Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the discussion on Ukraine at this important and troubling juncture. Let me just say, for my Ukrainian friends.
[Member speaks in Ukrainian language].
I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Souris—Moose Mountain.
Since we last met in the House in a special session to discuss Ukraine, in December of last year, the situation in this beleaguered country has indeed deteriorated significantly. The government of Viktor Yanukovych has become even more brutal and more authoritarian. Acts of repression and intimidation have become well-worn tactics of the administration and of the security services. The use of violence by the state against peaceful protestors has become routine and widespread. The free press, brave journalists, religious figures and democracy activists have been muzzled. Ukrainians have been beaten and kidnapped and some, indeed, have been killed.
Tonight, the people of Ukraine face off against a government that has squandered whatever fragment of legitimacy it might once have had. The Yanukovych government has brought this situation upon itself, exacerbating civil unrest by using thuggish strong-arm tactics to try to pull the protest movement apart and by ignoring parliamentary process to push through a new set of repressive and illegitimate laws designed to silence legitimate dissent and facilitate a crackdown. The brave people of Ukraine could not be expected to be docile and submissive in the face of such repression. Ukrainians are brave and determined people and they know how to endure unbelievable hardship and tyranny, as they demonstrated a long time ago during the Holodomor. They will not let their country creep toward tyranny and dictatorial rule.
This protest movement started off in early December as a reaction to the unpopular and last-minute decision by Viktor Yanukovych to reject an offer for closer association with Europe, an offer that would have benefited all Ukrainians. However, because of the government's disproportionate and unprovoked counterattack on the protestors and on the ideals they espouse, this movement has become something more. It is not only about Ukraine's relationship with Europe and the communities of western democracies; the protestors demand an accountable government that respects human rights and the rule of law. This movement is now spreading across the country, and its outcome will be decisive for the future of Ukraine.
On the evening of January 25, in talks between the government and Ukraine's main opposition leaders, Yanukovych offered two key opposition leaders the posts of prime minister and deputy prime minister in a government that he, Yanukovych, would continue to lead, along with some minor concessions whereby he agreed to amend, not repeal, the draconian anti-protest laws he had pushed through his parliament 10 days prior. The opposition leaders, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Vitali Klitschko, rejected the offers, as they should. They rejected these offers because they constituted an attempt to co-opt the opposition, not accommodate it.
The opposition's demands are legitimate and they are clear. They are to release all citizens who have been detained by law enforcement bodies for participation in protest actions that followed adoption of the dictatorship laws on January 16, 2014; to pass a law that exempts from responsibility and guarantees absence of criminal responsibility in the future for participants in protests that took place after January 16, 2014; to invalidate the package of dictatorship laws, passed on January 16, which grossly violate the Ukrainian constitution and other long-established legal instruments and procedures; to begin the process of revising the Ukrainian constitution to better protect civil rights and liberties; and finally, to dismiss the cabinet of ministers, so many of whom have had a direct hand in facilitating this crackdown against legitimate civil dissent.
I believe that Canada should support these calls for change and that we should encourage the Ukrainian government to re-engage in talks with the opposition on the basis of these principles. In this respect, I am encouraged by the news today that the United Nations will dispatch a mediator to Ukraine. In the meantime, the opposition and the Euromaidan movement need Canada's moral, political, diplomatic and material support, and they can count on it.
At the outset of the crisis on December 6, the Minister of Foreign Affairs travelled to Kiev. He expressed Canada's deep disappointment that the Ukrainian government had, in balking at implementing the measures necessary to sign an association agreement with the European Union, effectively suspended that country's path toward democratic development and economic prosperity, all at the hands, frankly, of Vladimir Putin and Russia. This was clearly not the wish of the Ukrainian people.
While in Kiev, the Minister of Foreign Affairs met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kozhara, to express grave concerns about the Ukrainian government's crackdown on mass protests against its decision to suspend negotiations with the European Union.
The minister also visited Independence Square, where he personally met with many of the protesters. We saw that on television. People in the square chanted, “Thank you, Canada” and cheered when the minister arrived. Afterwards, the minister said:
The clear signals of the Ukrainian people have been broadcast around the world, and the most concerning and disappointing aspect has been the government's reaction to these peaceful protests. We will continue to stand with those Ukrainians that believe in freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Canada sent more than two dozen election observers to Ukraine to monitor parliamentary byelections being held amid this crisis, on December 15, in five electoral districts where electoral fraud had invalidated the results of the nationwide parliamentary elections of 2012.
Through the end of December and into January, the Yanukovych government, seeing that the protesters in Kiev's Independence Square showed no signs of abandoning either their posts or their principles, could have taken this as a signal to begin negotiations with the opposition. He could have pulled police and interior ministry forces back from a confrontational posture. He could have taken steps to show that he had heard the will of the people and would respect and recognize a form of protest that had been both peaceful and popular.
Yanukovych did none of this. Instead, he ratcheted up the pressure. He maligned and defamed the opposition leadership. He loosened the reins on his security forces, and he enacted new repressive laws. This is when the beatings, the disappearances, and the killings began. In response, the protest movement spread, and while remaining remarkably restrained, naturally became more volatile in some quarters.
Yanukovych's justice minister threatened to impose a state of emergency. This is the state of affairs in Ukraine tonight. The international community is rightly concerned.
I have mentioned that the United Nations announced today that it will dispatch a mediator to Kiev. We shall see in the days ahead whether this initiative will produce positive results for the people of Ukraine. I certainly hope it does.
The European Union has condemned the government's excesses and has called for restraint. The United States has revoked the visas of Ukrainian authorities deemed to have had a hand in these acts of oppression. Like Canada, the U.S. has also said that all policy options for holding responsible those implicated in acts of violence and repression may remain on the table.
The Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, has called on the Ukrainian authorities to do their utmost to prevent a further escalation of tension, to carry out investigations promptly, and to bring those responsible for the casualties and violence to justice.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has pointed out that the Ukrainian government is ultimately responsible for protecting peaceful demonstrators and that a sovereign, independent, and stable Ukraine, firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law, is key to Euro-Atlantic security.
Whatever direction this crisis takes, the Ukrainian people should know that they can count on support from their friends in Canada. As evidence, Canada's embassy in Kiev has been engaged with the Maidan and with key opposition figures as well as with the government throughout this crisis.
Our diplomats have conducted spot checks and have maintained a visible presence at protest sites in a clear demonstration that Canada and the world is watching. No act of violence or oppression will go unnoticed or unaccounted for by Canada.
At the same time, our embassy has been closely coordinating positions, messaging, and diplomatic actions on the ground in Kiev with our American and European partners, all with a view to urging restraint while demanding accountability for the democratic will of the Ukrainian people.
Canada's $20 million a year development assistance program in Ukraine is targeted towards supporting democratic civil society, instituting electoral reform, combatting corruption, and helping small and medium enterprises in Ukraine grow.
Since Ukraine's renewed independence in 1991, Canada has played a pioneering and influential role, promoting freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in this important country with which Canadians share such deep historical, cultural, and people-to-people ties. That role will continue, especially in the midst of crisis.
The Government of Canada is determined to continue to assist the Ukrainian people in achieving their aspirations for a fully free and democratic society. They must know that they have our support. We share their values. We share their aspirations. Their struggle is our struggle.
[Member spoke in Ukrainian]