Thank you.
I think the simple discussion is that the Ukrainian people want to live in a society that shares values similar to Canada's. That's why the “Maidan of human dignity”, as they call it, was successful: because the people were going to stand there until they were able to have a society that they could live freely in.
The country is undergoing significant strain. It's trying to go through reforms. It is moving forward, not as quickly as we all want it to, but it is moving forward, while it's also fighting a war.
To be clear, this is war. Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and its proxies. To call it anything different is, I think, to obfuscate the truth. The reality is that Ukraine wants the right to self-determination and to live in a society that shares values similar to Canada's. That, I think, is why Canada and Canadians have been so supportive of Ukraine: they share those similar values and want to support Ukraine, maintain its territorial integrity, and not be part of a game of spheres of influence. Quite frankly, we as Canadians should be appalled by the discussion about “spheres of influence” and other countries having the right to dictate to others.
Canada, I think, is moving in the right direction, but there's more we can do. We have to think strategically and boldly and to move forward with new visions and new concepts, such as peacekeeping, because I think we can play a real, prominent role there.
To speak about partisanship, when you are supporting a country that is defending its territorial integrity and this is considered partisanship, we should be proud to be partisan, because Canada is standing up for people who want to defend their own territorial integrity and their families.