44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 28, 2022 11:00AM
- Feb/28/22 9:18:41 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, many stakeholders have called for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador from Canada. I am wondering if the hon. member could give us his thoughts on that measure.
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- Feb/28/22 10:50:06 p.m.
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Madam Chair, in 2014, after Putin invaded Crimea, Russia was expelled from the G8.
Should Canada seek Russia's removal from the G20 and possibly the OSCE? What is the member's view of that?
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- Feb/28/22 11:05:03 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I rise today with all members of the House to join in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. This unwarranted attack on a free and democratic country highlights how our security is inextricably tied to that of Europe. NATO and its allies understand the danger of a belligerent Russia that seeks to redraw the international borders of Europe by force. Might cannot make right. Those dictatorial thugs who think they can take other countries by force now know the price they will pay. Canada must strengthen its own defences and renew its commitment to the NATO alliance.
Let us take pause and note the extraordinary courage of the Ukrainian people. They have galvanized the spirit of the entire world. They will never give up and we will always be with them. Defying the expectations of its collapse, Ukraine has kept going. Its people keep on fighting as we speak here at this very moment. History has found the Ukrainian president, and his courage is remarkable to witness. President Zelensky has been subjected to the most intense stress test of character.
Putin, in his hubris, has made a tremendous error: Never underestimate the strength and courage of those who fight for freedom over tyranny, never underestimate the will of the free world to defend those who fight for freedom, and never assume that citizens would support a leader who would reign such terror on their Ukrainian brothers and sisters.
This is a conflict entirely of Putin's own making and every drop of blood is on his hands. Now it is clear he craves war and fears freedom and democracy. Putin thought that in seeking an invasion, NATO would just hand over Ukraine, yet even in that scenario all he could have gotten was internal chaos and civil strife.
I support our leader's call to expel the Russian ambassador. The ambassador should be expelled right now, and the government should recall our country's envoy in Moscow. Our leader is also correct that Russia Today needs to be taken off the airwaves. Foreign state-controlled broadcasters have no business spreading their misinformation in Canada, and I commend Rogers and Bell for making the decision to remove them.
Parliamentarians cannot ignore what is literally and figuratively fuelling Putin's power: oil and gas. We cannot ignore that. The Liberal government has failed to recognize that Canadian oil and gas are vital to Canadian and European security. We need to get new pipelines built to tidewater to displace Russian natural gas. Russia supplies 40% of Europe's natural gas. If supplies are cut, people will not be able to heat their homes, industry will shutter and Europe's GDP will plummet.
In buying Russian oil and gas, Europe has been filling Putin's coffers, paying him the money he needed to build up this brutal army that he is now using to savage his neighbour. No more, I say. No more can Putin impose tyranny and expect to enjoy the economic spoils of the free and democratic world. No more can a leader who has behaved as irrationally as Putin has have that much power over his neighbouring states. No more will we idly stand by.
Canada is the world's fifth-largest producer of natural gas, but we cannot export gas to Europe to assist European democracies because we cannot get pipelines built. The current Liberal government must get serious and realize our energy sector is not only vital to our economy, but vital to our security and the world's security. Moreover, Conservatives are calling on the government to step up for freedom and democracy by allowing visa-free travel from Ukraine to Canada.
Our red lines must be clear. NATO must stand fast. Article 5 must be sacrosanct.
I would like to close with the words of President Kennedy as he addressed the nation on October 22, 1962. He said:
My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out... But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.
...The cost of freedom is always high—but Americans have always paid it....
Our goal is not the victory of might but the vindication of right—not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.
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- Feb/28/22 11:11:12 p.m.
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Madam Chair, let me be perfectly clear: Mr. Putin's word is not worth the paper it is written on.
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- Feb/28/22 11:12:01 p.m.
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Madam Chair, what we all recognize here today is that we have woken up to the tyranny of Putin's Russia, and that affects the entire world. Canada is not immune to that.
We share a border with Russia. Mr. Putin, just the other day, spoke about raising his nuclear arsenal's alert. We have to wake up to the reality of Putin's Russia and do whatever we can to protect ourselves, protect all Canadians, including protecting the sovereignty of our Arctic.
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- Feb/28/22 11:13:10 p.m.
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Madam Chair, again, President Zelensky has shown us all what true leadership is. We have to give him all the support we can and wish him well in his endeavours to protect his country.
I only hope that if Canada ever faced a similar situation that our Prime Minister would act in the same vein.
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- Feb/28/22 11:14:28 p.m.
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Madam Chair, in my brief time here, I was elected in 2019, I have never seen the House come together in such a way. It is really wonderful to see. I sit on the foreign affairs committee. We have been working together as a team to promote Magnitsky sanctions, sanctions under the SIMA legislation, and the whole world has come together to work in lockstep to do the same thing.
We recognize that this is a fight for freedom over tyranny and it is a line that simply cannot be crossed.
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