“The rise of extremism, including Communism and Marxism, are direct threats to our democracy, social cohesion and values as Canadians,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a statement on Nov. 28.
“This learning will help ensure students are never bystanders in the face of such horrors, understand the danger of totalitarianism and help safeguard fundamental Canadian values of freedom and democracy over communist extremism.”
The Holodomor, which translated from Ukrainian means “death from hunger,” was caused by Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin’s collectivization of farms. It took an estimated 4 million lives between 1932 and 1933.
Canada recognized the Holodomor as “an act of genocide” in 2008, declaring the fourth Saturday in November as Holodomor Memorial Day.
The Ontario Ministry of Education says the new addition to the Grade 10 Canadian History curriculum will ensure that students can learn from history and be aware of the “adverse consequences of extreme political ideologies like those from Stalin’s totalitarian communist regime.”
“Students will also learn about how extreme ideologies enabled mass-scale political repressions through widespread intimidation, arrests and imprisonment, along with the impact of this genocide on the Ukrainian community in Canada,” the ministry said in a statement.
The government said it is also providing a grant of $400,000 to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation to support the Holodomor National Awareness Tour and the Holodomor Mobile Classroom (HMC). The HMC is a 40-foot mobile recreational vehicle equipped with hands-on lessons about the deadly famine.
