Hon. Larry W. Campbell: Honourable senators, my question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

I would like to start with the first two lines of a Johnny Cash song:

There’s a man going ’round taking names

And he decides who to free and who to blame.

Leader, as a fine musician, I’m sure you’re familiar with this song. I ask you to consider it in the following context: In 2014, Canada expelled Russian diplomats after the illegal and immoral attack and occupation of Crimea in Ukraine. In 2018, Canada expelled Russian diplomats after the Kremlin poisoned a Russian and his daughter in England.

The world now watches as Vladimir Putin — who will forever be known as the “Butcher of Bucha” — murders, rapes, burns and destroys the citizens of Ukraine. There can be no doubt about this, despite the words of the butcher’s henchman ambassador to Ottawa.

The government asserts that if we expel, the Russians will retaliate and we will lose the ability to gain backdoor information on the situation or, God forbid, lose our ability to be influential. Yet, on at least two other occasions that were horrendous in nature, the government did expel the diplomats.

The invasion of Ukraine is far beyond the horror of these two occasions. The right thing to do is to admit that Russia has systematically committed crimes against humanity and say so. The right thing to do is have our UN ambassador work tirelessly to have this country known as Russia thrown off the Security Council where it has veto power. The right thing to do is to the remove the murderous regime from the United Nations Human Rights Council. But first, when will this government expel all Russian diplomats from our country? I started off by saying, “There’s a man going ‘round taking names and he decides who to free and who to blame.”

Where will the government be on this list? Thank you.

Senator Campbell: There’s a French proverb that reads:

[Translation]

“It is madness for sheep to talk peace with a wolf.”

[English]

If my French is as poor as I believe, it worked. If, as the government says, they fear the Russians will retaliate, how do you explain that Germany has expelled 40 diplomats; France, 35; Italy, 30; Spain, 25; and, in fact, the European Union countries have expelled more than 230 Russian officials since the Ukraine invasion began.

I would suggest that these countries that share close space with Russia will be far more at risk of retaliation than Canada. Are they wrong or is it simply a fact that this government talks a good story but lacks the will or the courage to take action against the diplomats of this murderous regime? Thank you.