44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 3, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/3/22 10:31:13 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, it is my honour today to second the motion brought forward by my colleague from Halton Hills. I stand firmly with the rest of my party in condemning the actions of Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime against our allies in Ukraine, our democratic friends in Ukraine. Here in Canada, there are 1.3 million Ukrainian descendants. They are one of our most important allies in the world, and we need to stand with them strongly at this point in time and make sure that we speak and act accordingly so that this does not continue, as much as we can.
The other day I heard from a friend who has a cousin who is in Ukraine. She was here in Canada for 20 years, but she chose to go back to Ukraine because she retired. She had an inheritance there in a small house that she got from her family, so that is where she retired. That house was destroyed earlier this week by a tank. Her name is Luda and now she is in hiding. Luda's family is asking that we quickly allow 200,000 refugees to come from Ukraine, at least temporarily. We have seen the backlog at the border with Poland. They are not going to be able to shelter all of these refugees alone. We need to help. Canada needs to help and quickly.
Rex Tillerson, former head and CEO of Exxon Mobil Oil, one of the world's largest oil and gas producers, said in 2014, when Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine, that they didn't take sides in international conflicts. That is an absurd statement. We need to know what side of humanity we are on. There is no commodity, no dollar earned, that is more important than the lives that are being trampled on by Vladimir Putin. Rex Tillerson's words represent the decline of western values to the point where nothing matters more than money. This needs to change immediately. The evidence is clearly at our doorstep.
I have heard the meek calls from world leaders saying we cannot disrupt Russia's oil and gas exports for various reasons. First, it will cause a spike in oil prices that will cause financial hardship in the world.
That is ironic considering the intent of all of our various tax measures on the oil and gas industry: excise taxes, royalties and carbon taxes. That one is going to escalate by 25% in less than a month in Canada. These are all designed to do exactly that: to make the consumption of hydrocarbons more expensive so that people believe that the expensive alternatives are more palatable. I suppose the message is to make it more expensive just on our own terms, but inaction to disrupt Russia's trade in oil and gas in the world is going to have some financial consequences on those countries that have chosen to have the resources supplied by Russia. This will cause inflation. There is no doubt. Just as every other input increasing prices in oil and gas impacts inflation. We are experiencing significant inflation.
Second, Europe's economy is dependent on the supply of Russian natural gas. That is also a choice that has been made, in spite of the danger that was always evident of having such a large portion of energy supply coming from an unpredictable and despotic regime. Yes, jobs will be impacted.
Third, Europeans will freeze at the end of this winter. Yes, the absence of natural gas delivery to Europe will cause some discomfort, some of which we have already seen as energy prices have skyrocketed in Europe this year. Europe is entering a period of energy poverty, and it has always been looking for a quick fix. It turns out that the impacts of being overly reliant on Russian gas supply is not the quick fix that leaders without foresight envisioned or ignored, with its own consequences.
There are many consequences, but for succinctness let us put three consequences briefly together. Higher costs for hydrocarbon energy is something that we in the west have been manipulating higher through government action for years, but higher costs suddenly will cause inflation, hardship and choices. There is also economic displacement. European factories will need to adjust and some will shut down as the cost of energy becomes prohibitive. Again, we in the western world have been offshoring our jobs for years to parts of the world with lower environmental standards and lower labour standards. On heating for homes, there is going to be some discomfort.
Let us compare these three hardships that I have just outlined here to what Luda is experiencing in Ukraine right now.
A country is being destroyed. There is no economy or jobs that will matter in the midst of a shelling war. Luda's home was destroyed by a Russian tank. The juxtaposition is stark and the world is soft-pedalling our response to Russia because we need its oil and gas. The irony is stark. Where do we draw the line here, after Ukraine, when Poland or Moldova is in Russia's sights? We need to collectively act now and ensure the entire world rejects Russian commodities. Such is the cost of tyranny, which we have been ignoring for years. The Canadian government has been a willing part of this abject shift. Dollars have flown to Russia because of the government's regard for Canada's resource industry.
