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House Hansard - 88

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 14, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 88 - Jun/14/22
Mr. Alex Ruff (Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, CPC)
  • Jun/14/22 6:00:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come back tonight and question the Minister of National Defence or the parliamentary secretary and follow up on a question that I asked on March 22, a number of months ago, about the fact that the people of Ukraine are fighting for their freedom, their democracy and even their lives. They have asked for more help from Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces, as I highlighted in that question for the minister in March, is in the process of divesting many of its armoured vehicles, such as the Coyotes, the M113s and the Bison ambulances, and replacing them with the current armoured combat support vehicle project. My question for the minister at the time was whether these vehicles will be donated to Ukraine, and if so, when. I am confident, having worked with the parliamentary secretary and in getting to know the minister well, that they have the answers. They have had a couple of months to dig up the answers and know this. There were already sources in the news recently talking about the fact that the Government of Canada may be willing to donate 40 Coyote vehicles to Ukraine. This is good news. My question is, what about the hundreds more? We have more Coyotes and more LAV IIIs. In fact, one thing that is absolutely critical to Ukraine is Bison ambulances. These are great vehicles. They are fighting a war, and later I will get into the reason these armoured vehicles are that much more important. The question that I am hoping the parliamentary secretary or the minister will answer tonight is this: When can Ukraine expect to receive these critical vehicles that Ukrainians need, as they are fighting for their lives against this illegal invasion by President Putin? This was highlighted again just yesterday by the Ukrainian MPs who are here visiting Canada. One was on Power & Politics yesterday. The Ukrainian member of Parliament was asked whether Canada has provided a response to Ukraine and when they can expect these vehicles. I was flabbergasted to watch that interview and understand that no, Ukraine is still waiting for a response from the government on when it can expect those armoured vehicles. These are vehicles, as they rightly know, that Canada is not using. They could be there to support Ukraine and save lives. There is also ammunition. I do give the government credit, as it has donated 155 millimetre howitzers, artillery pieces that are critical, but Ukraine needs the ammunition. Anybody watching the news knows they are going through this ammunition at a critical pace. To finalize the importance of this, I note that I read a professor's paper earlier today that talked about the famine that is going to come out of this war, the world famine, and the backlog that is occurring with the blockades that the Russians are adding against Ukraine. This is something Canada should be doing more to resolve. I will quote the final paragraph of that paper: “Canada's inability or even unwillingness to be agile during this unprecedented crisis puts us into the back row of reliable nations. It is a paralyzing combination of fear, bureaucratic stagnation and a crippling lack of creativity that holds us back and forces us to watch our hard-won value system circle the drain. Hundreds of millions of people are at risk because of the Putin regime's actions. What is Canada going to do about it?”
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Context: House Hansard - 88 - Jun/14/22
Mr. Alex Ruff
  • Jun/14/22 6:08:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, first off, I offer my congratulations to the member for Milton for his promotion, in my view, to become the parliamentary secretary of defence, as I guess that is why he is answering the question tonight. The parliamentary secretary failed to answer the question. It is the same question I asked the minister three months ago, and it is almost the same response. I do not need a history lesson, nor does anybody in this House, nor Canadians. We can all read the news. We know what Canada is doing, but what Ukrainians need is armoured vehicles. This is what they have asked for and, as confirmed as recently as yesterday, the government of this country has not even given the Ukrainians the courtesy of responding as to when they can expect to get those armoured vehicles. Ukraine is in peril. People's lives are in danger. Why can Canada not simply give old armoured vehicles to Ukraine?
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