Mr. Speaker, dobry vechir. It is a pleasure to rise today to talk about the concerns that all of us have with respect to what is happening in the Ukraine, and everything that has transpired, especially over the past week.
I want to thank you for granting the request of my friend and colleague, the member for Etobicoke Centre, to have this emergency debate tonight. We want to make sure we are raising awareness in Canada of the deteriorating circumstances, which we see on the news every minute and hour, of everything that is transpiring on the streets of Maidan in Kiev, and other communities in the Ukraine. We also want to demonstrate to the people and the government of Ukraine that Canada's Parliament is strongly opposed to all of the actions it has taken.
I want to thank all members in the House for the unanimous passing of the motion that I moved earlier today. It was done with great collaboration and negotiations, amongst all political parties, to come to a resolution that speaks to how we in Canada feel about the government of the Ukraine under the leadership of President Viktor Yanukovych, and the deterioration of civil rights, erosion of human rights, and the continued decline of democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine.
The motion we passed earlier today is that we condemn the draconian law that was passed on January 17. There was a small opportunity presented in the Ukraine earlier today, and we heard before the debate started tonight that the Yanukovych government is prepared to consider repealing that draconian law. We have to be careful here. Will it repeal the entire law that was passed, or only provide some cosmetic surgery to make it more appealing to us in the west without necessarily changing the way it is behaving, especially the way the Berkut, the riot police, are behaving on the streets of the Maidan. We want to make sure that what will be debated tomorrow in the Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, actually does repeal that entire piece of legislation, from the beginning to the last word in that act. That is what we want to see happen.
As I said in the motion that we agreed to earlier today, the Government of the Ukraine has to realize that the draconian law, which allows them to move forward with martial law, undermines freedom and democracy in the Ukraine. We must remember that Ukraine has lived under tyranny and dictatorship for most of the past several hundred years. It has only truly enjoyed freedom and democracy since it was able to peacefully proclaim independence in 1991. Here we are, almost 23 years later, and that democracy, which was so fragile, has been ruthlessly undermined by President Viktor Yanukovych and his government.
I was in Ukraine monitoring the presidential elections of 2010 when President Viktor Yanukovych won. I was back there in 2012 for the parliamentary elections. I can say that the people of Ukraine never voted for this type of governance. They want their voices to be heard. That is what the protests that have been taking place for the last two and a half months in Kiev and other cities are about. They are disappointed in their government. They are disappointed that it walked away from the European co-operative agreement and closer trade relationships with Europe. They are upset that the government of Ukraine continues to slide more and more, that it is becoming entrenched with the Russian government, that it is not acting as a free and independent country, and that it is quashing the civil liberties, rights and freedoms of everyone who lives in Ukraine.
Earlier today, we all condemned the violence. We are saddened by the deaths that have occurred. We know there are hundreds of innocent protesters, many of whom have been targeted by using cellphones. Journalists have been specifically targeted, as have academics. As we often see in dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, those who are in power go after the intellects. These people have been imprisoned, and we have not heard from them.
We know about the people who were killed on the streets. At least two of them were killed by sniper fire. Despite this, we have not heard about the others who have been arrested. There are allegations that they have been tortured.
We have not heard about what is happening with so many who were arrested in hospital. After some of the riots occurred on the streets of Kiev, people went to the hospital to get treatment. The police came in, arrested them and denied them treatment. Many of them were taken outside the city and dumped in the forest. We know of at least one death that resulted from that.
We want to express our condolences to the friends and families who have lost their loved ones. We saw one of the funerals yesterday and how everyone rallied around and proclaimed him a hero.
The Ukrainian government, and probably the International Criminal Court, has to look into what has occurred here. Those who are responsible for the violence and brutality against innocent activists have to be brought to justice. They have to face the consequences and be held to account.
We are going to continue to call on Ukraine. Tomorrow, in the Ukrainian parliament, MPs will have their debate and hopefully repeal that entire draconian law. However, the Ukrainian security forces have to be removed from the streets. They have to allow the people the chance to take a step back, evaluate the situation, and continue with their peaceful protests until the government respects their wishes. We have to see that happen.
A lot of questions are going to be asked tonight about what actions we can take as a nation. The Government of Canada is engaged with like-minded nations in Europe, as well as the United States and others, to bring an international resolution, one that can turn the tables on the current government to allow it to make the right decisions and start working toward a new election. It should make sure that the election laws it has been gerrymandering for the last two years are fixed so that Ukraine can have free and fair elections for the presidential elections at the end of this year.
There is a lot of work to be done. It has to be done on a diplomatic level. We are starting to see some of those diplomatic interventions coming to bear. Our ambassador of religious freedom, Andrew Bennett, is on the ground, looking at the whole issue of the attack on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and how it has been singled out and threatened for providing pastoral services to its parishioners and others who are on the street.
I am glad we were able to pass this resolution earlier today. I know that all of us stand united in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. We know that Canadian Ukrainians across the country are watching the events unfold very carefully. I have been providing a lot of advice, and I say to them and the people of Ukraine, Slava Ukraini.