In the last seven years, oil production in Russia has gone up by a million barrels a day. Gas exports have gone up 35% from Russia. Disdain for Canadian resources has led oil and gas exploration elsewhere, including the world majors. Shell and British Petroleum have just recently decided they would extract themselves from Russia, losing $20 billion and $25 billion respectively in the process. However, the largest beneficiary, particularly for the flow of capital, has been Russia, which has profited with hundreds of billions of dollars because of choices such as the ones the Liberal government has made.
These are choices. All of these choices have consequences, the consequences of curtailing Canadian oil and gas development through various ill-advised methods has led to the void being filled by less transparent regimes, primarily Russia. Our naive policies have put hundreds of billions of dollars into the pockets of a despotic regime. This week I asked the government to actually curtail oil imports into Canada from Russia, and it said we had not imported crude since 2019. Subsequently it recognized there is more to oil than crude and did suggest, on which I think it will follow through, cancelling all crude oil imports. I hope that happens immediately.
We have helped finance, through this transfer of money, a military buildup in Russia. Our military has shrunk. We do not meet our international obligations from a military perspective. I remember a song by a Canadian band from when I was young. The gist of it was that if we choose not to decide, we still have made a choice. This is a choice we have made without any eye on the consequences here. When I ran for Parliament going on two and a half years ago, it was to get pipelines built. There is no better infrastructure for helping the Canadian economy and the world environment than Canadian pipelines delivering Canadian product to markets.
Canadian natural gas production has gone down in the last seven years. Russia's has gone up by 35%, again a juxtaposition that is stark. The west coast had 14 LNG facilities in line to be built in Canada. Now there is one that is being built. In the U.S., in the meantime, seven have been fully built and five more are being built. Think about how we do not get things done in this country anymore, things that will help the world from an environmental perspective, from an economic perspective and, of course, from a democratic perspective.
One of the issues on natural gas is that it is not just a fuel. It is also an input to fertilizer. Feeding eight billion people in the world requires natural gas fertilizer and that is going to continue to be necessary to prevent a crisis at some point in time in the future. Therefore, getting that natural gas to where it is needed for fertilizer is essential.
I spoke last night for 20 minutes with a gentleman named Karil. He is a temporary foreign worker from the Ukraine working in Alberta's oil fields. He was pleaded with me, and he ended up shouting at me and apologizing to me. I felt awful because he should not be apologizing to me. He is from Kharkiv and he has seen his city destroyed. He has seen his family displaced. They are looking for places to stay, and I say I am sorry to him that we cannot act more forcefully here in getting this under control.
We need to act. We need to act quickly and decisively, as soon as we can. Slava Ukraini.
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- Mar/3/22 10:44:45 a.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji.
According to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, about 1.45 million people are still internally displaced after fleeing the conflict in Donbass and occupied Crimea. Save the Children states that children in eastern Ukraine have grown up in conflict for the past eight years, enduring violence, shelling and displacement from their homes. Even before this latest escalation of tensions, 2.9 million people, including over 400,000 children, already required humanitarian assistance.
Does the member not agree that, if Canada is to truly stand with the Ukrainian people, we must focus our energy on humanitarian efforts and not on measures to further exploit land and resources by expanding oil and gas operations?
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- Mar/3/22 12:04:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague across the aisle for his remarks. Natural gas is clearly about defence and security. That is why there has been a raging debate in Europe about Nord Stream 2. It is why Germany just cancelled Nord Stream 2 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is why Donald Tusk, then prime minister of Poland in 2014, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, asked the European Commission to come forward with a strategic framework to address the fact that Russia is intimidating Europe with the use of natural gas. In that strategic framework, the European Commission said that the European Union should partner with Canada in an energy partnership on natural gas precisely to counter Russia's threats in eastern Europe and in Ukraine.
