44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 14, 2023 10:00AM
- Dec/14/23 2:19:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Ukraine is running out of ammunition. President Zelenskyy was in the United States this past week, pleading for more military assistance. However, he was blocked by politicians on the American far right. It is important to realize that Russia did not just attack another country; it launched a full-scale assault on the international legal order. That is because the heart of that order and the UN Charter is the principle of non-intervention. One country cannot just attack another country.
Russia must not and will not win anything, as any such victory moves us dangerously closer to the world as it was prior to World War II: a world where, basically, “might is right”. Voting against assistance for Ukraine, as a certain party in the House has done repeatedly over the last week, shows not only a lack of empathy for the suffering of the Ukrainian people but also a disregard for the principles that have basically kept our world safe since 1945.
This Christmas, let us unite in support of Ukraine. Merry Christmas.
Slava Ukraini.
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- Dec/14/23 2:34:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is shocking, coming from that member, who was himself a member of the armed forces, that last week, he and his party voted against military aid to Ukraine and compensation to the Canadian Armed Forces.
On the subject of Ukraine, let me clarify all of the $1 billion in aid that we have provided to Ukraine: Carl-Gustaf anti-tank weapon systems, 155-millimetre ammunition and armoured vehicles, and we have trained over 40,000 members of the Ukrainian armed forces. We will stand on the side of democracy every single time.
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- Dec/14/23 2:37:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am a farmer and I talk to farmers across the country. They cannot understand why the opposition party would vote against so many programs that assist agriculture across the country.
Also, farmers find it very disappointing and cannot believe that one would vote against support for Ukraine and for democracy. They were ashamed.
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- Dec/14/23 2:54:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives want to talk about deflection, it is because they do not want to talk about the vote they took against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. There is only one member on the other side who has had the courage of her convictions to stand up to the bullying MAGA style of their leader, and that is the member for Lethbridge.
I heard a lot of members try to say that they support Ukraine over the past couple of days, but actions speak louder than words. Just a couple of days ago, the Conservatives voted against Canada's NATO mission in Ukraine. They need to stop deflecting. They should be honest with Canadians about why they are not supporting Ukraine. Is it because there are several members who are MAGA-style Conservatives? It is a question Canadians need to ask.
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- Dec/14/23 2:56:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to food security, we always have to remember that the breadbasket of the world is a country called Ukraine. I am going to use the name of that country deliberately because, when one cannot—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Dec/14/23 2:58:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I use the term “Ukraine” deliberately because, when somebody who aspires to lead this nation is incapable of saying the term “Ukraine” and is calling that nation, which is fighting for its very existence, a faraway foreign land, I find that not just disrespectful to our ally, but immoral.
We, on this side of the House, will stand by Ukraine.
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- Dec/14/23 2:59:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned Ukraine. It was shameful to see Conservative MPs attempt, not once, but five times, to silence the MP for Etobicoke Centre when he pointed out the Conservative voting record against supporting Ukraine.
Former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Kent—
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- Dec/14/23 3:03:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the part that is quite incredible about the position taken by Conservatives under their leader's guidance is that, when they abandoned Ukraine, they were not just abandoning over one million Ukrainian Canadians here in Canada, but countless other east Europeans, thousands if not millions, who are also concerned with pushing back against Russian authoritarianism. Who am I talking about?
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that the hon. colleague wants to discuss Ukraine, because Conservatives have blocked and filibustered on several occasions when it comes to Bill C-57. They have moved concurrence motions several times.
I would also remind the member that I actually think it is really important that the Conservatives reflect over the holidays and perhaps consider changing their position, because it would be really nice to be able to show Ukraine that solidarity and unanimity that the House has always shown Ukraine. I am going to give them the time and space to reflect, to speak to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, to speak to Canadians of Ukrainian origin and to hear from them why this matters and why this is important, so that we can show the solidarity and unanimity that Canada has long been known for, which unfortunately the Conservatives, for reasons that I cannot understand but perhaps because of the right-wing American influence that we are seeing and the MAGA intentions of their leader, have decided not to support, based on falsehoods. Let us let them take the Christmas holidays to do that reflection.
This afternoon, we will continue with the second reading debate of Bill C-58 on replacement workers. Tomorrow, we will proceed with second reading debate of Bill S-9, which would amend the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act, again, another bill that we have not actually been able to debate because the Conservatives continue to move concurrence motions.
I want to take this opportunity to extend my best wishes for the season to everybody who works here on Parliament Hill and to all of my colleagues. I want to express a special gratitude to the employees here in the House of Commons who have done an absolutely tremendous job, even when they were forced to stay here for 30 hours during a marathon vote, which was difficult not just for members of Parliament but particularly for the staff who were forced to work overtime and stay up all night.
With that, I wish everybody in this chamber, and indeed all Canadians, a very merry Christmas and a very happy holiday season.
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- Dec/14/23 6:40:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, absolutely. My colleague for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman is exactly right. He knows very well how things work from the farm gate right to the grocery store.
It is really sad to see what is transpiring in this place with the accusations from the government about support for Ukraine. If this government were actually truly supporting Ukraine, it would make absolutely certain that no products leaving Canada would ever be used against our friends in Ukraine. We see that with detonators. We have seen that with the turbine. We have seen the humiliating incident right here in this chamber when the government hosted President Zelenskyy and we had the unfortunate incident that led to the resignation of the previous Speaker. Hopefully there will be the resignation of the current one.
We will take no lessons from the chaps on the other side. It is time that we actually had a new government in this country to restore our credibility and reputation internationally and to restore some hope to the Canadian public.
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