44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 28, 2022 11:00AM
- Feb/28/22 10:55:17 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley.
I rise today on a very serious issue, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We know that Russia's attack is the most serious threat to rules-based international order since the Second World War. Since 1945, we have not faced something like this. It really threatens the longest period of relative peace and prosperity in modern history and, as a consequence, of course, threatens the security that Canada depends upon.
I think all Canadians have seen in the last number of days the horrific footage on the ground from Ukraine. We know that there are a million Canadians who share direct roots to Ukraine. They have millions of loved ones, friends and family who are on the ground witnessing these horrors. The casualties are mounting, and it is a growing concern for all Canadians. I too share heritage from that area of the world, dating back five generations, so this hits very close to home.
Just a few days ago, actually, I saw an image that just hit me like a tonne of bricks. It was a young woman about my age. She is an opposition member of parliament, much like me, in the Ukrainian parliament. She is a new MP as well. I saw a photo of her that she posted in which she was holding a firearm. She explained that just a few days ago she was, in essence, a normal legislator, just going about her job much like I do. Then, within days, she is learning how to use firearms to defend her nation's security and her people.
To see someone who I relate to on so many levels showing that kind of courage makes me emotional. It hits really close to home. I hope that, if I am ever faced with that kind of horror, I have half the courage that MP Kira Rudik from Ukraine and the people of Ukraine have shown in the last couple of days. The resolve they have shown, and their determination to protect their country and their sovereignty, are one of the most incredible things I think I will ever witness in my time in Parliament. I applaud them for their bravery and their courage.
I will conclude about Kira with something she said recently. She said, “We now have a generation of children who know what war is”. If that does not hit close to home, I do not know what will.
The Conservatives very much appreciate the efforts from the Liberal government in recent days. We do wish that it would have equipped Ukraine with military tools far sooner, but we are very happy to see the efforts is taking now. We have a number of things that we propose could be taken immediately to support Ukraine, and things that we need to seriously be talking about in this House and across the country to ensure the sovereignty of not only Ukraine and Europe, but also of Canada, here at home.
In the immediate term we have called on the government to declare the ambassador to Canada from Russia persona non grata, so it is time to kick him out of Canada. It is time to recall our ambassador from Russia. That is something we can do immediately. That is something we can do today.
We have also asked the government to ensure that it is banning all Russian propaganda from our airways. I do believe that this is starting to happen as well. That is great to see but it needs to happen quicker. Again, it needs to happen now. There is no place for Russian propaganda on Canadian airwaves.
With Russia, it is about action. It has no right to be sitting at international organizations like, for example, the G20 or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. It is time to kick it off of those. It has no right to be on those international organizations.
Also, to support the Ukrainian people immediately, we can see the government implement a visa-free travel regime so that we can bring Ukrainians to safety as soon as possible. I have many constituents in my riding who have family there. We need to bring them to safety.
Then the last two things, which I hope to continue in the question and comment period, are that we have proposed that the government take very seriously and bring forward a plan to focus on Arctic sovereignty and security. We share a very, very long Arctic border with Russia. We are one of the largest land masses in the world, and most of it is the Arctic. Russia has 40 nuclear-powered icebreakers that are equipped with torpedos. Do members know how many Canada has? We have zero. There are serious investments that need to be made.
821 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/22 11:00:55 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, the hon. member and I worked together on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. I very much support seeing the government put more resources into ensuring we have a visa-free regime with which we can bring Ukrainians to Canada to be reunited with their families, to be reunited with Canadians and to bring them to safety.
That is something we can move forward with immediately. The government has the resources. They can put that in place in the coming days.
Another thing we can do to support Ukraine and all of Europe is to ensure our pipeline capacity takes Canadian gas to tidewater so that we can offset Europeans' dependence on Russia for gas. Forty per cent of European gas is dependent on Russia right now. What does that do to countries in Europe that are looking to support Ukraine? They are in a vise-grip from Russia because of the energy it provides those European countries. We can easily offset that by getting our resources to tidewater and by supporting the security of energy to our European allies.
183 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/22 11:02:50 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, one of the things we can do immediately is move to remove Russia from the G20 and from other international organizations. They have no place, having violated the international order, on those international bodies.
Again, I mentioned that we can expand our pipeline capacity to ensure we are offsetting the European dependence on Russian gas. We have gas, if only we could get it to tidewater to get it to Europe. This is something we should be hearing today from the government that it is silent on, as far as I am aware. I would like to hear more from the government on that.
Another thing I would really like to bring into this is the fact that Russia, which, as we know, is a nuclear superpower, has recently raised its own level of nuclear readiness. It is critical that we hold President Putin and the Russian government accountable for this gross violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, but also, at the same time, we need to ensure we are avoiding, at all cost, any escalation or accident between nuclear superpowers. That is paramount.
188 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/22 11:04:36 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, what I think is not viable is having Europe dependent on Russian gas and having our country's own sovereignty and security at the whim of 40 nuclear-powered weaponized icebreakers. I do not really care about the cost. We need to ensure that the security of Canada is first and foremost the priority of the federal government.
60 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/22 11:20:14 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Chair, it is really great to see the very civil discourse tonight. This is probably the most civil I have seen any debate in the House in my few years as a parliamentarian. I thank the hon. member for those efforts.
I would like to ask the member what his thoughts are on Europe's dependence on Russia for gas. What does he feel the impact of that is on Europeans and their ability to support Ukraine? Does he feel Canada has a role to play in providing energy resources to Europe?
93 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