Natural gas produces the nitrogen that fuels the world's food supply. European farmers today are facing a crisis in skyrocketing fertilizer prices caused by natural gas shortages from Russia. There has been a massive drop in fertilizer in western Europe of 10%, and it could lead to serious crop failure and a drop in crop yields this year. It happened a century and a half ago in 1853-56 in Ukraine, in Crimea, during the Crimean War and led to skyrocketing food prices around the world. This is why energy is important. It is not just about defence and security, but also our food supply.
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- Mar/3/22 12:46:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg North.
Slava Ukraini. Heroyam slava. Those words mean “glory to Ukraine” and “glory to the heroes.”
I start with these words, because never have they been more appropriate. A valiant, courageous stand has been taken by Ukrainian leaders, soldiers and everyday Ukrainian citizens in defending their country. They are refusing to leave and refusing to capitulate to the unlawful, illegal aggressor Vladimir Putin.
We have seen babas, grandmothers, taking up arms, we have seen young men and women doing night patrols in cities around Ukraine, and we have seen average residents learning to make Molotov cocktails, all in defiance of an enemy army that wants to take control over Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's ability to govern itself. That is the scene unfolding in Ukraine day after day. It is a scene that has captured the spirit of democracies and democracy lovers around the planet. Nowhere was this sentiment more defiantly represented than when President Zelensky, when offered the chance of an evacuation by American military personnel, said quite famously, “I need ammunition, not a ride”. This is the defiance of a leader who is prepared to stand and fight rather than flee.
I represent thousands of Ukrainian Canadians in this Parliament as the representative of Parkdale—High Park. In better times, we celebrate Ukrainian heritage at things such as the Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival, which takes place every September in my community. Now, my communications with those constituents are very different. They are imploring me to call out Russia and to advocate.
Let me be clear. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Russia unlawfully and illegally invaded the Donbass in 2014, and it is Russia again, entirely unprovoked, that has commenced this horrific, deadly and illegal war of aggression in a further invasion of Ukraine in the hopes of restoring some lost sense of empire for Vladimir Putin.
With respect to the motion before us, I stand unequivocally to condemn Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation for this further illegal invasion of Ukraine. I unequivocally stand with my constituents, and I believe with all Canadians, in solidarity with Ukraine, with Ukrainian Canadians and with Ukrainians who want to live freely, peacefully and with the ability to make decisions about their nation alone and free from outside influence and interference. This is, in fact, the promise of the UN charter crafted in 1945 that has been broken in these past eight days by Vladimir Putin.
For weeks, I and my colleagues have been advocating for a strong response from Canada to this military buildup and, seven days ago, this second unlawful invasion of Ukraine. Those pleas have been responded to. In these past weeks, Canada has been unequivocal in its denunciation of the invasion of the Donbass and its rejection of the annexation of Crimea. We have been very clear that Russia's second invasion, which commenced a week ago, is illegal, unlawful and must end immediately.
We have trained over 33,000 Ukrainian soldiers through Operation Unifier, which I personally was able to observe at their Independence Day on the Maidan in Kyiv in 2018. We have provided the Ukrainian military with defensive equipment worth as much as $35 million and lethal weaponry worth $7.8 million, which was announced over a week ago. On February 28, 100 anti-armour weapon systems and 2,000 rockets were being delivered. Just today, the Minister of National Defence announced a further supply of lethal weaponry: 4,500 M72 rocket launchers and 7,500 hand grenades. We have expanded Operation Reassurance and have put 3,400 Canadian soldiers on standby for mobilization in the NATO response force. We are also providing cybersecurity support to Ukraine's military.
We are suffocating the Russian economy in concert with our allies. We have imposed massive sanctions: 440 of them on individuals and entities including Putin himself, his security council and the oligarchs who surround him. This is extended to Belarusian leaders who are facilitating this illegal invasion. We have removed several Russian banks from SWIFT, putting them back in the dark ages of financial transactions.
We are, at the same time, working to boost the Ukrainian economy with $620 million in sovereign loans and humanitarian aid that now totals $150 million. In conjunction with this, we have provided a matching donation program that has been very well received by the Ukrainian Canadians I represent and those around the country. It is matching up to $10 million in donations that Canadians are offering themselves.
