CANORA — Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Canora-Pelly MLA Terry Dennis has been looking for ways to help Ukrainian refugees in his position as Saskatchewan Secretary for Ukrainian Relations.
With that in mind, Dennis led a team which spent four days on a learning trip in Berlin from April 9 to 13, to see first-hand how the capital city of Germany was dealing with the influx of refugees.
“At the time we were there they had over 320,000 Ukrainian refugees in Germany,” said Dennis. “We wanted to meet with the Canadian embassy and also talk directly to the displaced people to see what Saskatchewan government and its employees could do to help in areas such as visas, photos and various paperwork.”
The Dennis team toured a Ukrainian refugee camp housed in the old Berlin Airport building and discovered that the needs of the Ukrainian refugees are many and varied; including food, medical supplies and access to doctors, sleeping bags, housing, employment, bulletproof vests for soldiers, and the list goes on. They are also looking to assist people remaining in the Ukraine who are in desperate need of help.
Dennis is part of SURAC, the Saskatchewan Ukrainian Relations Advisory Committee, which is meeting weekly to meet some of these needs. One of their initiatives is the Sask-Ukraine TK-500 project, which is fundraising to provide fully stocked field trauma kits to communities across the Ukraine to get medical supplies to people who need help the most.
Dennis said one of the saddest stories they heard while in Berlin came from Natalia Makogon, a former assistant manager of the Kyiv Metro underground train. She shared how, in the off hours when the train isn’t running, anywhere from 4,000 to 20,000 people at a time have been using the train station as a bomb shelter since the Russian invasion.
“We left government workers at the Canadian embassy in Berlin to help the Ukrainian refugees with their paperwork and translation, to make sure it’s done properly,” explained Dennis. “The majority of the refugees are seniors and women with young children.”
Dennis said an important goal of the trip was to find out what worked for Berlin, and what they have learned along the way.
“In the early days of the refugees coming in, Berlin had significant issues with the exploitation of the refugees, especially women and young children. It’s an overwhelming situation for them,” reported Dennis. “But since then, they have dealt with the problem through heightened security. They have also had to help the refugees in areas such as: what school to go to, health care, day care, teaching English to refugees, housing and employment.”
Refugees have begun arriving in Saskatchewan, but so far most of those have been privately sponsored by family and/or friends.
“There haven’t been any government flights booked yet, but we’re hoping to change that soon.”
Dennis said there has been an amazing response around the Canora-Pelly constituency from residents who want to help Ukrainian refugees in whatever way they can.
“We just had a call from a lady who wants to set up a fundraising effort in communities across the region,” said Dennis. “People are really stepping up, offering jobs, housing, all sorts of things that will be needed.”
The Government of Saskatchewan, in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan, has invested $335,000 to set up a hub office in Saskatoon to provide assistance for refugees. Anyone who wants to help in any way is encouraged to call 1-888-652-5850 or email infoucc.sk.ca.
Regional centres, which report to the hub office, have been set up in nine communities across Saskatchewan, including Yorkton:
Unit H 132 Broadway Street West
Yorkton, SK. S3N OM4
Phone: 306-783-2777
Online donations can be made at ucc.ca or to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation at cufoundation.ca.
Cheques can be mailed to:
Canada-Ukraine Foundation
Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal
620 Spadina Ave, suite 200
Toronto, ON. M5S 2H4
“Going forward, we want to continue to have people in Berlin, and possibly soon in Warsaw, Poland, to help displaced Ukrainians. We hope to get many of them out of there and get them to Canada quicker, and hopefully to Saskatchewan,” concluded Dennis.
