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Member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Stéphane Bergeron

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
  • Bloc Québécois
  • Montarville
  • Quebec
  • Voting Attendance: 58%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $115,582.71

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 20 - Jan/31/22
Mr. Stéphane Bergeron (Montarville, BQ)
  • Jan/31/22 7:08:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister rightly pointed out that 100,000 Russian troops have been amassed on the Ukrainian border. If that sounds familiar, it is because last winter and spring there were also some 100,000 Russian troops amassed at the Ukrainian border. As members know, I am vice-chair of the Canada-Ukraine Friendship Group, and the chair of this group is here today. On April 22, 2021, representatives from the foreign affairs and defence departments graciously briefed us on the situation. Last week, these same departments gave us another briefing, and I must say that it was certainly similar to the first one. I asked if there had been any news since then, and the representative from foreign affairs candidly told me that, aside from troop movements at the Ukrainian border and in Belarus, he did not really know. My question for the minister is the following. The government decided to join the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia in withdrawing non-essential personnel from the embassy, while our other NATO allies did not. Does this decision not stoke the fear of further aggression in Ukraine, which even the Ukrainian authorities have denounced? Even the Ukrainians are calling for this to stop. They are struggling under the weight of these tensions.
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Context: House Hansard - 20 - Jan/31/22
Mr. Stéphane Bergeron (Montarville, BQ)
  • Jan/31/22 6:55:28 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the Prime Minister for his remarks. The government keeps repeating that it favours a diplomatic approach to resolving this potential conflict, but apart from crying wolf, what is Canada actually doing? In my view, diplomacy means dialogue, but there does not seem to be any dialogue with either side. Just last week, the Russian ambassador said that Canada-Russia relations are dysfunctional, to say the least. Apart from an exchange between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister Lavrov in Russia, which took place several months ago, the highest level of dialogue was with him, the ambassador. The ambassador himself said that the Prime Minister should speak directly with President Vladimir Putin to discuss a solution to the problem, as did the French president, Emmanuel Macron. According to the ambassador, Russia would even be willing to lift the entry ban that has been placed on the Deputy Prime Minister if she travelled to Russia for this purpose. What is the Government of Canada actually doing on the diplomatic front?
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