Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 26th, 2014

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Good afternoon. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), our study is on the situation in Ukraine. We're going to get started very shortly.

Ms. Nash.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Chair, it's a pleasure to be able to join the foreign affairs committee today.

I'm wondering if at the end of the meeting today we could set aside a bit of time to consider motions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Bells will ring at 5:15 for a vote at 5:45. If we finish the second group at 5:15, we'll maybe try to take five minutes then. We'll have to go in camera for that. Why don't we try to do that.

Turning to our witnesses today, I want to welcome Matthew Levin, director general, Europe and Eurasia bureau. Welcome, sir. I believe you'll be the first speaker.

Then we have David Metcalfe, director general, Europe, Middle East and Maghreb, development. Welcome, Dave.

Then we have Tamara Guttman, director general of the stabilization and reconstruction task force. Welcome, Tamara. As I said, I had a chance to meet you while you were ambassador in Budapest. It's great to have you back here in Canada with us.

Also with us is Mr. Bennett, the ambassador of the office of religious freedom. It's good to have you back. You were here just a short time ago, and it's great to have you here as well. You'll be the third speaker.

We'll get started because we are short of time.

Mr. Levin, we'll start with you. The floor is yours.

[Matthew Levin, Director General, Europe and Eurasia Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all members of the committee for the invitation to be here with you today to talk about the rapidly evolving situation with Ukraine, which, as I think you and all committee members know, is a country of profound importance to Canada.

You've already introduced the officials who will be speaking. I won't go over that.

I'll begin by making an opening statement, and then give the floor to, first, Dave Metcalfe and then Ambassador Bennett.

Also accompanying us today are Tamara Guttman who is the director general of the stabilization and reconstruction task force, also known as START, at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, and Mike MacDonald who is the director general for operational management and coordination at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Ms. Guttman and Mr. MacDonald won't be making statements, but they will be available to answer members' questions following the presentations.

Canada and the people of Ukraine have long had a special relationship reflecting the important place of the Canadian Ukrainian community in Canada. Since 1991, when Ukrainians freed themselves from Soviet rule, a special relationship has shaped Canada's leading role in supporting a newly independent Ukraine. Canada was the first western country to recognize Ukraine's independence. Canadians had high hopes that Ukraine would soon be on the path to democracy, stability, and economic prosperity.

To help Ukraine on that journey, the Canadian government has invested over $410 million in development assistance. This year, we will spend another $20 million in supporting democracy and encouraging economic growth.

Canadian parliamentarians have also been deeply committed to helping Ukraine. Many members of Parliament and senators have gone to Ukraine as election monitors, as members of parliamentary delegations, or have travelled there independently. Today's meeting and the take-note debate also taking place today reflect the depth of Parliament's ongoing engagement with Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Canadian diaspora has been an invaluable source of support for Canada's engagement with Ukraine. Some 1.3 million Canadians are of Ukrainian heritage. Their unique blend of expertise, dedication, and passion has helped Canada calibrate our policies so that what we do in Ukraine can make the most difference to the most people.

But despite all these investments by Canadians over the past 22 years, Ukraine's post-independence road has been rocky. Enthusiasm about the Orange Revolution of 2004 gave way to disappointment. Under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian democracy slid further backwards. President Viktor Yanukovych jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Constitutional amendments concentrated power in his own hands at the expense of the prime minister and Parliament.

Last November, however, Ukraine seemed to be about to turn a corner. President Yanukovych had announced that he would sign an association agreement and free trade agreement with the European Union. Canada strongly encouraged Ukraine to sign. We saw this as a crucial opportunity for Ukraine to consolidate its European identity, implement vital reforms, and entrench democracy and the rule of law.

As part of that deal, Ms. Tymoshenko would have left prison for medical treatment in Germany. The Canadian government had repeatedly called for her to be given appropriate medical treatment. Canada sent a team of Canadian doctors to assess her condition. Canadian officials met with her daughter and her lawyer. A Canadian embassy official attended every single day of her trial hearings. A delegation of Canadian parliamentarians meanwhile travelled to Kharkiv to try to meet personally with Ms. Tymoshenko in jail.

But just one week before President Yanukovych was to sign the association agreement with the European Union, he abruptly changed his mind and turned toward Russia, accepting a Russian financial assistance package. By a significant majority, Ukrainians wanted their president to turn their country westward toward Europe.

