Mr. Chair, the Liberal Party and I welcome this take note debate. Canada has been involved in a significant manner in support of Ukraine in a number of different ways over the past year. It is a good thing for us to meet tonight to discuss the latest involvement, which is the provision of training for Ukrainian soldiers, a measure that we in the Liberal Party have said quite clearly we support.

Speaking very candidly, I would also like to point out, and I am very proud of this, that if we go back to December 2013, it was, in fact, my colleague from Wascana who first brought the need to come to the assistance of Ukraine to the attention of the House. We have done quite a bit since then and I commend the government for it, and we will, of course, be continuing to do that.

It is important for us as members to express why Canada has taken the position it has to provide assistance to Ukraine.

Let me begin with some fundamentals.

We in Canada recognize the sovereignty of Ukraine. It is important to say that. It is a country which is totally free to chart its own destiny. It does not matter one bit that it is a country which at one time was part of the Soviet Union. The past is irrelevant, if I can put it that way. History cannot be allowed to dictate the future. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been an independent and sovereign country. That is a fundamental starting point of this discussion.

Let us start with Crimea. Crimea is part of Ukraine. More than 50 years ago, the Soviet regime under Nikita Khrushchev ceded Crimea to Ukraine, except for the Sevastopol naval base. Crimea belongs to Ukraine, period. I would also add that Ukraine got rid of its nuclear weapons in the 1990s, an act that was supposed to guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integrity. It is clearly a commitment that has not been respected by Russia.

I repeat: Ukraine is a sovereign country that includes Crimea and all its territory, including the eastern part of the country, even though there are people of Russian ethnic origin in this country. No foreign power has the right to violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Ukraine made the decision to turn to the west for economic reasons in order to seek greater ties with Europe. It is perfectly free to do so. These are the decisions that sovereign countries make. President Putin is not entitled to protest such a decision for the simple reason that it might create more competition for Russian exports. Nor is he allowed to invoke the historical past and argue that Russia somehow has a say in such a decision. Nor is President Putin entitled to say that he is coming to the rescue of those Ukrainians who want to remain closely allied to Russia, whether for ethnic or other reasons.

To put it bluntly, it is simply none of his business, and for anyone to invoke historical ties or previous dominance is unacceptable. It is a matter for Ukraine to decide its future destiny because it is a sovereign state.

It is important for a country such as Canada to stand up for Ukraine. That is what we have done with various measures in the past year.

Canada decided to act to show Russia that its actions, beginning with the invasion of Crimea, were completely unacceptable. We all support this decision.

Let us now take a look at the details, beginning with the economic sanctions. Like other countries, including the United States and a number of other European countries, Canada decided to impose economic sanctions on certain Russian citizens, in particular those who were close to the president. These kinds of sanctions may have an effect over the long term, but we must be patient and persistent. Ultimately the sanctions will prove effective, and we have already noted that there have been a number of consequences for Russia. Combined with the drop in the price of oil, Russia’s major export, sanctions are beginning to have a negative impact on the Russian economy.

However, we must continue to be patient and keep Russia isolated. As we know, the value of the Russian currency has fallen on financial markets. President Putin himself recently announced that Russia’s GDP has dropped about 4% this year.

Economic sanctions work. Look at Iran, for example. However, we have to be patient and we have to ramp them up over time so that their effect becomes more and more constraining. No amount of bravado on the part of President Putin can disguise the fact that economic sanctions are having a negative effect on Russia. Eventually, it will become hard to hide from the majority of Russian citizens.

Before leaving the issue of sanctions, it is important to point out that it is not so much the number of people who are sanctioned as it is who is sanctioned. It is for this reason that the Liberal Party of Canada has been for asking for a long time that Igor Sechin, possibly the second most powerful person in Russia after Putin and an extremely close confidant of the president, be added by Canada to the list of sanctioned people. The United States and other countries have done this, and we simply cannot understand why Canada has not yet done so. The same applies to Vladimir Yakunin.

We need to follow our strong rhetoric with strong action. Other measures taken by Canada include the following military and security-related measures: contributing to the NATO reassurance mission; providing Ukrainian forces with non-kinetic military equipment; and what we are discussing today, which is the recent decision that the Liberal Party supports of providing training to Ukrainian soldiers at bases in the west of the country over the next two years.

Some have raised the issue that Canada could end up providing training to soldiers of questionable loyalty. Having spoken to a DND official recently at the foreign affairs committee on this matter, I am not concerned about that risk.

Finally, Canada is also making available RADARSAT-2 satellite data to Ukraine in order to provide it with greater situational awareness of what is happening on its territory.

In addition to all this, Canada made a commitment to providing moderate economic assistance, a loan of $200 million, and we have also opened the door to discussions leading to a possible free trade agreement. The Liberal Party believes it is also important for Canada to eliminate, for the time being, certain tariffs on Ukrainian exports in order to help stimulate Ukraine’s economy.

Furthermore, it is important for Canada to become involved in the process to democratize Ukrainian institutions, particularly in order to help Ukraine get rid of corruption, which is a major problem. We must remember that Ukraine does not have a long-standing democratic tradition.

Before I conclude, let us talk about diplomacy.

While the Prime Minister's strong words to President Putin at the G20 Australian summit may have made us feel good, it is important never to lose and never to close the door to diplomacy and negotiation. This is what has effectively happened between Canada and Russia. While our position may be clear, solutions are never found without diplomacy and discussion, even if those discussions are difficult. Angela Merkel and François Hollande understand this and they continue diplomatic efforts.

I hope that we in Canada will also be part of future discussions. Otherwise, we remain somewhat on the sidelines in helping to find any possible solution.

Marc Garneau

Transcript

Government Orders

Discussions (0)