Evidence of meeting #15 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was russia.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ahmed Hussen
Thank you very much.
We now go to MP Brunelle-Duceppe.
You have six minutes.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for being here.
Mr. Michalchyshyn, I don't want to spend too much time on this but I want to touch on some recent events that you discussed in your presentation.
The newspaper Le Journal de Montréal published an article on how Donald Trump says that he is very close to an agreement with Ukraine. I would like to know the position of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress regarding this news and how you feel about it. Then we'll move on to other topics.
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Ukrainian Canadian Congress
As we mentioned, there are day-by-day, hour-by-hour changes and negotiations in the various peace plans that are being discussed.
What we believe as a principle is that Ukraine must be at the table. There can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. We believe that Canada and our partners have an important role to play in adhering to that principle to put pressure on the American administration as well.
We are concerned about where things have begun, but we are hopeful that with the intervention of the Ukrainian government and with the intervention of allies, the peace process will end up in a favourable condition for what Ukraine wants. We cannot accept the 28 points that were in the opening statement: loss of territory, loss of sovereignty, loss of control over the military. Those are not acceptable peace plans for any of us here.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Recently, the ambassador appeared before the committee as part of this study. He told us about agreements that have already been established, particularly between Ukraine and Denmark, regarding the production of drones in exchange for Ukrainian technology. The ambassador told us that Ukraine is looking for other similar partnerships.
To what extent can Canada play an important role in this type of agreement, where it would acquire new technological knowledge in exchange for production capacity? Is this feasible in your view? If you agree, do you think this is a pressing matter?
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Ukrainian Canadian Congress
It does, absolutely. We all, I think, are increasingly understanding that Ukraine is at the forefront of adapting battlefield technology in real time, whether it's AI-powered, mechanical, drone warfare or otherwise.
The Ukrainian capacity for innovation is something that we can adapt. I was at the Canadian security show this year, and the tech of the Ukrainian delegation was far ahead of where our domestic manufacturers are. Once peace comes for Ukraine, they will be able to show this technology to the world, especially to their allies.
There are examples to show how funding production in Ukraine is a better, more efficient, faster way to get them the things they need, rather than producing and shipping them and being stuck in processes. We believe that's a powerful example, but we also think that joint production between Canada and Ukraine—to take that technology in partnership and to embrace it here—is a good economic measure for us.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Earlier, we talked about the seizure of funds but not so much about sanctions. Do you think there have been sufficient sanctions implemented against Russian individuals? Do you want to see more? Do you think the current sanctions are working? If so, do you think this is an opportunity to implement more sanctions?
Senior Policy Adviser, Ukrainian Canadian Congress
Our consistent position has been that Canada and our partners need to significantly increase pressure on Russia. Our best way to do that is to increase economic sanctions in order to stop revenue flows to Russia.
There are areas in Canada that don't do a lot of business with Russia, but we have some exemptions on certain goods that we believe should be cancelled. I think the easiest way to do these things is to just stop trading with Russia entirely. Our consistent position has been that we want to see a full trade embargo with Russia. If Canada did that, we believe it would be an example for countries that still do a significant amount of business with Russia, most importantly in Europe.
Our request of the government is for a full trade embargo and for much stronger economic sanctions on Russia.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
If you ever feel that certain officials or individuals have flown under the radar in terms of sanctions, I humbly ask that you provide us with the names in a brief sent to the committee if possible. You don't need to say the names of the individuals here but I would appreciate it if you could provide them in writing to the committee.
I want to quickly go back to the issue of children who have been kidnapped and deported to Russia. I know that the Government of Canada is working on this, but is it doing enough? Are there other opportunities for the government to help even more in this area, such as by providing psychological support to children who are returned? Could this be a great opportunity for the government to increase its efforts?
Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Ukrainian Canadian Congress
I don't think there's any sense of somebody doing too much in this sphere.
As a community, we are supporting the organizations. We urge the government to support those organizations that do the direct work, the difficult work. We look forward to opportunities to work with parliamentarians to promote the issue to the Canadian public.
There's no limit. No amount of funding or support would be too much in this sphere, unfortunately, until every child is returned. There are no names we can give you today, but there are a lot of organizations working in this sphere, and you've just met some of them. They have capacity, interest in Ukraine, experience and a successful track record. We should continue to support them fully.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ahmed Hussen
Thank you very much.
Thank you to both our witnesses for joining us today and for your testimony. We really appreciate it.
We will briefly suspend the meeting so that the folks here can be ready to proceed to an in camera session.
[Proceedings continue in camera]