The result was massive protests. In Kyiv, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians took to the streets.

The Yanukovych government responded with violence. It passed repressive laws. Protestors were killed, kidnapped, threatened, and beaten. Priests were intimidated. In one terrible week, at least 82 Ukrainians were killed, and hundreds more were wounded.

In response to this appalling disregard for human life, Canada demonstrated firm and resolute leadership. Canada spoke out clearly, consistently, and forcefully to support democracy, the rule of law, and the right to peaceful protest in Ukraine. We forcefully denounced the murder of protesters on the Maidan, and the other abuses perpetrated by the Yanukovych regime.

Minister Baird personally travelled to Kiev in November to show Canada's support for the protesters. The minister also dispatched Ambassador Bennett, Canada's ambassador for religious freedom, who is here with us today.

Canada also took concrete action against those responsible for abuses.

After the first civilians were killed, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration announced, alongside Minister Baird, that the Ukrainian officials responsible for violence and repression would no longer be welcome in Canada.

Last week, after the latest appalling wave of violence, Prime Minister Harper announced an expanded travel ban to prevent senior members of the Ukrainian government and other individuals who bore political responsibility for the violence from travelling to Canada. In addition, the Prime Minister announced that Canada would impose economic sanctions on the Yanukovych regime and its supporters.

Alongside these punitive measures, Canada directed millions of dollars to projects in Ukraine in support of civil society, pro-democracy actors, and an independent media. We helped religious organizations that were under threat. We provided emergency medical treatment and legal support to the protesters.

Fortunately, the attempt by President Yanukovych to stamp out democracy failed. Ordinary Ukrainians, demonstrating remarkable bravery and resilience, defeated oppression and regained control over their destiny. President Yanukovych's authority collapsed. He fled Kiev, abandoning his luxurious residences along with his presidency.

In dramatic sessions over last weekend, Parliament voted to restore the 2004 Constitution, to hold new elections this May, and to release Ms. Tymoshenko. Parliament has removed the government ministers and the heads of the security services who were responsible for repression and violence. It has also voted to impeach Viktor Yanukovych. A warrant has now been issued for his arrest.

Canada was privileged to be able to stand alongside the Ukrainian people during their time of trial. We welcome the appointment of an interim government and the release of Yulia Tymoshenko.

We will work closely with the new government, the opposition, and the leaders of the Maidan protest movement to help build a united, democratic, and prosperous Ukraine that enjoys the fruits of good governance and the rule of law. Canada calls on all parties to support Ukrainian national unity and to respect its territorial integrity.

We continue to encourage Ukraine to sign an association agreement and free trade agreement with the European Union. We support a substantial IMF program for Ukraine that is accompanied by meaningful reform. We are calibrating our $20 million of annual development programming to support Ukraine's restored democracy and to encourage economic growth.

As a symbol of the government's and his personal commitment,Minister Baird will arrive in Kiev again tomorrow to meet the new government and opposition leaders and to honour those who gave their lives for a democratic Ukraine.

I would now like to give the floor to Dave Metcalfe, Director General for Development for Europe and the Middle East, who will talk more about Canada’s program to support democracy and foster economic growth in Ukraine.

Mr. Chair, thank you again for inviting officials from the department to this hearing. Once our formal presentations are finished, my colleagues and I would be very happy to take any questions that you and members have.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much.

Before you start, Mr. Metcalfe, I want to officially welcome Mike MacDonald. He is with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, as Mr. Levin mentioned. I apologize for overlooking you.

I'll turn it over to Mr. Metcalfe.

[Dave Metcalfe, Director General, Europe, Middle East and Maghreb - Development, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade]

Mr. Chair and honourable members, thank you for the opportunity to discuss Canada’s development assistance program and its role in responding to Ukraine’s current situation.

Through Canada’s development assistance program, we continue, as we have done for two decades, to support economic and democratic transition in Ukraine. Our support takes a long-term view, but sometimes requires short-term actions.

In the immediate term, as Matthew mentioned, our responses have included emergency medical treatment for those injured in the civil unrest. Canada has provided assistance to the Ukrainian Red Cross to train 500 first aid volunteers and to establish first aid points to treat the wounded. Canada was also quick to respond with legal assistance to democracy activists charged by the previous government.

