Date: July 20, 1995
Author: Valentina Krčmar, Thornhill, Ontario
Addressed to: The Honourable Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada
View the Original Letter: krcmar book 2_Part152 162.pdf
About This Letter
Written on July 20, 1995, in the wake of the Srebrenica massacre, this letter from Valentina Krčmar to Prime Minister Jean Crétien delivers one of her most searing condemnations of Canadian neutrality during the Yugoslav Wars.
Krčmar refers to a powerful political cartoon published in The Toronto Sun, depicting the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims by Serbian forces, and uses it as a mirror of moral failure.
“Today The Toronto Sun has printed an excellent comment on the slaughter in Bosnia.”
Her tone is direct and unsparing. She argues that had Canada acted decisively — rather than hiding behind diplomatic neutrality — such images of atrocity would not be necessary.
“If Canada has done its share in stopping the Serbs in their murderous trek all over Croatia and Bosnia, and didn't adhere to its principles of neutrality — because it was always very obvious who the aggressor is and who the victims are — today this Donato's caricature would not be needed in Canada.”
The reference to Andy Donato’s cartoon becomes a moral indictment of Canada’s passivity. Krčmar implies that the image — a commentary on the world’s inaction — symbolizes Canada’s national shame.
“However, since even today Canada is proclaiming its neutrality and looking calmly at the horror of Muslims, who were handed over to the Serbs, this caricature of Donato's is Canada's shame.”
Her concise but devastating letter encapsulates the anguish felt by many Croatian and Bosnian diaspora communities who watched the genocide unfold while Western governments clung to “balanced diplomacy.”
By copying the letter to André Ouellet, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Jennifer May, a senior official in the department, Krčmar ensured her words would not be easily ignored.
This letter stands as a striking example of moral clarity in a time of political paralysis — a moment when one woman’s voice called out a nation’s conscience.
