Mr. Chair, what I should first point out is the importance of the Ukrainian heritage and Ukrainian ties to the province of both the member who just spoke and myself, particularly the northeast corner of our province. People from eastern Europe and particularly the Ukraine played a huge role in the development of Saskatchewan and the benefits that we are seeing now. Therefore, it is important to us that we address this issue seriously.
We are at the point where we see these political trends as being very troubling. However, our policy in the past is one that we believe we should continue, and that is a principle of engagement with the Ukraine. We have consistently messaged and urged action from the Ukrainian authorities that they protect the rule of law, work toward human rights and strengthen democracy. We continue to carry that message to them. We want to support those folks who are out on the streets who believe that those are important principles, that the Ukraine continues to move in the direction of seeing stronger democracy, a stronger rule of law, and in particular, seeing human rights protected.
What really concerned us was that when the attacks took place in the Independence Square, the first people who seemed to be attacked were journalists. It looked like there was some attempt to keep the story from getting out and to limit that. The principles of freedom of association, freedom of speech and protection for journalists are very important and need to be protected in the Ukraine.