Hi there. It's Ihor Michalchyshyn. I'm the executive director of the UCC. I'll be providing the remarks under the UCC. As you mentioned, Orest Zakydalsky is with me as my colleague here.
Thank you for the invitation to address this committee. Our organization is the voice of Canada's Ukrainian community. Our congress brings together an umbrella network of national, provincial and local Ukrainian Canadian organizations and has been leading and coordinating the representation of the interests of our community since 1940. We have worked in shaping Canada's social, economic and political landscape, and in that capacity, we're pleased to be here today.
Certainly, the people-to-people ties between Canada and Ukraine go back more than 130 years, when the first Ukrainians came to Canada looking for a better life, mostly as immigrants who began their work as farmers. Ukrainians have played a key role in building Canada's agri-food industry ever since.
Of course, I have to stress that my colleague and I are not experts in trade or agriculture, but we are here to provide the committee with some geopolitical context for the study of the Ukraine goods remission order as it relates to duty-free and quota-free imports of supply-managed goods into Canada.
As you may know, on February 24, Russia launched an all-out assault on Ukraine. For over nine months now, the Ukrainian people with their armed forces have bravely defended the country from Russia’s invasion. More recently, the Ukrainian armed forces have liberated thousands of square kilometres of territory held by Russia and taken by Russia in the first weeks and months of the war. With western military and economic assistance, we believe the Ukrainian people will continue to defend their freedom and their country.
However, the cost of Russia’s war has been devastating. Unable to defeat Ukraine on the battlefield, Russia has undertaken a campaign of terror bombing and missile strikes against Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. According to recent estimates, 97% of Russian air and missile attacks have been aimed at civilian targets, and through this process, Russia has murdered thousands of innocent people, as well as severely damaging the economic infrastructure in Ukraine.
The economic costs are devastating. Ukraine's gross domestic product dropped by 30% during this past year. The state budget is running a monthly deficit of approximately $5 billion, and next year it will be a $38-billion deficit. Obviously, 50% of next year’s budget is planned to go to defence and security.
In the first days of the war, our American allies urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to leave Kyiv, the capital, then under Russian assault. His now well-known response to everyone was “I need ammunition, not a ride.” In order to keep the economy and government functioning, President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people also need assistance with hard currency.
In helping Ukraine to keep its economy working, Canada’s government has adopted the Ukraine goods remission order, providing relief through a series of import duties on goods originating from Ukraine in order to provide stimulus for economic activity. The UCC and our community strongly welcome this initiative by the Government of Canada. Another such example is the new Ukrainian sovereignty bond, which was successfully completed for a $500-million call yesterday.
In our view, Ukraine's victory in the war is not only in Ukraine's national interest or Europe’s strategic interest, but also in Canada's national and strategic economic interest. We believe that supporting Ukraine’s victory is a cause that all Canadians—individuals, organizations, the public sector and the private sector—can get behind. We also know from opinion polling from September that 77% of Canadians believe the Government of Canada should be doing more to provide assistance to Ukraine.
These hearings are focused on the poultry industry, which employs about 100,000 people in Ukraine. The opportunity to export their products to Canada is certainly important and invaluable in assisting their industry to sustain itself and provide economic activity that is so vital to keeping the economy going.
We hope this committee will hear from our community, from the Government of Canada and from other interests and will take all measures to provide assistance to the Ukrainian people to ensure a victory.
We thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee, and we will be happy to answer any questions at the appropriate time.