The Alberta Government is creating a new task force to find ways to support Ukrainian evacuees with financial, physical, and spiritual needs.

Up to this point, the government has committed $23 million toward supporting Ukrainians, and Premier Danielle Smith said this is just one of many ways the province will look to continue supporting Ukrainians.

“Ukrainian people were among the first to move to Alberta and make a life here and now hundreds of thousands of Albertans of Ukrainian descent call our province home. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Albertans have opened their hearts and homes and provided support through donations and humanitarian aid. This new task force is yet another way Albertans stand with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people," Smith said.

The task force will be chaired by Jackie Armstrong Homeniuk, parliamentary secretary for Ukrainian Refugee Settlement. It will also include:

  • Ed Stelmach, former premier

  • Sally Mansour, non-profit executive and emergency management specialist in the non-profit sector

  • Kevin Royle, firefighter and Firefighter Aid Ukraine project director

  • Carol Slukynski, founder of Helping Ukrainians in Fort Saskatchewan

  • Vitaliy Milentyev, chairman of the supervisory board at the National Depository Ukraine

  • Jenn Schmidt-Rempel, councillor, City of Lethbridge

This task force plans to hold roundtables across the province to hear directly from the Ukrainian community, and will find ways to provide both immediate and long term recommendations in its final report.

Alberta is home to more than 369 000 people of Ukrainian descent.

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@strathmorenow.com  

 

Related Stories