We are assisting those fleeing Ukraine. We have processed 4,000 applications thus far. What I would say on this point, and this is fundamental, is that all those who are fleeing Ukraine for their own lives and safety must be treated equally. I am very troubled by reports of racism and discrimination against Africans and Indians attempting to flee western Ukraine for Poland.
I applaud foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who announced just yesterday the establishment of an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students who wish to leave Ukraine. I applaud him for this humanitarian decision that helps ensure international students, regardless of the colour of their skin, do not become the victims of Putin's war.
Just today, as has come up in this debate, we have announced a new immigration stream with Ukraine to eliminate most of the visa requirements, making travel fast and effective, and to provide things such as single-journey travel documents for those who left at such a pace that they did not even have proper documentation.
We are assisting those who are in Canada to stay in Canada. They can work in Canada and remain here. We have prohibited flights in our airspace. We have banned the importation of Russian crude oil. Bell and Rogers have removed Russia Today. These are important steps.
What I also want to add to this debate is the injection of international humanitarian law. I was very pleased to see the head prosecutor of the ICC, Mr. Karim Khan, indicate that he has opened an investigation into the situation in Ukraine to determine if war crimes, crimes against humanity or both are occurring.
We have seen reports of cluster bombs and vacuum bombs that are very troubling. There are reports of civilians being targeted, and of civilian infrastructure being targeted, such as hospitals. On their face, these would seen to trigger article 8.2, subsection b of the Rome Statute that created the ICC, which says that targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure can be considered a war crime under international law. This is why the chief prosecutor stated in his announcement, “I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine”.
Having prosecuted, prior to politics, the Rwandan genocide on behalf of the United Nations, I know that this is critical. It is critical to bring the perpetrators to justice, but it is also critical that we understand that the evidentiary burden is high and it is vital to gather evidence now: not in the weeks, months or years following this conflict. It is critical to amass that evidence to marshal a prosecution. I applaud the ICC prosecutor for taking this step now and not many months from now.
My personal commitment is directly to my constituents, to Ukrainian Canadians and to all Canadians who are horrified by what they are witnessing daily in Ukraine. I commit to working to ensure that our government is assisting in that evidence-gathering exercise that is so critical to marshalling a successful prosecution of the commission of potential war crimes or crimes against humanity.
I further commit to working with our government to close loopholes so that the removal of Russian banks and the Russian economy from the SWIFT interaction system is comprehensive. We do not need Russians evading the SWIFT system or these sanctions via loopholes. I also commit to advocating for a complete economic embargo of Russia by Canada. This is a necessary step and will further suffocate the Russian economy.
Finally, I commit to working to ensure that our military aid is maintained. Today's announcement is the right and proper one, but where Canada does not have the inventory to supply further anti-aircraft or anti-tank weaponry, I commit to working to help procure that on behalf of Ukrainians from other sources, including other nations and the private sector.
I am going to return to where I began. Slava Ukraini. Heroyam slava. Glory to Ukraine in its defence against this illegal aggression, and glory to the heroes who have stood by so valiantly to defend their homeland and defend democracy, literally, for all of us.
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- Mar/3/22 1:33:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to speak in this chamber. It is an honour to speak on behalf of the people of Calgary Midnapore. I come here today as a proud woman who is one-quarter Ukrainian, so it is also an honour for me to be here today speaking not only for the people of Ukraine, but also for my ancestors, who come from this incredible nation that is so challenged at this time.
When I arrive to this chamber, it is always after giving a lot of thought beforehand to matters of the day, like the opposition motion today. When I wonder about the situation that we find this resilient nation in, the same question comes to my mind that I ask about many of the world's problems and many of the problems we have seen in our nation recently. That question is, how did it come to this? I will give members some insight into that, according to the research I have done.
If we look at an article by Bill Browder in AFP, we will see it says that Russia has “a stagnant economy, the most extreme wealth disparity of any major country, and endemic hopelessness that infects millions of ordinary citizens.” It is not a great place for Putin to begin.
