44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 31, 2022 11:00AM
- Jan/31/22 6:53:04 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am honoured to be able to stand tonight in this debate on the future of Ukraine's ability to protect itself. I appreciate the comments made by the Prime Minister, but at the same time, we know that it was Ukraine's biggest demand of NATO allies, including Canada, for the last four or five years, to beef up its lethal defensive weapons, knowing that at any moment Russia may want to invade Ukraine.
Now we have over 100,000 Russian troops standing on Ukraine's borders on the north, on the east and down in the south. It has Ukraine surrounded. I know that President Zelensky and the embassy here have been asking the Government of Canada to provide lethal weapons. The Prime Minister has been completely mute on this. Why has he not supplied lethal weapons to Ukraine? Is he going to wait until Russia invades Ukraine? By then, it is too late.
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- Jan/31/22 7:05:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to say that it has been incredibly disappointing to see the minister go over empty-handed on her trip to Ukraine. She did, after her return, announce $120 million of financial assistance, which I know is welcome, but we know for a fact that there have been demands from the Government of Ukraine for the last several years for more military help, including the provision of lethal weapons.
We know that one of the very first things that the Liberal government did when it came into power several years ago in 2015 and 2016 was stop the provision of RADARSAT images. The people of Ukraine and the Government of Ukraine could actually see what the Russian forces were doing in places like Crimea and Donbass, which is sovereign Ukrainian territory but is now illegally occupied by the Russian Federation.
When will the minister actually provide the kinetic energy and military might that is required for Ukraine to fend off this potential Russian invasion? When will the Liberals provide those lethal weapons? When will they restore the use of RADARSAT images, which are world-renowned and would really help with the security situation on the ground?
Will they actually stand with Ukraine rather than just offer empty rhetoric and half measures?
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- Jan/31/22 7:58:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on what was just asked. The leader of the NDP just apologized for the hateful comments that came from the member of his caucus for Winnipeg Centre. Will this member be sanctioned for her very callous and hateful comments about the Ukrainian army, as well as the people of Ukraine? Never mind the Ukrainian Canadians who make up a large percentage of her own riding of Winnipeg Centre, including the headquarters of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which is in Winnipeg Centre.
To have one of his members get up and try to label those who are fighting for their freedom today as Nazis and calling them anti-Semitic, to me, is deplorable. I would ask that the leader of the NDP sanction that individual in his caucus.
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- Jan/31/22 8:32:39 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.
I want to make sure I correct the member for Parkdale—High Park, who just spoke. It was the member for Winnipeg Centre who made that tweet, not the member for Winnipeg South. It was a colleague of his, and I know it would be unfair to him to associate him with those ridiculous and hurtful comments by the member for Winnipeg Centre.
I know that all of us here, first and foremost, stand in unity with Ukraine, and I know that we all stand here to denounce the aggressive escalation of actions taken by Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation. We all know that Putin is provoked by weakness. That is why it is so important that we all come together and stand in unison to denounce how the Russian Federation has tried to force NATO's hand, is using Ukraine as a bargaining chip in all of this and is prepared to again invade Ukrainian sovereign territory, on top of the illegally occupied lands that they are on in Donbass and Crimea, territories which we, especially those of us on the Conservative benches, will always see as Ukrainian sovereign lands. I would never acknowledge that they are Russian, even though they have their forces holding the citizens in Crimea and Donbass at gunpoint.
Vladimir Putin has played this game before. It is coincidental that it always seems to happen around the time of the winter Olympics, whether it was the invasion of Crimea after the Sochi Olympics and before that in Georgia and South Ossetia. It seems the Olympics are the trigger for Vladimir Putin to invade a neighbour. Ukraine has done nothing but try to get along with the Russian bear to the north. It has definitely wanted to see more integration with the European Union, with NATO and its western allies.
