Madam Chair, I will come to a close at the time of my choosing as per the rules of the committee.
Where was the member for Kingston and the Islands? Where was Mark Gerretsen when the Canadian representative in Ukraine was summoned by President Zelenskyy? Did Mr. Gerretsen take to Twitter? Did he stand up in the House of Commons to tell his government to listen to President Zelenskyy? No. He was silent.
Where were the other members of this committee? Where was Yvan Baker? Not a single member of the Liberal caucus criticized the Prime Minister's decision to supply a turbine that was designed to facilitate the export of Russian gas to Europe and was a sanctions exemption. This was condemned roundly and personally by President Zelenskyy. He described it correctly as a manifestation of weakness. He summoned the Canadian representative to Ukraine. We had the ambassador to Ukraine before the foreign affairs committee denouncing that decision as it related to the turbine.
This isn't the first or the last time this government has ignored the needs of Ukraine—not what I say Ukraine needed, but what Ukrainians said they needed. It wasn't the first time and it would not be the last.
On March 29, earlier that year and very shortly after the invasion, Conservatives put forward a motion in the House to allow visa-free travel for Ukrainians fleeing the war. This motion, by the way, was supported by all of the opposition parties—Conservative, Bloc and NDP. That meant it passed. The House of Commons passed a motion calling on the government to allow visa-free travel for Ukrainians. The Liberals not only voted against it, but they failed to implement it, even after the expressed will of the majority of the House of Commons was decisively stated on that.
Mr. Gerretsen is here. How did Mr. Gerretsen vote? He voted no. A month after the invasion, he voted against our motion for visa-free travel for Ukraine. All of the Liberal members either voted against or didn't bother to show up for that vote. We had the refusal of that support from this government and a refusal to implement the will of Canada's elected House of Commons.
In the summer, the government was denounced and condemned by the President of Ukraine for breaking western sanctions unity, and there were no statements whatsoever from members of the government, backbench or otherwise. It's no surprise, because while members of this government across the way are interested in trying to use something for political points, they have consistently voted against our proposals that would have made a concrete difference to help Ukraine.
Just last week at this committee, the Conservatives put forward a motion that would have expanded the scope of Bill C-57, which would have allowed us to move forward with constructive amendments that would remove red tape and ease the process of weapons sales to Ukraine. Liberals opposed that motion. Liberals and New Democrats, unfortunately, together blocked our efforts to expand the scope of the bill. That would have made a real, concrete difference to the people in Ukraine.
The member across the way says to look at who's talking about Ukraine in the House. Okay, let's look at who's talking about Ukraine in the House. I did a search here on who's talking about Ukraine. Since getting elected, I have talked about Ukraine 240 times in the House of Commons, which is well over three times as much as the member for Kingston and the Islands talks about Ukraine. I suspect that most of that talk has just been in the last week or so when he's decided he wants to wear the hat of being the one doing the attacks. I don't think the government has much to offer, which is why they've gone into full-on mindless attack mode. I don't think Canadians are going to be fooled by that.
Going back further, Ukraine was invaded in 2014, and Stephen Harper led the world in mobilizing a response. At that time, the role that Canada was playing in response to the illegal invasion of Crimea was widely recognized.
When the Liberals took power, they were bent on warming up relations with Russia, while Ukraine was already partially occupied by Russia. We had then minister Stéphane Dion eagerly pursuing the warming up of relations. In fact, one of the first things this government did was that they cancelled the sharing of RADARSAT satellite images. Under the Conservatives, we had RADARSAT satellites that were sharing images that were of strategic use to Ukraine. The Liberals, upon taking office, cancelled that program of assistance.
Prior to the further invasion at the beginning of last year, we were consistently calling for tougher sanctions. We've also called for increased investments in our military. Liberals, from the beginning of being in government, were talking about having a leaner military in their first budget. Liberals have consistently failed to support Ukraine. They've consistently opposed the vital investments in our military and in NATO co-operation that would ensure our security and the security of our allies. They voted against visa-free travel for Ukraine. They earned the condemnation of the Government of Ukraine by granting the Siemens turbine sanctions permit exemption, and they opposed our efforts to allow weapon exports.
As I said before, I think reasonable people can disagree on the particulars of a trade agreement. Our view is that the explicit references to carbon pricing and carbon leakage are enough of a problem that we cannot support the deal as it is. I think reasonable people can disagree about that.
What is clear is that on much more fundamental issues, on which the Ukrainian government has repeatedly and explicitly spoken, these Liberals have been totally indifferent. Their use of this issue for political purposes demonstrates their fundamental insincerity when it comes to Ukraine and issues of international peace and security in general.
With that in mind, Madam Chair, I will likely have a couple of amendments to propose to this motion. I will start with the following amendment, to add to the beginning of the text of the motion “Whereas on March 29, 2022, Liberals opposed a Conservative motion to allow Ukrainians visa-free travel to Canada”.
I'll leave it there.