I think back to the incredible public communication effort of the Canadian government during the Ottawa process leading to the anti-personnel land mine ban. I spoke at Dalhousie University many years ago, and I was impressed by the immense amount of literacy and engagement of students and adults on that issue because of the work of Global Affairs Canada and others.
I think a similar public campaign is needed here, and I wish we were doing it in the United States as well as I think Canada could probably do it here. What's really important to communicate to the public is that this issue is about the special protected status of children in war. If we fail on the Ukraine issue in terms of getting these kids back, or if we get them back the wrong way, in basically a hostage trade, we are degrading the power of that special protected status forever.
That's what's at stake here. It's not just Ukraine's kids; it's all kids in war. We could do this wrong and end up with a precedent of using kids as chips in a dangerous poker game. The public needs to understand that, and it can't be allowed to happen.