A New York Times article says this:
Mr. Putin has described the Soviet disintegration as a catastrophe that robbed Russia of its rightful place among the world’s great powers and put it at the mercy of a predatory West. He has spent his 22 years in power rebuilding Russia’s military and reasserting its geopolitical clout.
The Russian president calls NATO’s expansion menacing, and the prospect of Ukraine joining it a major threat to his country. As Russia has grown more assertive and stronger militarily, his complaints about NATO have grown more strident.
Bill Browder goes on to say:
Putin also knows that the West has never really held him accountable for his past actions. Since 2008, he has invaded Georgia, taken Crimea, occupied Eastern Ukraine, bombed hospitals in Syria, shot down a passenger plane, and hacked governments and businesses around the world. The West’s response? A few sanctions, removal from the G-8, and the expulsion of a handful of diplomats.
How could this happen? Well, Canada does in fact have a part in this. Let us look to the Speech from the Throne. It states, “This is the moment to fight for a secure, just, and equitable world.” However, what do we see? We see the government's lack of action in Venezuela. There is no clear offer to mediate the conflict. It is ignoring the roles of Russia and China, which are scheming together, potentially, for further action. There was too little aid too late, with Digest Venezuela recently saying that 96% of Venezuelans are living in poverty.
In Saudi Arabia, we saw very similar inaction by the government against a dictatorship and a lack of democracy. Twitter was used to speak against the kingdom following the imprisonment of civil society and women's rights activists. We saw the government's aid with an export permit of 1.5 billion dollars' worth of arms, yet it dragged its heels when it came to Ukraine. It never spoke up in December 2008 with the murder of the journalist Khashoggi.
Let us go to Hungary now briefly, where Orbán's centralized power weakened the rule of law, academic freedom and freedom of the press. The Prime Minister's government refused to take a tougher stance against Orbán. Again I will say that it did not have to come to this.
Leading up to this, Canada should not have ignored its investment in Canada's military. Maintaining our NATO commitment to invest 2% on military spending should have been prioritized, but it never was. The Conservative 2021 platform called for intensifying Operation Unifier, the Canadian Armed Forces's military training and capacity-building mission in Ukraine, supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons and reinstating the provision of RADARSAT imagery.
My colleague who just spoke, the member for Brandon—Souris, indicated that the government has consistently had a lack of vision, a lack of foresight, in the protection of not only Canada but the rest of the safe western democratic world. This also, of course, is relevant when we speak about energy.
Members may have seen the Globe and Mail article by Konrad Yakabuski, who said:
Canada missed the boat during an LNG development boom a decade ago. It must not make the same mistake again.
Yielding to pressure from environmentalists who oppose LNG export terminals and gas pipelines on the grounds that such developments prolong global dependence on fossil fuels, or prevent Canada from meeting its own greenhouse-gas reduction targets, will only end up strengthening the hand of Mr. Putin and his fellow dictators.
Members can see that we are not using this opposition motion to divide Canadians. We are giving Canada an opportunity to help the world and defend the world with the use of our clean, safe natural resources. I wish I could say it ends there, with Canada not having done its due diligence and not having done its work in the world, but it goes beyond that.
Did members know that Russia is currently a member of the International Court of Justice? It is the very international body that may try Russia's leader and the nation for the war crimes we are seeing. Russia also sits on the United Nations Economic and Social Council. How can it be that this dictator is determining economic and social policy between nations for the entire world?
The current membership of the Human Rights Council includes nations such as Eritrea, Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela. I will talk more about these nations momentarily, but they do not have a standard of excellence historically for supporting human rights. Of course, Russia is currently on the UN Security Council too. That is unbelievable.
It is not just Canada that has been derelict in its duty of holding this nation to account. It has stood beside other nations of the world that have let this happen. We saw this most recently with the draft resolution A/ES-11 condemning these actions in Ukraine. It is true that dictators are standing with Putin. It is those of Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria. However, the United Nations, an organization that promotes the safety and well-being of the world, has not done its work here.
