Foreign Affairs Committee on March 3rd, 2022

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

The UCC has indicated its deep thanks to Canada on a number of occasions, as have, of course, Ukrainian parliamentarians on a number of different occasions, as has the President of Ukraine to our Prime Minister. I wonder, Minister, what you're hearing from your counterpart in Ukraine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Please just give a brief answer, Minister, in the interest of time. Thank you.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

I had the opportunity to go to President Zelensky's inauguration. In my previous portfolio, I had the opportunity to go many times, and he talked about his kids. I was told that, when the Prime Minister called him, he actually asked about the Prime Minister's kids. Our hearts are going out to all the children who are affected by this. They can't go to their classrooms, and their playgrounds have turned into battlefields. We're going to stay focused.

I was speaking at an event with the UNHCR representative, so we're going to work very hard to make sure that Canada is going to be there to provide the right support. I look forward to getting into the region to look first-hand and coordinate that support as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Ms. Bendayan.

Thank you very much, Minister Sajjan.

Mr. Bergeron.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I wish to raise a point of order.

Very briefly, first of all, I would like to acknowledge the presence of the parliamentary secretary who is here with us. The minister has invited us to continue the discussion. I probably would have had another question for him, but unfortunately I won't have the time.

Can the minister suggest a way that would allow us to continue this discussion more informally?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

It is always possible to request a written response, Mr. Bergeron.

There will always be future occasions to continue the discussion. I understand that Minister Sajjan has to leave after this second round.

We will now go to our third round, which is a continuation—

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I understood that, Mr. Chair.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, I've been very flexible, and I take opportunities informally to be able to talk to people. This is about members of Parliament working together to provide the right information. I'll always do that. Yes, we have an opportunity to come to committee. You know, and many other members know that I will make—

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I'll send you a text.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Send me a text message. You have my number. That's how accessible I will be for you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bergeron.

Thank you very much, Minister.

In the interest of time we will go straight to our third round of questions. This is a five-minute allocation that goes to Mr. Aboultaif.

Please, go ahead.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thank you, Chair, and thanks to the witnesses we have from the department with us.

The question was on the corridor that was sort of an agreement under the talks right now in Belarus between Ukraine and Russia. That corridor could mean two things. One is more refugees, people leaving the country. The other is access to aid and humanitarian assistance to areas—

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Mr. Chair, our colleague didn't have his microphone in front of his mouth, so there was no interpretation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

All right.

Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.

Mr. Aboultaif, could you lower the boom microphone?

Perfect.

Thank you very much.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thank you. I'll start over.

The corridor that was agreed upon—I hope that will continue to be the case—means that more people are fleeing the country of Ukraine. Right now we know there are five countries that are receiving refugees. There is some talk out there that there will be some new refugees from Ukraine who will be replacing Syrian refugees in parts of Europe and Turkey.

Do you have any information on that? Can you give us any idea if this is true? What's going to happen if this is the case? Where will the other people go?

[Peter MacDougall]

Perhaps, Mr. Chair, I'll start and then ask my colleague for Europe if she has anything to add.

The early reports are that there are now over a million people who have left Ukraine—probably more. They are mostly in the five bordering countries. We have not seen any onward movement yet. The UNHCR, along with the recipient states, is working hard every day to put infrastructure in place to receive them. We're not seeing a lot of onward movement, so I don't at this point see any direct implications for Syrian refugees in Turkey—I think you said—or elsewhere in Europe. So far, I don't see anything.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thank you for this answer. I want to clear up this point.

This may be a long game, which we hope it is not. We pray that this will end soon and that things will get back to normal. In light of that, how prepared are we, and what do we have out there to assist us in giving the proper support to the people fleeing their countries as far as housing, school, food, medical aid and everything else? Are we prepared?

[Peter MacDougall]

That's an excellent question, Mr. Chair.

I would say that, at this point, the humanitarian and refugee support system is well prepared. The flash appeal that the UN held on Monday was seeking to raise $1.7 billion, and it raised $1.5 billion. This almost never happens. Most humanitarian appeals raise 25%, 30% or sometimes 40%. This was well above that. The system is well funded to respond to the refugee flows. Of course, if it goes on and on and gets into five million to 10 million, then there will be a need for additional funding.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Was there any direct ask for financial allocation from Canada or was it just on a voluntary basis, where you come forward and you pledge your support, your financial support?

[Peter MacDougall]

Yes, that's where we pledged. We've pledged $125 million in assistance since January, but in that particular conference we pledged $100 million in additional funding.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

The $100 million is over and above the $125 million; is that correct?

[Peter MacDougall]

No, it's part of the $125 million. We announced $15 million at the end of January in anticipation of the crisis. Just at the end of February we launched the matching fund in which we committed to provide $10 million to the Canadian Red Cross, and then just on Monday we committed the additional $100 million to the UN appeal.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Since I have you there, I would really appreciate a brief on what's happening in Yemen right now, if you could give us an idea.

[Peter MacDougall]

I will say a couple of words on Yemen and then ask my colleague Sandra, who's responsible for the Middle East, to comment.

Yemen, from a humanitarian perspective, continues to be one of the worst crises in the world. I will have to check my data, but I think last year it was the second-highest funded humanitarian crisis after Syria. This year I expect it will be in the top three or four. The situation there, from a humanitarian perspective, does not seem to have improved at all.

Sandra, do you have anything in the last 30 seconds?

[Sandra McCardell]

I'll just confirm we are still engaged in Yemen. This year we've provided $72 million to respond to the humanitarian needs. As my colleague has said, this situation remains disastrous. There's hardly a plague that country isn't suffering from, exacerbated further by COVID and ongoing conflict. In the end, until we're able to resolve their role as a flashpoint between Iran and Saudi Arabia, we'll continue to have difficulties resolving their humanitarian needs.