Thank you, Ms. Larouche. It was a pleasure to see you again at the UIP Assembly last week. I'm grateful for your ongoing efforts and those of Canada's delegation to support Ukraine, especially when it comes to supporting motions for holding emergency debates.
The goal of the motion, which passed, was to hold an emergency debate on humanitarian crises throughout the entire world. It included the humanitarian crisis caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine, which caused a great deal of suffering, especially for women and children.
Today, the central issue which must be solved as quickly as possible is the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children into Russian territory. That's another aspect of the genocide Russia is committing against Ukraine. There has to be a united international effort to stop this type of atrocious crime. We all have to work together so that Ukrainian children return to Ukraine as quickly as possible. As for how to proceed, it would require a much longer debate. The subject merits much broader discussion, because the problem doesn't have an immediate solution. The Russians don't want representatives from other countries or even major humanitarian organizations on their territory, so we don't even know what kind of conditions these Ukrainian children are finding themselves in.
What we do know is that the Russian government has programs, supported by Maria Lvova‑Belova, to have Ukrainian children adopted as quickly as possible into Russian families and eradicate their Ukrainian roots: their language, their culture, their traditions; in short, everything Ukrainian about them. That tactic has been used before, mostly by the Nazi regime in Germany, during World War II. It's happening again in 21st century Europe, right in the middle of the civilized world. This is not normal by any means. We must further unify our efforts and hold more discussions at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, but also within international communities and with international humanitarian organizations to determine what we can actually do to stop these crimes.