When it comes to the world and natural resources, I turn to an article by Stephen J. Blank, entitled “The Balkans and Euro-Atlantic Energy Security”, where he states, “Russia’s objectives in helping to foment this crisis are clear. They entail restoring its energy hegemony and political leverage over numerous European countries.”
In addition, the European Union recently released a report on this, where it stated, “Energy policy is often used as a foreign policy tool, in particular in major energy producing and transit countries.” The commission said:
As part of a revitalised European energy and climate diplomacy, the EU will use all its foreign policy instruments to establish strategic energy partnerships with increasingly important producing and transit countries or regions.... The EU will continue to integrate Norway fully into its internal energy policies. The EU will also develop its partnerships with countries such as the United States and Canada.
In conclusion, Canada has failed by allowing this situation to escalate and allowing this invasion to take place, and it has done so alongside the world. The government's idea, or that of anyone in the House from the Bloc, the Green Party or the NDP, that we are putting forward this motion only for our interests is untrue. We are standing today for natural resources, for the safety and security of Canadians and for our rightful place in the world as a leader. We are protecting the safety and security of the world.
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- Mar/3/22 2:13:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents in York—Simcoe are hearing from family in Ukraine who are suffering as the Russian invasion continues. A letter shared with me reads, “I write this with a heavy heart. We are experiencing more bombing and more communities are being levelled to the ground. Chaos is spreading and many people are dying. The beautiful Saint Sophia Cathedral here in Kyiv is older than Russia itself. How long until a missile destroys it? We're terrified because we don't know where Putin will target next. I'll be hiding in my bathroom trying to sleep tonight. I hope my mother and sister and I can evacuate tomorrow. There are thousands of us trying to flee. I don't know how I can leave my husband, my brother, my father behind.”
These words remind us that the people of Ukraine who live in Berehove, Crimea and Bravia are no different from people who live in Canadian towns such as Bradford, Georgina or East Gwillimbury. Our hearts are with them right now.
Slava Ukraini.
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- Mar/3/22 4:31:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.
Slava Ukraini. Heroyam slava. This translates to “Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes.”
As Canadians, we are united in our disgust and opposition to Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war in Ukraine and the mounting loss of innocent life. We are deeply sympathetic to the struggle of Ukraine’s people for we understand Russia’s military assault is an attack on our own freedoms. This war threatens Europe’s stability. It could be ruinous to the rules-based multilateral system that has existed since 1945, which Canada helped create, and is the basis for our shared prosperity.
We support President Zelensky’s courageous leadership, as well as the heroic counterpunch of the Ukrainian army and civilians who have taken up arms to defend their way of life, a way of life that is similar to our own here in Canada. We are awestruck by the defiance of Ukrainians in the face of Russia’s military might and their willingness to fight, whatever the cost. Canada must continue to stand with Ukraine.
Indeed, the Government of Canada has responded quickly, in conjunction with our allies the United States and Europe, to Putin’s aggression in eastern Europe. Humanitarian and military aid has been promised and provided to Ukraine, punishing economic sanctions have been imposed on Russia and soldiers have been positioned along NATO’s eastern front. As well, the federal government has responded to calls for more action. I, along with many others Conservatives on Saturday, called for the closing of Canadian airspace to Russian air carriers, as our European allies had done. Ottawa soon did, and on Tuesday night Washington closed U.S. airspace to Russian air carriers.
We also insisted that Kremlin-controlled Russia Today television, which broadcasts Russian state propaganda, be removed from Canada’s airwaves. That too happened after Canada’s telecoms acted. After pressure mounted to end Russian oil imports to Canada, the federal government also decided it would ban crude oil imports to our country. This was a symbolic first step since Canadian refineries had not purchased Russian crude since 2019. However, last year’s petroleum imports from Russia totalled approximately $350 million. The Liberals corrected their omission mid-week by including refined petroleum products to the oil ban.
