Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am supportive of this motion. It's virtually identical to the motion that was put on notice by my colleague Mr. Chong.
I am concerned by what appears to be an effort by the government on the one hand to say yes to hearings, but on the other hand to effectively water down the ability of the committee to do the detailed work that is required.
We need to hear not just from government and from ambassadors but also from civil society, from experts and from people who can inform our work from a variety of different directions. If you add up three ambassadors, two ministers, plus the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and other civil society groups and experts, I don't know how we would end up at less than four or five meetings anyway.
We're happy to work with colleagues on refining the language of this motion, but the fundamental point is that we need to have enough meetings, summer or not, to deal with this critical issue. It might be our summer break, but there's no summer break for Ukrainians. There's no time off for people who are seeing their homes destroyed and who are seeing schools and hospitals targeted. This is a devastating war that we're seeing with the targeting of civilians and children. There is a total lack of regard for human life, for international law and for the rules of war that we're seeing from the Russian Federation.
Canada needs to do its part. I believe that means opposing the logic of appeasement or compromise with this violent aggressor.
My view, when I saw this announcement from the government, was that the government's decision to suspend their own sanctions is a slap in the face to the Ukrainian people in their darkest hour. It made we wonder what the point of sanctions is if the government is so casually willing to ignore or suspend their own rules every time somebody asks.
This is happening in a context where, and it's important to note, the German Chancellor told Bloomberg, “It would be good if they would be there, even though they are not necessary.” The German Chancellor has said that the return of the turbines is not necessary.
It's important that we be firm in our resolve. If we aren't, then Russia will simply continue to escalate their pressure.
I note as well that during his comments, the parliamentary secretary claimed that the return of these turbines will ensure European energy security. Nothing could be further from the truth. Returning turbines will not guarantee European energy security. It will only empower the Kremlin to control the energy supply to intimidate Europe further and to cut off energy supply at a time and in a way of their choosing.
I hope that through these hearings and through the deliberations that the committee will undertake we will be able to make the case to the government of the need to be resolute in standing with our Ukrainian allies and not to show weakness in the way they have done by proposing to return these turbines to suspend the sanction regime that they have trumpeted in the past
Again, we need to be standing with our Ukrainian friends and allies during their darkest hour, summer or not. That means taking the time to have the hearings that are required to get to the bottom of these issues and to hold the government accountable.
I'm certainly prepared to do that, and I hope that other members are as well.