Langley City council has unanimously voted to support the Ukraine.
At their Monday, March 7, the councillors endorsed a motion made by Mayor Val van den Broek to forward a letter of support to the consul general of Ukraine in Vancouver and the provincial and federal governments.
It said that “Russia has invaded Ukraine, a sovereign nation with a democratically elected government; and whereas the City of Langley wants to support the people of Ukraine as well as the residents of Ukrainian origin in Langley and elsewhere, therefore be it resolved that a letter of support for Ukraine be forwarded.”
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Councillor Rudy Storteboom said he normally wouldn’t endorse something beyond the municipal mandate, but “in this case we’ve got a Russian president who is threatening nuclear war and that affects the whole world, including Langley City.”
The Kremlin has raised the specter of nuclear war, reporting that its land, air and sea nuclear forces were on “high alert.”
Storteboom suggested the letter also be sent to the Russian consul general in Ottawa.
“I’m desperately against invading another country,” Storteboom remarked.
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Langley City Mayor Val van den Broek, who is Ukrainian on her father’s side, has spoken at several vigils to decry the invasion ordered by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, calling him a “war criminal.”
Van den Broek has relatives living in the Ukraine, near Odesa and Chernobyl who she has described as “terrified,” but determined to stay.
More than a million Ukrainians call Canada home, and in 2016, about four per cent of people in Canada, who responded to the census, identified as being of Ukrainian descent.
Is there more to the story? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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