August 25, 2007

Thursday, August 23, saw another distinguished visitor at the Doukhobor Discovery Centre. Monty Solberg, Federal Minister of Human Resources, dined at the Village Bistro, along with about 30 supporters of the Conservative party. After lunch, a smaller group spent about an hour touring the Doukhobor Discovery Centre and listening to an interpretative lecture by Larry Ewashen, Curator.

As was Senator Pat Carney, the last major political figure to visit the Centre, Mr. Solberg was highly impressed with this outstanding museum.

‘I just had the chance to tour the Doukhobor Discovery Centre and... it explains the richness of the Doukhobor movement in Canada’, he reported in a video statement for the Centre’s archives. He went on to say: ‘Not only did I learn a lot about the history of my own country, I learned a lot about the history of Russia and some of the very difficult times the Doukhobors went through... when they came to Canada, over their 100 history, they really struggled, in some cases against the government, trying to maintain their faith in a very difficult environment. I just want to thank the Doukhobor Discovery Centre for giving me the chance to see what I saw today. It was extraordinarily informative and I certainly have a much better understanding of this important past as a result.’