Good morning. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you, colleagues, for inviting me to come back and meet with you once again.
I want to begin by acknowledging that I am joining you from the traditional territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe people.
I'm pleased to be joined by, as you mentioned, Mr. Chair, Michael Keenan, the deputy minister of transport; Julie Gascon, director general of marine safety and security; Marc-Yves Bertin, director general of marine policy; and Nicholas Robinson, director general of civil aviation.
Mr. Chair, let me start out by saying that Russia must be held accountable for its aggression against Ukraine.
Russia must be held accountable for its actions.
In response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the government has taken strong and decisive action. Today I'll be speaking about measures that Canada has taken to restrict and respond to Russian aircraft in Canadian waters, ports and airspace.
As Minister of Transport, I am dedicated to making Canada's transportation system safer and more secure. This includes during times of crisis, as we are witnessing with Russia's attacks on Ukraine. Canadians are outraged by these acts of aggression. This violation of Ukraine's independence and sovereignty has caused unnecessary loss of life, a massive refugee displacement and incredible hardship for the Ukrainian people. Canada stands with Ukraine and will continue to do what is necessary to respond to Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable attacks on Ukraine.
We will continue to support Ukraine.
On February 27 we announced the closure of Canada's territorial airspace to all Russian aircraft. On March 16 we also announced the closure of Canada's territorial airspace to all Belarusian aircraft. This means that we prohibited the operation of Russian- or Belarusian-owned, -chartered or -operated aircraft over Canada, including in the airspace above Canada's territorial waters.
A few days after our announcement, the United States followed suit and closed its airspace to Russia, which essentially rendered trans-Atlantic service by Russian airlines non-viable. As of today, approximately 40 countries have suspended Russian air access.
I want to take a moment to highlight some developments that occurred since these measures were implemented. On the same day that Canada closed its territorial airspace to Russian aircraft, Russian Aeroflot flight 111 entered Canadian airspace while en route from Miami to Moscow. Just a few days after that, a private aircraft carrying two Russian nationals landed in Yellowknife. While the investigation of Aeroflot is ongoing, Transport Canada's investigation found that the aircraft that landed in Yellowknife operated against restrictions, and $24,000 in fines were then issued to those responsible.
In addition to these incidents, just before our notice to airmen, or NOTAM, came into force on February 27, a Russian-operated Antonov cargo plane landed at Toronto Pearson. The aircraft has been grounded and prohibited from departing due to the ban on Russian-owned aircraft in Canadian airspace, as it would be in violation of the NOTAM.
These incidents are taken extremely seriously. We will not hesitate to take immediate enforcement action should further incidents of non-compliance with the restrictions occur.
I also announced that we banned Russian-owned or -registered vessels in Canadian internal waters and at our ports. As with our airspace restrictions, we will not hesitate to enforce any breaches of these measures.
In addition, we've strongly condemned Russia's actions at the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization. We will continue to call out any actions that are not in line with international obligations.
In conclusion, by closing our airspace, ports and waters to Russian- and Belarusian-owned and -controlled aircraft and Russian-owned or -controlled vessels, we have acted quickly to find ways to hold Russia accountable. We have already shown that we will take swift action to punish those who violate these measures.
Beyond action against Russia and Belarus, we are also taking measures to support Ukraine. We have developed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine to recognize their certificates of competency issued in accordance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. This will permit a Ukrainian seafarer with a Canadian work permit to serve on board a Canadian-flagged vessel.
We will continue to stand with Ukraine.
I'd like to thank the committee for its ongoing input on transportation issues. I look forward to continuing our work together.
With that, Mr. Chair, I'm concluding my opening remarks, and I look forward to the committee's questions.
Thank you.