Mr. Chair, I am grateful for the opportunity to rise and participate in tonight's take-note debate on Operation Unifier.
I want to start by saluting the work of the men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces, who have been participating for some time now, and by expressing my support for their continued involvement in Operation Unifier.
There has been great support within the Ukrainian community in Canada. I am fortunate to come from a part of the country where there is a large Ukrainian community that historically has made great contributions to Manitoba and to Winnipeg through the farming culture in rural Manitoba, as well as in Winnipeg's industrial economy and through the railway, particularly CN, which is strong in the community of Transcona, where I am from. This community continues to make great contributions. People continue to immigrate from Ukraine to Transcona. The contribution of Ukraine in my part of the world continues to be a real and important contribution.
There is the temptation sometimes to think that it is just because of that close historical connection that people within the Ukrainian community in Canada want to advocate for Ukraine, but it is important to note that it is not just that. It diminishes the great contribution and support that we see from that community to think that somehow it is just a sentimental one.
What is going on in Ukraine is not just something to be concerned about if one has a sentimental attachment to Ukraine. It is also about a principle. Russia, as a big superpower, thinks it can get away with simply walking into a neighbour's territory because no one is prepared to stop it. That is a principle that the Ukrainian Canadian community has been standing up to defend. It is not just a sentiment. The community's defence of that principle and its support for Ukraine are important. It is important that we ensure that we are doing everything we can to bring resources to bear in order to make that support real and effective within Ukraine for the sake of Ukraine and for the sake of all the neighbouring states along the Russian border that are also fearful that if what has already transpired in Ukraine is allowed to pass and perhaps worsen, they will be next on the Russian hit list of countries that are going to lose their independence to a large neighbour.
If there is going to be some meaningful resistance to Russia's actions within Ukraine and in the territories surrounding it, it is important that it not be just Ukraine against Russia, whether it is supported by Canada and other allies or not. It is important that it not just be Canada against Russia. What is really important is that it be a truly multilateral effort, because no one country standing up to Russia is going to get that message across. Russia needs to hear that the rest of the world is united in standing up to countries that would take advantage of their neighbours and fail to respect the territorial integrity of their neighbours and think that simply because they have the larger army, they can get away with doing whatever they want.
That is why it is so important that Canada participate fully in Operation Unifier. We are not the answer just on our own, but we are a necessary part of the only answer that can check Russian aggression in Ukraine and across the world.
That is why I am going to respectfully disagree with my colleague from Edmonton Griesbach. I do think that he is right that a change in position on the part of the United States does not mean that Canada should change its position. Maybe it is just a question of wording, but to say that the change in position on the part of the United States is not relevant is a mistake. It is relevant. It is important for Canada as the closest friend and ally of the United States to also be doing work there, to be doing our utmost on the diplomatic front with the United States to make sure that the new U.S. president's desire to have a closer relationship with Russia does not end up undermining this multilateral effort to help protect and support Ukraine.
It simply would be false to think that the United States does not have a significant possibility of undermining that effort if its position with respect to Ukraine changes substantially in order to court closer relationships with Russia. If that ends up happening, and I am not saying that is what will happen, but we as Canadians have to be prepared to extend our support to Ukraine even diplomatically within the United States if that is what it takes to make sure that the new administration does not let its desire to have a closer relationship with Russia get the better of it. That is an important component of the support we would offer there if it ends up being needed.
The other thing we could be doing and need to be doing alongside providing training to the Ukrainian armed forces is also to provide training within the civil administration of Ukraine to fight issues of corruption which we know are there and in some cases are undermining the efforts of the armed forces there and of the government. That is an important part. If we are going to provide resources, we need to make sure that the Ukrainian administration is able to receive those and deploy them properly. Providing the kind of training it takes to be able to root out corruption within an administration is an important part of guaranteeing the success of that operation and making sure that the resources we are sending are going to where they are needed so that Ukraine can ultimately be successful in standing up to Russia.
Another component of that is the Government of Canada has said that it will join the small arms treaty. It is important that it do that. I believe it was last June when the Liberals said they were going to do it. We are coming up on June again in not too long a time. Participating in international efforts to ensure that when small arms are moving from one country to another they end up where they are supposed to end up and not somewhere else is an important part of being able to supply resources with confidence.
Those are some of the things we would like to see the government move forward on. We think that is an essential part of making sure that the resources we are providing to Ukraine are used to their full capacity and do not end up somewhere else. When we talk about some of the difficult things we have to do sometimes to support friends in other countries, that means sometimes saying “no” to people here. We saw it with the Saudi arms deal where we know that people are producing and trading arms out of Canada. Saying “no” to them sometimes is a difficult thing to do because they make a lot of money, but if we are going to be an effective force for peace in the world, we need to make sure that we are not letting people who are producing arms in Canada sell them in ways that result in those arms not being where they should be and getting into the hands of the wrong people. That is important enough that it bears mention in this debate.
Those are some of my thoughts that I wanted to put on the record for the sake of this take-note debate. I am happy to take a few questions.