Looking forward, we need to maintain our focus on the upcoming presidential election and Kiev municipal elections on May 25. After several questionable election processes in recent years, Ukrainians demand and deserve a clean election, with a level playing field, with real choice, and with real competition. We're working with like-minded countries and domestic partners to support Ukraine in addressing such key election process issues as adequate ballot security and fraud prevention.

Canada has been a leading promoter of free and fair elections in Ukraine. For example, through our support of the largest ever elections monitoring mission for the 2012 parliamentary elections, there were 500 Canadian observers. Working closely with their international partners, Canadian observers were indispensable in identifying electoral fraud and misuse of public resources. We know what to look for the next time around.

Free elections, an independent judiciary, a strong civil society, and a free media are all essential components of an effective democracy in which accountable and transparent decision-making is the norm and in which individuals and rights are respected and safeguarded. All of these things have come under attack in Ukraine, and Canada has responded.

Canada is working hard to support reform-minded judges and lawyers and to improve the access of regular Ukrainian citizens to justice. Together with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, Canada will train judges in how to apply European human rights law in their courtrooms. A new project will help Ukraine to roll out legal aid to Ukraine's most vulnerable people so that they too can have access to the justice system.

As you know, some of Ukraine's independent media outlets have been under attack during the past few weeks. Through a recently approved project, Canada will support local journalists to produce investigative reporting for distribution via social media and original TV stations. We're currently examining other possibilities to support free media.

Looking forward a bit further, but not much further, it's clear that Ukraine will require support for the difficult economic transition it will need to make. With our international partners, we will be working with the IMF and other international financial institutions to support Ukraine when it makes that commitment to reform. Already, through the development assistance program we're funding IMF technical assistance to Ukraine to assist with modernizing banking regulations and monetary policy.

I'd like to close by highlighting Canada's long commitment to Ukrainians across all regions. Through our development activities, we engage with Ukrainian citizens, civil society organizations, farmers, businesses, and public officials across all regions in Ukraine, east, west, and south. We bring them in touch with Canadian approaches to local governance, citizen consultation, accountability, small business, and democracy. Through our programming we facilitate communication and understanding between people from these different regions and strive to help them achieve an effective, inclusive, transparent, and accountable rule.

I'd be pleased to answer any questions regarding DFATD's development and assistance to the Ukraine.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Mr. Metcalfe. We appreciate that.

Ambassador Bennett, welcome back. The floor is yours.

[Dr. Andrew P.W. Bennett, Ambassador, Office of Religious Freedom, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, vice-chairs, and distinguished members of the committee. It's an honour to appear again before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Today I'll speak on the activities of the office of religious freedom in advancing religious freedom in Ukraine, as well as our efforts to improve the overall situation there.

My travels to Kiev this past month exposed me first-hand to Ukraine's situation, especially the situation affecting a number of the churches. During my short stay, two overriding themes came to the fore.

Churches play an incredibly important role in advancing peaceful dialogue and act as agents of change in Ukraine, but their ability to act freely has been under threat in recent months. My meeting with his Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, provided a particularly salient example of this. He described in detail the Yanukovych government's attempts to intimidate the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and how they threatened to remove that church's ability to operate as a legally valid religious organization, merely because of their presence on the Euromaidan.

Patriarch Sviatoslav told me how his clergy and church-related organizations, such as the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv had faced threat after threat from the Ukrainian security services, and how President Yanukovych had ignored the patriarch's attempts to engage in dialogue.

We feared that this situation would only continue to spiral if we did not take action. We were especially concerned for the normalization of church-state relations in Ukraine, given the role that the churches and other faith communities play in Ukrainian society.

Our office has moved quickly to meet with external stakeholders and departmental contacts to discuss avenues of engagement throughout Ukraine, east and west. We are involved in the Ukraine task force that consists of both our development and foreign affairs colleagues, and we have taken positive steps toward developing programming through consultations.

We also hosted a productive strategic discussion with Ukrainian Canadian organizations to identify how to focus this programming so we can maximize its impact on the ground.

Additionally, we have consulted with Polish NGOs who actively operate in Ukraine, offer regional expertise, and will be valuable partners as our programming moves forward.

