44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 28, 2022 11:00AM
- Feb/28/22 9:13:20 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with my good friend, the member for Ottawa West—Nepean.
I rise tonight with a heavy heart for the Ukrainian people whose nation has been invaded by a savage dictator and for all those who value democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Like all my colleagues in the chamber, I am seeing the images coming out of Ukraine. I am watching missiles explode, and Russian tanks and soldiers swarm over places I know and communities of people I have met.
I was an election observer in 2004 stationed in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, only 60 kilometres from the Russian border. This was the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election, rife with interference from Putin and the Russian state, which eventually led to Ukrainians rising up in the Orange Revolution and the election of Viktor Yushchenko in the final round of voting.
I saw first-hand the massive police presence around polling stations and the indisputable evidence of election fraud. I also experienced the kindness of local Ukrainian citizens at the polling stations I visited, and I witnessed their belief that they were participating in an important moment in their country's history.
Years later, Putin began waging a covert war in the same region of Luhansk, as well as in the Donbass, costing the lives of 17,000 Ukrainians. Since that time as an election observer, I have travelled to cities like Zaporizhzhia and Kherson on missions to help Ukraine strengthen its health care systems, where tanks now roll over the black soil of the countryside, which reminds me so much of my home province of Manitoba.
I have spent time in the beautiful capital of Kyiv on that iconic square known at the Maidan in the aftermath of the revolution of dignity, which cost so many Ukrainian youths their lives. My mother's family have their roots in the Lviv region, where young people in their late teens and twenties are now brandishing firearms to fight for their homeland. Like so many in the House today, I am heartbroken about what those families and friends are going through, huddled in basements or subways, fleeing the country, or taking up arms to defend their homeland.
Ukrainians have been fighting Russian aggression for centuries. They have been through some of the darkest times in history. Yes, there will be dark days ahead. However, what I know is that the Ukrainian people have an indomitable spirit, an undying love for their country, their culture and their freedom. They have always prevailed and will prevail again.
Let us be clear. Vladimir Putin's latest act of war on a sovereign nation is not only an attack on Ukraine, but an assault on the rules-based order that has kept global scale conflict at bay for 80 years. It is an attack on democracy itself here in Canada and around the world, and so we must take a stand.
We, with our allies, are indeed taking a stand. Vladimir Putin strives to divide NATO, but he has, in fact, given NATO a renewed sense of purpose and of unity. With the voices of nationalism and populism so loud around the world these days, it may seem that there are few who are willing to defend liberal democracy with their whole hearts, but the people of Ukraine are showing us all that those values of freedom and an open society are worth fighting and even dying for.
The question for us here today is: What will we do to help them? The government has taken strong measures to help Ukraine in concert with our allies and NATO partners. Our government authorized the provision of lethal weapons, which arrived in full and on time, and more are coming. Humanitarian assistance and support for refugees is on its way. As of yesterday, Canada's airspace is closed to all Russian aircraft operators. Alongside our allies, we have announced three sets of severe and coordinated sanctions on Russia and Belarus.
We will continue to impose severe, coordinated economic sanctions, as we call on Russia to reverse course, withdraw its forces and choose diplomacy. Our resolve to uphold the rules-based international order and to support the security of Ukraine, Europe and the world is unwavering.
I wish to end with these words from Mahatma Gandhi. He said:
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it... always.
Slava Ukraini. Heroyam slava.
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- Feb/28/22 9:19:03 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I heard a number of ministers say today that all options are on the table.
Sometimes, we need to talk to our enemies. I know that is a measure our foreign affairs minister will consider carefully. I trust her judgment to make the right decision.
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- Feb/28/22 9:20:40 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as the member mentioned, our Minister of International Development made an announcement that Canada would match up to $10 million of humanitarian aid. I think he also heard, and we are going to hear from the parliamentary secretary shortly, that he was open to increasing that amount.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, through the Canada-Ukraine Foundation has issued an appeal. We are all working in our communities to raise money for Ukraine.
While I have the floor, I want to say that I was at a rally in Winnipeg with 5,000 Winnipeggers, Ukrainian Canadians and non-Ukrainian Canadians, standing up for Ukraine, all pledging to help Ukraine on the humanitarian side, on the military side and on the sanction side.
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- Feb/28/22 9:22:32 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for Victoria, who I serve on the environment committee with, for standing with Ukraine.
We heard the immigration minister stand up in the chamber today and again say that a number of these things are under consideration. We should do everything in our power to help people in danger make it to our shores. We have 180,000 people of Ukrainian extraction and ancestry in the community of Winnipeg. I know that we can welcome them with open arms. Here, they could be in touch with their culture, their language and their religion, and they would find a safe home in Winnipeg.
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