I never thought I'd be in a position to talk about this as much in such an important position.
Boris Nemtsov, as my colleague has just indicated, was shot on the bridge by the Kremlin as a leader of the Russian opposition. I was there with one of my Liberal colleagues, Scott Simms, who was filling in for Larry Bagnell when we were on the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, or SCPAR. This was about 2018 or somewhere in there. Maybe it was earlier. Tom will probably know more about the exact date of that shooting.
I had the opportunity, with Scott, to walk up on the bridge that night, which was six months after this gentleman had been shot. The flowers were still being laid every night on that bridge in honour of this young man who gave up his life as a Russian leader. The guards were there to make sure that no other extraordinary events were taking place on that bridge, but they could not stop the Russian people from placing those flowers, those memorial cards and those gifts on that bridge. There were so many that they would take them away each week so there would be room for the people who were still bringing them six months after this shooting.
I beseech my colleagues to do more than what is in this resolution—this motion—tonight. I wanted to let them know that I and my Liberal colleague were there and very much in favour of supporting...what happened to that young man in Russia that night. I think it's actually imperative that Canada do far more than just turn a blind eye to this.
Thank you.