Thank you, Madam Chair.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak today at the trade committee on this important motion to support our allies in Ukraine in their fight for freedom and victory, which undertakes to allow amendments to this bill that would support the expansion of munitions exports to Ukraine.
When it comes to discussions about Ukraine, we see a lot of instances of what has come to be called “performative allyship”—people wanting to show they're on Ukraine's side but not actually focusing on the things Ukraine needs most. Ukrainians are not asking for a carbon tax. Ukrainians are asking for weapons. Ukraine needs to win this war. That means they need the munitions and equipment that, in many cases, Canada could make available, in order to allow them to secure victory.
There is nothing currently in Bill C-57 that deals with munitions exports. Conservatives are preparing substantial, serious amendments to this legislation that would make the sale of vital munitions to Ukraine much easier. This would have a concrete impact in terms of helping the Ukrainian people win this war. Again, we need to put aside the performative allyship and focus instead on the things Ukraine really needs, which are weapons, munitions and materiel that will concretely allow them to achieve victory as soon as possible.
I would like to see the same review standards for arms exports that apply to our existing NATO partners applied to Ukraine. This is currently not the case. There are different review standards subject to so-called “open-policy” countries—easier review standards than those applied to Ukraine. We should be applying as little red tape as possible to munitions exports to Ukraine, so weapons get there as quickly as possible. We can be supplying surplus military equipment that we're not using here in Canada to Ukraine and, in the process, use this as an opportunity to modernize our own equipment.
We should be encouraging EDC and BDC to support efforts by Canadian defence manufacturers to partner with Ukraine's defence industry. We should be making long-term commitments to defence productions that will allow us not only to develop the munitions vital for our own security here but also to support Ukraine.
Let's focus on victory for Ukraine. Victory for Ukraine means weapons. It means munitions. It means helping Ukraine get the equipment it needs. This motion would allow us to expand the scope of amendments that can be made to Bill C-57, so we can include that critical content around munitions development and exports to help Ukraine win the war.
This is what matters for Ukraine. This is where the rubber hits the road. This will be an important test if the committee is prepared to focus on meeting Ukraine's needs instead of simply using a trade deal to talk about the carbon tax. Let's focus on what Ukraine really needs, which is urgently getting munitions in the hands of the Ukrainian people, so they can effectively continue to defend themselves.
Thank you.