Those of us who are of Ukrainian heritage are proud of our Ukrainian heritage, and we have always stood up for Ukraine. Luckily, I am an elected member, as many members here are, and I can stand and denounce Vladimir Putin and his kleptocrats in the Kremlin for the disgusting display they are putting on right now, with over 140,000 troops positioned along Ukraine's border. They have troops in Belarus, they have troops across northern Ukraine, right around Kharkiv, down through the Donbass and Rostov-on-Don. Their navy is sailing on the Sea of Asov and of course on the Black Sea, with 30,000 troops in Crimea today. All of that is just sabre-rattling, but we could see a greater escalation.
As a Conservative and a Ukrainian, I am proud that, as was very well articulated by the Leader of the Opposition, it was Conservative governments that recognized Ukraine sovereignty back in 1991. It was a Canadian government under Stephen Harper that started Operation Unifier, that provided the first defensive weapons for Ukraine, that worked with it on reform and trying to de-escalate the situation, because we understood that a strong Ukraine would be a deterrent to an invading Russia. NATO gets that, and that is why NATO has always kept the door open to have an open-door policy with Ukraine as a potential member. Russia is coming forward now with ridiculous demands about trying to increase its sphere of security, trying to get NATO to withdraw troops from neighbouring nations that are already NATO members and saying that Ukraine can never get there.
We know that we have to do more. We have to use Magnitsky sanctions and other economic sanctions to deter Russia now, not after it invades. We know Ukraine wants lethal weapons. The former ambassador of Ukraine to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, also said it needs to have lethal weapons. We need to restore the RADARSAT images that the Liberals cancelled in 2016. We thank the Liberals for what they did in expanding Operation Unifier. It is something we have been calling for since 2019 and 2021, but there is more that needs to be done. The half measures that have been taken so far by the Liberal government have not deterred Vladimir Putin. All they have done is appease him.
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- Jan/31/22 8:38:48 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that was a great trip to go over there and see how our military was working with and training the Ukrainian armed forces and Ukrainian national guard.
I want to thank all those members of the Canadian Armed Forces who, over the past eight years, have been going back and forth to Ukraine and working with them. By training Ukrainian troops, we have not only made them better soldiers, but we have also helped save lives.
We know that more of that has to be done, but that is why we started calling, back in 2018, for a long-term expansion and extension of Operation Unifier. Conservatives have also been calling for, since 2018, us to provide lethal defensive weapons because Ukraine has asked for them. Our other allies have provided them. Why is Canada not doing the same?
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- Jan/31/22 8:40:49 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, our rhetoric needs to be strong. It is one thing that Vladimir Putin understands. There is only one person that is talking about war in Ukraine and that is Vladimir Putin.
However, what we are talking about, what the Ukrainian-Canadian community is talking about, and what the people of Ukraine are asking for is the ability to defend themselves. They are prepared to do the street fighting if Russian soldiers march over the border again to try to grab more Ukraine territory. We want to make sure they have the ability to do to protect their homeland, their families and their communities.
In not providing those lethal defensive weapons, and in only providing empty rhetoric, we have failed them. It is time for us to stand up, do the right thing and stand with our friends, families and allies in Ukraine.
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- Jan/31/22 8:42:50 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I said we should provide defensive weapons. Just to be clear on it, Canada actually approved export permits for a Canadian company selling sniper rifles to Ukraine and we helped facilitate that so that the Ukraine army could actually come here and buy high-quality Canadian sniper rifles to defend their territory. We made sure that those approvals and permits were put in place. We cannot even get that from the government today.
Therefore, I say this: Let us get off our duffs and let us do the right thing. Let us step up before Putin marches across the border, and provide the people of Ukraine with all the tools, whether they are sanctions or weapons, whether it is intelligence or financing, but give them all the tools so they can defend their own territory.
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- Jan/31/22 9:23:34 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the member has been a great, reasonable voice on foreign affairs in our caucus and in this House. I know that he takes what is happening in Ukraine very seriously, as he just articulated. Perhaps he could elaborate.
The world is watching what happens right now in Ukraine. Despots around the world are waiting to see what NATO and the alliance does in response to these threats from the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin in particular. If we are not able to contain this situation and protect Ukraine's sovereign territory and the people of Ukraine, what possibly could happen by other despots who see the position that Canada has taken and other nations as weak?
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