August 21st in Victoria: Formal event held in the Legislature Building yet the mood was relaxed. Excellent leadership from the combined team of the honourable Raj Chouhan, Speaker of the Legislature and Konrad Kobielewski of the Canadian Polish Congress.
Apparently this event hosted by the Canadian Polish Congress with 25 people in attendance was considered quite emotional compared to the events in two previous years. This was the third time Raj Chouhan hosted a Black Ribbon Day commemoration.
Certainly the first speaker, Dr. Bozena Karwowska of UBC, set emotions alight with her personal account of being a member of the Polish Underground in the early 1980's while trying to also care for her newborn daughter while her husband was in jail for his anti-communist activities. She began by stating that this was the first time she spoke about those experiences publicly as it had previously been too difficult psychologically for her to do so.
Helgi Leesment represented the Estonian community at the request of the Vancouver Estonian Society and referred to that type of situation without knowing previously the content of any speakers. It turned out to be a suitable follow-up. The entire program had a seamless unified air about it.
August 23rd in Vancouver at Meie Kodu:
Stronger Together: Vancouver’s Baltic Communities and Guests Mark Black Ribbon Day. On Sunday, August 23, 2026, Vancouver’s Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian communities united at the Estonian Church and Community Hall to host a Black Ribbon Day and Baltic Way remembrance. Reflecting a shared commitment to the ongoing fight for freedom, the event also welcomed guests from Ukraine, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Myanmar.
The day began with a beautifully arranged church service led by Pastor Andres Rebane with guest speakers including Alar Olljum, Estonian diplomat, and various representatives from Lithuanian, Latvian and Ukrainian communities. Designed to be deeply inclusive, the service reminded everyone of the vital importance of gratitude. A fantastic turnout of 50 attendees filled the church, which was followed by a lovely community luncheon led by Viivi Alexander with contributions from Baltic community members and lastly a flag parade around the city block.
Black Ribbon Day is an International Day of Remembrance for victims of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Gathering representatives from across the Baltics, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Myanmar underscored a vital truth: the need to reject extremism, intolerance, and oppression is both global and urgent. The deeply moving personal stories shared by the speakers reminded everyone that while many have made the ultimate sacrifice for democratic values, the struggle for freedom is far from over. Together, our communities stand united because we are stronger together.
August 23rd in Vancouver at Sunset Beach: The Ukrainian Independence Day celebration at Sunset beach on Sunday where Latvian and Estonian representatives gave a short speech where we reinforce how we stand with Ukraine and are grateful for their sacrifices to withhold shared vales of freedom & sovereignty.
Black Ribbon Day event Hall of Honour, Legislative Building, Victoria, BC 2026-08-21 – Helgi Leesment’s Speech
I bring greetings to all of you on behalf of the Vancouver Estonian Society and the Victoria Estonian community, and thank the Honourable Raj Chouhan, speaker of the BC Legislative Assembly and Konrad Kobielewski of the Canadian Polish Congress, for hosting and organizing this Black Ribbon Day commemoration.
As you may be aware, Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million, is a staunch supporter of democratic values, having suffered much under foreign rulers for over 700 years. This is one among the myriad reasons that Estonians world-wide and the Estonian government stand strong with Ukraine. “Strong” in the case of the Estonian government, means a total of €1.41 billion, not million but billion, worth of support for the period 2022-2027. Over the same time period, Estonia has hosted approximately 71,000 war refugees from Ukraine. Currently there are 29,000 refugees residing in Estonia.
Getting back to ancient Estonia, after those 700 years of drudgery, the “people of the land / maarahvas”, finally gained independence as a nation in 1918, becoming a member of the League of Nations in 1921. It held diplomatic representation in many countries until 1939, when the implementation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact initiated the loss of Estonia’s independence.
As we heard from the previous speaker, that Pact of 1939 precipitated long term catastrophic tragedy and hardship in all the affected countries of Europe. To this day, despite Estonia regaining independence in 1991, neither it nor the other nations as a whole, nor the survivors and their descendants, have yet fully recovered from all the physical and psychological damage inflicted.
It is as important to recognize loss as it is to recognize gains and success. Black Ribbon Day recognizes the loss aspect for those of us present in this room today and for millions of our relatives, friends, compatriots elsewhere.
The idea to commemorate the signing of the infamous Pact and to call it “Black Ribbon Day” was conceived by a group of young Estonians in Toronto in the early 1980’s. Incidentally, the coordinator, Markus Hess, eventually received various major awards, including a Gold Cross from the Republic of Poland. By 1985 the group had gained support for Black Ribbon Day from other affected ethnic organizations across the country and internationally. Thus, on August 23, 1986, the first Black Ribbon Day demonstrations were held in 21 western cities, including Toronto, Ottawa, Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Stockholm Sweden, Perth Australia and London England. Over the years, the idea continued to expand, also reaching Vancouver and Victoria on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
And here we are today, a gathering of individuals many of us have not met previously, yet we all share the same sense of loss. Our related concern is the current world order, or rather disorder, which in selected ways resembles some conditions around the time of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Hopefully, we each make an effort from time to time, as appropriate, to alert various public officials, our friends and colleagues of the potential huge scale disaster, if defensive steps are not taken while possible.
Note: Canada officially recognized Black Ribbon Day by parliamentary resolution in 2009, around the same time the European Union designated August 23 as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.
