Within the framework of his official visit to Canada, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Tuesday met with the Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney.
Having expressed gratitude to Canada for stable support of formation and development of our statehood, and for being the first country in the Western Hemisphere to recognize Ukraine’s independence, Volodymyr Rybak stressed that our countries are connected not only by active political relations and economic interests but also by inter-personal contacts and cultural ties, as over a million Ukrainians live in Canada.
Volodymyr Rybak stressed that an important direction of bilateral cooperation development between Ukraine and Canada is humanitarian cooperation, particularly its scientific and educational component.
‘Scientific and educational sector has all chances of opening a new page in Ukrainian-Canadian bilateral relations,’ he said noting that a few days ago representatives from Ukrainian universities participated in the Annual Conference of the Canadian Bureau for International Education.
‘For continuation of a fruitful dialogue in this sector, delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is accompanied by the group of rectors from leading higher educational establishments of Ukraine,’ claimed the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament.
He expressed his confidence that cooperation in this sphere will be promoted by implementation of the Memorandum of youth exchanges, concluded between Ukraine and Canada in 2010.