide lifesaving care for people truly in need. Some of you here in Winnipeg, like me, have taken aid to students from Gaza who are studying in Havana, and gotten the chance to meet these inspiring individuals, and are still in contact with them. In a recent Whatsapp conversation, one of them told me that with the recent escalation of the blockade, even their ability to continue to give back to the people of Cuba has stopped, as surgeries and other procedures have ceased, and they are only called in to the hospital periodically.
I want to reaffirm that the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians stands firmly behind Cuba, and the Cuban people. On February 8th, we released a statement to that effect, and we have been in contact with all federally elected officials to express our position in this regard. We will always stand with Cuba.
Our organization has a long history of support for Cuba including promoting tourism to Cuba. Many of our members have travelled to Cuba many times, and a number of us had trips planned which have been affected by the recent decisions by Canadian airlines to suspend flights to Cuba. Myself and my husband were very much looking forward to taking our 11 month old son on his first trip, to Cuba of course, and we would be there now if it was not for the decisions of those airlines to suspend service, to the detriment of the Cuban people who rely on tourism from Canadians to support their economy. I wish I was in Cuba right now demonstrating my solidarity with the people in person, but instead I am speaking to you at this rally.
I love Cuba. Cuba is not perfect, but Cuba shows what could be. Cuba provides hope in a bleak and desperate world. Cuba shows how we can love and support each other and raise each other up, across borders, across cultures, and across the world. As our recent AUUC statement was aptly titled, “Cuba has stood with the people of the world! We must now stand with Cuba!”
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