Mr. Chair, I am honoured to take part in this very important debate in support of Ukraine tonight.
I would like to begin by praising the Ukrainian Canadian diaspora for their support and commitment to Ukraine. That is all 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage and the organizations that organize this community like the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, League of Ukrainian Canadians, League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, Canada Ukraine Foundation and the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce and so many others. They have been absolutely incredible and I thank them all so sincerely for their efforts and their leadership.
There is a new medical mission leaving this week on a diaspora-led mission and recently as well Canada has sent 1,100 tactical medical units and 238 sets of state-of-the-art night vision goggles to Ukraine's army.
I also praise Canadians in Ukraine like Lenna Koszarny and others who in collaboration with Canada's Ambassador to Ukraine, Roman Waschuk, have ensured that all materiel has been sent, received and delivered accordingly. Well done for them.
Whether it takes months, years or decades, Crimea will return to its rightful place in Ukraine. Canada will never recognize the illegal Russian occupation of any Ukrainian territory.
Mr. Putin must also stop his campaign to undermine all of his neighbours in the Baltic states and in the west with his very dangerous information war waged against all of us and particularly directed at the Russian people themselves as he drifts closer and closer to Russia's totalitarian past. By doing so, Putin perceives enemies and threats where none existed and now continues to threaten global peace and security.
The Russian people have big hearts and big souls. Russians are generous and kind people who are being misdirected by their own leadership. They are being misdirected by Putin and his oligarch facilitators who continue to prosper despite a failing economy while his weapons expansion continues and the Russian people increasingly suffer and go without. His war upon his own people is intended to methodically eliminate the democracy that they very much deserve after the long dark years of communism.
I am very proud of the role Canada is playing to promote peace and stability in Eastern Europe today and to bring stabilization to Ukraine so the Ukrainian people can chose their own path, democratically, in a free and prosperous Ukrainian nation.
Unprecedented in the post-Cold War era, Russia's aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the broader importance of the transatlantic security relationship and that of NATO, in particular. As a founding member of NATO, Canada has a long-standing commitment to promoting security in Central and Eastern Europe. This commitment was evidenced by our swift response to the current crisis. In fact, the Government of Canada was among the first to respond to NATO's call for contributions to the alliance's immediate assurance measures.
As ever, the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces answered the call and I am proud to have served alongside them during my time in the military.
Early on, Canada deployed soldiers to Poland and Eastern and Central Europe as part of Operation Reassurance. Over the last 12 months, our soldiers have taken part in numerous training exercises aimed at building the capacity of our allies.
An important contribution to NATO's persistent presence in the region, Canada has taken on a leadership role in training exercises designed to develop and enhance interoperability, readiness, joint operations capability and multinational responses to potential crises.
Indeed, since the initial deployment last year, over 500 Canadian Armed Forces members have participated in exercises in Poland, Germany, Lithuania and Latvia and more will continue to. There are presently approximately 220 soldiers stationed in Drawsko Pomorskie and soon there will be approximately 200 Canadian soldiers in Ukraine helping to develop capacity in Ukraine's army. That was recently announced by Canada's Minister of National Defence and we thank him for that announcement.
Their deployment not only represents a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to NATO, but also of the readiness and professionalism of the Canadian Armed Forces. The leadership role undertaken by Canadian Armed Forces at training exercises during Operation Reassurance is a testament to our determination to increase this interoperability.
Canada is a proud ally and we will work very closely with our allies in NATO and in Ukraine. Canada will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine.
This Prime Minister and this government and our ministers will make sure of it.