This is all necessary work, but it is not enough. Putin continues to push westward without fear of the consequences. Thus, it is necessary to realize that sanctions do not win wars. Soldiers and citizens with weapons do. What we are witnessing in Ukraine is the attempted overthrow and brutal destruction of an independent nation state.
As we engage in this debate, I know that in churches, train stations and home basements across Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are praying for peace as the sounds of sirens ring out warning of more Russian air strikes. Hospitals, playgrounds and even Babyn Yar, the Holocaust memorial site, have been hit by indiscriminate missile attacks. It is all sickening. Canada must do more to help our Ukrainian friends and allies.
It was in this vein that after Crimea was illegally seized by Putin, the previous Conservative government took military steps in 2015 to better arm and train our allies in Ukraine through Operation Unifier. Today, Ukraine should be provided arms and the financial resources to purchase weapons, especially to destroy tanks and aircraft.
As well, Canada should move quickly to grant asylum to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian aggression just as we did in 1956 when Hungary was occupied by the Soviets, but we must also recognize that what Ukrainians want foremost is arms, not sanctuary. Indeed, when the U.S. government asked President Zelensky if he wanted to be evacuated from his country to avoid being captured or, worse, killed by Russian soldiers, he replied, “I need ammunition, not a ride.” Ukrainians are asking for help to fight Russians and Canada should not hesitate a moment to provide them with whatever weapons they need to protect their home and fight the Russian military.
Here at home, there are more ways for Canada to help. Canada’s natural resources, our abundant gas and oil reserves, as well as minerals, should be mobilized to help Europe escape its dependence on Russia and China. This dependence weakens Europe in the face of Moscow’s aggression and ensures Russia a large market for its resources controlled by its oligarchs. The west must not continue Angela Merkel’s failed legacy a moment longer. Building Canada’s energy east pipeline to Saint John could have helped offset Europe’s dependence on Russian oil. The Alberta-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline could have ended U.S. dependence on Russian oil. This would have made Russia poorer and weaker.
Scuttling these pipelines were policy choices made in Ottawa and Washington, with significant geopolitical consequences. They should be reversed. Canada also is not able to ship our country’s abundant natural resources overseas. We are a trading nation. We have oil and gas to export, but we lack the means to do so. It is past time to build pipeline infrastructure to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and commit to being a reliable energy partner with Europe. The federal government must do whatever it can to advance Newfoundland and Labrador’s LNG export plans. This is because Putin’s ability to cut off Europe from natural gas has strengthened Russia and weakened Europe. Canada can contribute mightily to this strategic challenge with our abundant natural resources, but this will mean ending our federal government’s assault on Canada’s hydrocarbons.
Off the coast of Atlantic Canada, we can also do more. Canada and its partners must eject Russia from the executive management of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization. Russia should not be allowed to oversee the management of waters on the Grand Banks. No country should expect to benefit from or set economic agreements around the world, like lucrative fishing grounds, when it is smashing a nation elsewhere.
Canada is not at war with Russia, but lessons from Ukraine must be applied to our own sovereignty. It is increasingly clear that unfriendly nations do not recognize borders and are willing to act without fear of consequence. Putin has already moved to claim wide swaths of our Arctic territory as his own, including parts of the seabed in Canada’s north. The vast Arctic Archipelago and surrounding waters, along with its many natural resources, are part of Canada’s sovereign territory. To be ready, we must fix our military procurement strategy. Russia has 40 icebreaking vessels that can operate year round. Russia is building an Arctic navy. Meanwhile, Canada can barely patrol our vast Arctic waters year round with a single vessel. We must also quickly modernize NORAD’s early northern warning system and purchase F-35 jets to patrol ours and allies' skies.
President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and illegal war against Ukraine is a wake-up call for Canada. We must assist Ukraine. We must aid Europe. We must be ready to defend our north. We must be capable of asserting our sovereignty. I stand with Ukraine and believe Canada must help with every resource at our disposal.
Slava Ukraini. Heroyam slava.
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