Foreign Affairs Committee on March 20th, 2024

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I'd like unanimous consent to put the documents we have received up on the website, and I would like that to be—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Could we deal with one issue first? Would you agree that it's not a point of order?

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, I would like for the documents that were given to this committee to be made public.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

I would appreciate it if you responded. That is not a point of order, Ms. McPherson.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I would like the unanimous consent of this committee to put the documents on the website.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Ms. McPherson, several members have pointed out that it's not a point of order. I have informed you that it's not a point of order.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

It feels very much to me, Mr. Chair, that the Liberals would rather not share that information. The information has been shared—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

That has nothing to do with it, Ms. McPherson. We have rules.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

-multiple times in other examples, and the fact that you are choosing not to—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

We have rules of procedure here.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

All right. Well, I guess I could challenge the chair. I could ask if that is considered a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Absolutely. If you would like to do so, that is certainly an option you have.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I think you need to understand that Canadians have every right to this information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

We're talking about rules, Ms. McPherson.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

It's very important that we put those documents up and make them public.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Next we have Mr. Oliphant.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

This is on the point of order.

We have not had an opportunity to discuss whether or not they should go up. There's an assumption by Ms. McPherson that we disagree with them going up. That is not my point. She may actually be surprised by our position on that. My point is about due process, good order and respect for the ambassador, who is here.

If she would wait, she may be surprised by the government response to publishing those things. However, as a matter of principle, we have a guest who is our witness and who has come here. We should deal with that. We should deal with this in committee business.

That is the way our committee should function, or we will become dysfunctional again.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I'm sorry, but I asked for unanimous consent to put these documents up and make them public. Without that, I will challenge the chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

That's not a point of order, Ms. McPherson, I'm afraid.

Is everyone okay with us resuming the study?

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I challenge your decision, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Sure. Let's have a vote on this.

(Ruling of the chair sustained: yeas 9; nays 2)

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you.

Now we can proceed with our study of Ukraine.

It's a great pleasure, once again, to have you before committee, Ambassador Kovaliv. Thank you very much for being with us. You have indicated that you can remain with this committee until 6 p.m. and we want to take advantage of that.

For your opening comments, you have five minutes before we go to the members for questions.

The floor is yours, Madam Ambassador.

[Her Excellency Yuliya Kovaliv, Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada]

Thank you.

Dear Chair and honourable members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to brief you today.

First of all, I would like to thank you, Chair, for your recent visit to Ukraine on February 24 with the U4U group of members of parliaments from many countries that support Ukraine. I would also like to thank Canada for signing the security co-operation agreement with Ukraine during the visit of the Prime Minister of Canada to Kyiv on the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

This was the first agreement with a non-European country and the first in North America. It lays the ground for deep and comprehensive co-operation between our countries in the defence and security fields. Based on the G7 declaration, which was adopted during NATO's Vilnius summit, seven countries have already signed such agreements with Ukraine, and 27 countries endorsed the G7 declaration. More negotiations are happening now in Kyiv with the countries that are committed to having long-lasting relations and security agreements with Ukraine.

Let me brief you on the situation in Ukraine. In order for you to compare where it is, the distance between Halifax and Lviv is almost the same as the driving distance from Halifax to Victoria, so it's not so far away.

Russia has demonstrated its commitment to its war of attrition. Russian armed forces on Ukrainian territory now amount to 470,000 personnel, plus 33,000 Rosgvardia soldiers in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. This year Russia is spending 40% of its budget on military and law enforcement and is continuing to build its military presence in the Arctic. Russia has already taken all the ammunition from Belarus. North Korea has already supplied around 1.5 million artillery rounds, and at least 24 North Korean ballistic missiles have been used by Russia in its attacks on Ukrainian cities and territory. Iranian drones continue to hit critical infrastructure.

The enemy uses six or seven times more artillery shells a day than the Ukrainian armed forces. Russian offensive operations, which started in October, have had no strategic success. Over five months, Russia's losses in manpower have exceeded 40,000 troops and, since the start of the full-scale invasion, over 426,000 Russian soldiers.

Russia's weapons, which continue to be produced, are immediately supplied to the battlefield. At the same time, western spare parts and western technology, including from Canada, are still being supplied to Russia and its defence sector.

Despite all of these efforts, Russia has achieved no strategic goals and no strategic gains. At the same time, even with the lack of ammunition and the delay in the delivery of committed military support, Ukrainian forces are holding the line.

Since February of this year alone, Ukrainian armed forces have shot down 15 Russian fighter jets. Ukraine has destroyed nearly 33% of Russia's Black Sea fleet and is now able to export grain and other goods through the seaport. In January of this year, the volume of these exports reached pre-war levels.

Ukraine's geographic position does not provide us with an advantage for our security. Our own military spending now exceeds 21.6% of GDP. We invest in the domestic production of weapons, including partnerships with the leading western defence companies. We count on the military support of our allies.

At the same time, over $300 billion in Russian assets remain frozen in western capitals. It's both morally right and legally possible to seize these assets and transfer them to Ukraine. We are counting here on Canada's support.

Russia has demonstrated further its commitment to continuing its terrorism. Just today, five people were killed in Kharkiv by another Russian missile attack. In Odesa, on March 12, 20 people were killed by a missile strike on a residential building, and on March 2, 20 civilians, including five children, were killed. Among them were four-month old Tymofiy and his mother Anna. The mother was holding her son in her arms, trying to cover his body and save his life.

This is what happens every day in Ukraine. This is why an air defence system and missiles for them are crucially needed to protect the civilian population.

We need to hold Russia accountable. I thank members of the House of Commons for their unanimously adopted resolution on February 15 of this year, which supports Ukraine's NATO membership, the returning of Ukrainian children, strengthening sanctions, confiscation of Russian assets and bringing Putin and his criminal regime to responsibility for the crime of aggression.

We are also grateful to Canada for its leadership in co-chairing the coalition to bring back Ukrainian children. This coalition was launched in early February of this year, and in a bit more than a month, 33 countries have joined the coalition. Today, over 19,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly removed and many of them illegally adopted by Russians. We need to continue to work with Canada and other allies to bring the children back home.

There is more to say, but I thank you for this opportunity. I tried to stay within my five minutes. I'm ready to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you very much, Madam Ambassador.

We will start the questions. The first member up is MP Chong.

You have five minutes.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Ambassador, for appearing in front of us today and for giving us an update on the situation in your country.

I'd like to congratulate you and your government for concluding an agreement with the Government of Canada: the Canada-Ukraine strategic security partnership. Conservatives support that agreement, and we believe it will strengthen co-operation between our two countries in the area of security and defence. Congratulations on that accomplishment.

Ambassador, you mentioned in your opening remarks that Russia is firing six to seven times the number of shells at Ukraine compared to Ukraine's ability to fire back. An ongoing theme in recent months is a lack of ammunition. What's your view on the 83,000 surplus CRV7 rockets held by the Canadian Armed Forces? Do you believe that Ukraine's military could use those rockets? How urgent is that need?