Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 28th, 2022

[Sandra McCardell]

Sure. Absolutely.

We're in direct touch with Finance right now. We're working with Treasury in the U.S. and, as I mentioned earlier, with the EU and the U.K. through this trans-Atlantic task force to track down where these assets are. You've seen some of the measures against banks today. We'll be following up to look very closely at where these assets are. As you are well aware, not all are clearly identified. For these individuals, there will need to be some research done.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Okay.

Our party has called for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador. Are you able to comment on that at all? I realize that the government hasn't made any announcements yet, but do you think that is likely?

[Sandra McCardell]

As the situation evolves, I think we've seen the measures that we've put in place evolve with it. I would add, though, a cautionary note about cutting off the opportunity for that kind of high-level contact, whether it's with the Russian ambassador here or through our ambassador in Moscow. As you'll have seen earlier, Minister Joly brought in the ambassador to give him a dressing-down for Russia's actions. This kind of communication is important to signal directly to the regime our views on what's taking place.

As well, we can see that our ambassador in Moscow also plays a role in protecting Canada's interests, whether it's consular or just as she did over this past weekend, setting a real example in Moscow by joining like-minded ambassadors on the anniversary of the death of Boris Nemtsov.

I think the bottom line is that at this point we are looking very clearly at all options to respond to Russia. Ambassadors play an important role in the diplomacy we've been talking about for weeks, which in the end will play a role in ending this conflict. It's not a decision to be taken lightly.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Okay. I appreciate that it's on the table still.

The ambassador used the words “deeply irrational”, and I just keep thinking about them. It leaves everything on the table. For example, is it possible that Mr. Putin might seek to threaten other European countries beyond Ukraine if he were to be successful in this crazy endeavour that he has embarked on? Does this threaten the broader security of Europe militarily?

[Sandra McCardell]

I think from the beginning of this engagement, certainly President Putin has discussed this in terms of the security not only of Ukraine but also of Europe. Over the course of these past weeks we have seen Russia's neighbour countries ask for and receive enhanced presence from NATO countries.

There is a lot of anxiety over what President Putin could do. I think we need to stay in touch, be ready to respond and be ready to support with our allies. The rest would be speculation at this point.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

My last question, and what I want to find out, is basically whether our sanctioning legislation has any mechanism that holds Global Affairs to account for the decisions it makes. Is information about this process published anywhere? Is there any reporting on how these sanctions are tracked and whether they are being enforced at all by the government?

If there isn't enough time, you can respond in writing as well.

[Sandra McCardell]

In terms of the sanctions, there is reporting on those. Certainly, I think committees such as yours do a good job of holding us to account as you are doing today. I would be happy to provide further details in a written response.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Mr. Morantz.

Thank you very much, Ms. McCardell.

Colleagues, if you agree, we will ask our witnesses to stand by for the rest of the meeting just in case there are any questions with respect to the discussion we're now going to embark on. We do sometimes ask witnesses if they wish to connect. I think in this case it's directly related to what the witnesses have expertise on.

I will now give the floor to Mr. Chong to present his motion.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I gave notice of the following motion:

That the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development report to the House of Commons that it condemns: a. the unwarranted and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a clear violation of international law; b. the previous invasion of the Ukraine by the Russian Federation in 2014 and the illegal annexation of Crimea into the Russian Federation; and c. the Russian Federation and President Putin for these violations of international law and attacks on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

That's my motion. I understand there is an amendment to the motion, which, in the interest of speaking as a committee with one voice, we welcome.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chong.

The motion is on the floor. I now invite colleagues to raise their hands to signal their desire to enter debate.

Madame Bendayan, you have the floor. Please go ahead.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Chong, for having circulated that. I'm pleased to be able to address it this afternoon.

Further to discussion with my colleagues on this side, we would like to propose a number of amendments.

Mr. Chair, I look to you for the best way to do this. We have copies of these, which I'm happy to provide to the clerk and to colleagues, if they are interested. I will read into the record the entirety of our amendments, with your permission:

That, given the Russian Federation's unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development report to the House of Commons that it:

a) Condemns this unjustified and unprovoked attack, which was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as a clear violation of international law, the UN Charter, and the rights of Ukraine to sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and democracy;

b) Condemns the illegal recognition by the Russian Federation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as so-called “independent states”, and the 2014 invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and its illegal annexation of Crimea;

c) Calls upon the Russian Federation to immediately end the targeting of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools;

d) Calls upon the Government of Canada, and all parties in the House of Commons, to support:

1. The continued imposition of severe economic penalties, including sanctions, targeting President Putin's inner circle, including Russian oligarchs, and those who have supported this egregious violation of international law; and

2. The provision of support to the Government of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine; and

3. The issuing of an order of general application directing the CRTC to a new broadcasting policy which would remove the state-controlled broadcasters that spread disinformation and propaganda from the CRTC's list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution, effectively removing Russia Today (RT) from Canadian airwaves; and

4. The removal of Russia from the SWIFT payment system, a critical part of the global financial system, an action which must be pursued in collaboration with international partners.

e) Stands unwavering and united in our solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

That is the motion we would suggest moves forward, hopefully on a unanimous basis on behalf of this committee, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Madame Bendayan, thank you very much.

There is an amendment to Mr. Chong's motion on the floor, which has been read in detail. I now invite debate on the amendment.

I see that Mr. Aboultaif has his hand raised virtually. Colleagues in the room, if you wish to intervene, please signal to get my attention as well, and we will compose a unified hybrid list of intervenors.

Mr. Aboultaif, please go ahead.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Mr. Chair, thank you for giving me the time.

Is this just an amendment, or is it a proposal for another motion by the government? I'd like that to be clarified.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you for that, Mr. Aboultaif. It's important to clarify that procedurally. Effectively, it is an amendment to Mr. Chong's motion that has been proposed by Madame Bendayan.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Go ahead, Mr. Bergeron.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just want to say that I wholly agree with every single word in the original motion and the proposed amendment.

Obviously, the member can count on my support.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.

Do other colleagues wish to intervene on the amendment?

Mr. Morantz, please go ahead.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

I just want to add my voice. I completely support the original motion as amended and I look forward to voting in support of it.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Morantz.

Is there any other debate? Are there any other interventions that colleagues wish to make, virtually or in person?

Mr. Davies, please go ahead.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you. I would like to add the support of the New Democratic Party to this motion, as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Davies.

Mr. Oliphant, please go ahead.

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

I would just like to commend all the members of the committee for being able to work on this so well. These issues are well beyond any partisan differences, and I think the original motion was excellent and the amendments are good. I particularly thank Mr. Chong for his improving the amendments.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Oliphant and Mr. Chong.

Let's go through this procedurally, colleagues. We have a few minutes left to do this, but I sense that there is unanimity.

Is there any opposition to the amendment that has been introduced by Madame Bendayan?

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

That takes us back to the main motion brought forward by Mr. Chong, as amended by Madame Bendayan. Is there any other discussion on the motion as amended?

Go ahead, Mr. Chong.