Hon. Marilou McPhedran: Honourable senators, I wish to ask the Leader of the Government in the Senate a question about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

What we know is we are seeing that innocent Ukrainian civilians need more support to face the brunt of a vicious world leader defying international law, and the unequal sympathy and treatment that Western countries, including Canada, have shown refugees from other conflict zones.

Minister Sean Fraser told us Canada is ready to welcome Ukrainians and that “there is no limit to the number of applications.” We are seeing this disparity between 43,000 Ukrainians and around 16,000 Afghans coming to our country. We have heard unpalatable discourse explaining that this has to do, essentially, with systemic racism.

Senator Gold, how does the government justify the vastly disparate treatment and outcomes in Ukrainian and Afghan resettlement efforts?

Hon. Marilou McPhedran: My question is to the Government Representative in the Senate. Russia added to its naked, illegal aggression against Ukraine a threat to use its nuclear weapons, and few doubt that the megalomaniac is capable of such massive annihilation. My question is about Canada’s weak silence in the face of this particular threat. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey all host U.S. nuclear weapons. Twenty‑six countries joined the U.S. and those five hosts to endorse the possession and use of nuclear weapons on their behalf as part of defence alliances, including Canada as a member of NATO.

Senator Gold, the Government of Canada was not even in the room for negotiations that led to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or TPNW, that was activated by sufficient ratifications in January 2021. In a few months, the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW will be hosted by Austria. Will Canada at least be an observer at that meeting along with other NATO members such as Norway?