I should note that I recently came back from meetings in Washington, D.C., many of which focused on the situation in Ukraine and various work that is being done by certain members of the NGO community there.

In closing, I would like to highlight again the urgent opportunity presented to us now. People's most basic rights, including religious freedom, need to be guaranteed. I'm confident that the department and our office can move forward in developing a robust strategy and contribute to the democratic transition in Ukraine where the churches and other faith communities will play an important role.

Thank you for the opportunity to present again before the committee, Mr. Chair. I look forward to the committee's questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, sir.

We're going to start with Ms. Nash. Welcome to the committee. We'll have the first round for you. You have seven minutes.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to all the witnesses.

I know that sanctions have been something which the committee has been calling for here and certainly something which we have been calling for, as have others.

I'm curious, Mr. Levin, about the economic sanctions the Government of Canada is imposing on the Yanukovych regime officials responsible for human rights abuses. Can you tell us in a little more detail how these sanctions are being enforced and why the government selected these particular measures to announce the first sanctions it would undertake?

[Matthew Levin]

Thank you very much for the question.

The first measure which the government announced and put in place was a travel ban that targeted a number of individuals who were identified as being responsible for decisions related to acts of oppression against protestors.

Subsequently, as violence in the square and against protestors increased, that announcement was made by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, alongside Minister Baird.

Subsequently, the Prime Minister announced a widening of what we call the travel ban or sanctions involved with restricting access to Canada or entry to Canada to a larger number of officials associated with the regime.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

I'm sorry, Mr. Levin, but my question was what kinds of specific economic sanctions is the government imposing on the officials responsible for human rights abuses? Are these currently being enforced? You say in your document that this is something the government is undertaking. Are these currently being enforced, and if so, how?

[Matthew Levin]

The Prime Minister, at the same time as announcing the expansion of the travel measures, announced that Canada would be imposing a package of economic sanctions which fall under the Special Economic Measures Act. The regulatory process to invoke those sanctions, or to put those sanctions into effect, was at the point of completion just at the moment the Yanukovych government fell. The process has really been held at that point because of the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine.

No further decision has been made to proceed with the application of those sanctions since that moment, giving the government the opportunity to assess further developments. Our sense is that now the government has fallen, a new government has been put in place that is supported by clearly a large majority of the Ukrainian population, including the protesters. The question of the application of those sanctions is now in abeyance, or at least would require a further decision depending on developments on the ground on whether it makes sense to proceed with that at this stage.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

As I understand it, they were announced, but there was no time to actually apply them, given the rapidly changing events, and the decision has not been taken as to whether they will be applied.

[Matthew Levin]

That's exactly my understanding.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

You're quite right that the travel sanctions were announced first prior to the economic sanctions. Can you tell us the number of people who are currently subject to the government's visa ban?

[Matthew Levin]

There was a question about the release of those figures. Excuse me, I will ask one of my colleagues.

Let me turn to Mike.

[Mike MacDonald, Director General, Operational Management and Coordination, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair.

There are a couple of aspects in relation to answering that. One is there are security concerns for our mission folks as well as CIC, CBSA officers abroad, with releasing such information. The second one, which is more important, is the fact of privacy considerations with releasing those names, so you will not see those names released publicly.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

I wasn't asking for the names, sir. I was just asking for the number of people who were subject to the bans.

[Mike MacDonald]

I don't have that exact number off the top of my head.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Is that something that perhaps, Mr. Chair, through you, the committee could request?

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Sure.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Could you also perhaps elaborate on the legal authority that has structured the travel ban?

[Mike MacDonald]

Absolutely. I'll be quick, Chair. I think it's easiest to start with the concept of various tools that are at the government's disposal. The way you can implement a travel ban is we can flag within our system individuals whose names would pop up on our system, which would cause a border officer or an officer who receives a temporary visa application to implement further scrutiny. That is one way to impose this.

The other tool is at the point of entry at the border. For example, all individuals, regardless of whether they hold a visa or not, have to be determined to be admissible to Canada. There are various criteria for your admissibility into our country. Similarly, there are various criteria that would allow you to be determined non-admissible and therefore under removal order from our country.

We have various tools to impose a “travel ban”.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

You have 15 seconds left.