Mr. Chair, the member opposite said she believes that we all want to lead by example. I am going to challenge her a bit on this because I would like her to explain something for me. When the minister went to Kiev between December 3 to 5, he was in the square and met with protestors. At that time, the member for Ottawa Centre, her party's critic on these issues said, in criticizing our minister, that “...joining the protest signals that you're…on one side”.
I am interested tonight to know when the New Democrats decided that they needed to join one side, because clearly they seem to be on the same side that we are on now. The member for Ottawa Centre also wanted to know why the minister was even out there speaking to those brave Ukrainian demonstrators.
I wonder if the member could go through the thought processes that the New Democrats went through, from standing squarely on the fence on December 5 to where they have joined with us, and claim to be joining with us, in defending the rights of Ukrainian citizens.