Debates of March 20th, 2017

Operation UNIFIER

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Chair, I am pleased to rise this evening to debate this important issue. We are talking about Operation Unifier, but what exactly is that?

Basically, this operation is a demonstration of strength and commitment, made to demonstrate Canada's commitment to Ukraine, an ally, in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine's territory.

Following a coup d'état, Russia took control of Crimea. Putin's Russia continues to support troops fighting the Ukrainian government, in eastern Ukraine. Russia is supporting the chaos for its own personal gains. That is troubling. It is even more troubling to see the recent escalation of conflict in the region despite the Minsk agreement, signed in 2016. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, has identified over 3,099 violations of the agreement since it was signed. We cannot say that the situation is stable or is improving in any way.

When we were in power, Stephen Harper made a point of sending a clear message to the entire world regarding Canada's position on the Russian-backed rebel actions in Ukraine. The members will recall the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, in 2014 when Mr. Harper called on Mr. Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine. Mr. Harper never missed an opportunity to raise this issue with the Russian leader.

The Ukrainian government had Canada's full support for ensuring the integrity of its territory. That is why we sent troops to help train the Ukrainian army in its fight against Russian-backed forces. We also collaborated on other levels. We sent materiel that the Ukrainian army needed in its fight: helmets, flak jackets, winter clothing, and night goggles. It is very important to remember that we also shared with the Ukrainian government geostrategic information gathered by our satelites. Through this surveillance we are able to see the trains delivering military equipment, ammunition, and fuel to the Donbass region where anti-government forces are operating.

This evening, this take-note debate gives us the opportunity to discuss everyone's expectations of Operation Unifier. Since the Liberals came to power things have changed, and not always for the best, unfortunately. The Liberals announced that the operation would be extended, but they did so quietly, as though they were afraid to upset their Russian friends, as though they were ashamed to stand by Ukraine.

The Liberals and the Prime Minister go around saying that Canada is back. Yes, Canada is back, but where? We are back to buddy-buddy relations with Putin's Russia, the aggressor in the current situation, and we should not forget that. The Liberals normalized relations with Russia without asking for anything in return that would bring to an end the despicable acts committed in Ukraine or other eastern European countries.

Canada has also gone back to political window dressing. In announcing the extension of Operation Unifier, the Liberals eliminated an important element. In fact, on May 6, 2016, the Liberals stopped sharing information collected by our RADARSAT satellites. However, this information is crucial to the operations of the Ukrainian army. This type of information has saved the lives of many Ukrainians. Nevertheless, giving an ally the resources needed to control the advance of Russian-backed forces on its territory is not important for the Liberals, or at least it does not seem to be.

The Liberals are also refusing to sign a defence co-operation agreement with Ukraine, as the United Kingdom did.

We must also be able to read Putin's game. He takes advantage of the instability all over the world for personal gain. While everyone is fighting against ISIS, the Russians continue to throw their weight around in Ukraine to increase their influence in the country.

Considering the situation, we must help our ally, Ukraine, and ensure it has the means to fight foreign aggression. If aggression is on the rise, as it is now, our support must increase accordingly. We should regard an attack on the sovereignty of one of our allies as an attack on Canadian sovereignty.

With this in mind, and this is the goal of tonight's debate, we call on the Liberals to do the following: first, immediately restore the practice of sharing intelligence gathered using our RADARSAT satellite with Ukrainian authorities; second, add Ukraine to the automatic firearms country control list and supply Ukrainian military forces with lethal defensive equipment; third, sign and implement the Canada-Ukraine defence co-operation agreement; fourth, increase the number of OSCE monitors to report on violations of the Minsk agreement; fifth, provide additional humanitarian assistance to support the 1.6 million internally displaced people in Ukraine, urge Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereign territory and abide by all aspects of the Minsk agreement; and lastly, strengthen sanctions to hold corrupt foreign officials to account by implementing our Magnitsky legislation.

If the Liberals really care about the situation in Ukraine, they must tackle each of those points. Otherwise, they will send a clear signal that they could not care less about the future of Ukraine.

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Madam Chair, on March 6, the government was proud to announce the extension of the mission, a mission we are conducting with our partners, primarily those from the International Joint Commission, of which the United States, Great Britain, Ukraine and other countries are members.

With our allies, we have maintained strict sanctions against Russia. We continually denounce the Russian invasion of Crimea. We have worked and talked about RADARSAT intelligence as part of our agreements with the International Joint Commission and our allies. Each party draws on its own skills and strengths.

Since strengthening the economy is the first order of business, I would like to know what my distinguished colleague thinks about the free trade agreement concluded with Ukraine last summer, in July 2016.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for the question. I am obviously very pleased with the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement. If we can at least share our financial resources by signing free trade agreements then that is just great.

However, since Operation Unifier is a military operation, I maintain that we must reinstate the sharing of RADARSAT images in order to give strategic images to the Ukrainian forces. We need to provide this information to the forces on the ground. Ukraine also needs to be added to the list of designated countries with regard to automatic weapons and lethal weapons. Today, of course, we are talking about a military operation, not trade agreements.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for his intervention, and I want to thank him for his service to Canada as a lieutenant colonel in the Canadian Army and someone who understands what needs to be done when it comes to training to NATO standards. He is an individual who has trained in NATO countries and trained NATO forces. I want to ask him if he feels there is more that can be done under Operation Unifier to bring Ukrainian troops up to NATO standards. I also want to ask if would care to comment on the change of attitude that I hope we are starting to see from the government with the departure of the former foreign minister, Stéphane Dion, who wanted to appease Russia and engage in discussions, which was detrimental to having Russia pull out of Ukraine, and making sure there is no longer this illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea and Donbass.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his excellent question.

The work of our military cannot be disputed. Canadian soldiers sent to the theatre of operations are professionals who provide high quality training to Ukrainian soldiers.

However, it is important to understand that the deployment of military forces must also send a message. As I said at the beginning of my speech, as a country Canada must send a message to Russia, which is the aggressor in this case.

Therefore, we must support the Ukrainian forces, but Canada must take a stand and show a little more aggressively that we oppose Russia and we are defending our ally, Ukraine.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Kildonan—St. Paul.

Tonight we have heard in detail about Operation Unifier in support of our ally Ukraine. However, in my limited time, I would like to provide an historical and geopolitical context as to how this effort is the hard military front line of a global hybrid war against liberal democracy launched by President Putin.

Over 25 years ago, the Soviet totalitarian empire collapsed, and leading political thinkers declared that liberal democracy and free markets had won the Cold War. They pronounced the end of history and a great peace dividend to come.

Meanwhile, in East Germany, KGB officer Vladimir Putin watched the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the expulsion of the Soviet army and KGB bases from East Germany and the Warsaw Pact countries with personal fury. Later, President Putin called the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest calamity of the 20th century, not the Holocaust, the Holodomor, nor the two world wars, which cost 100 million lives.

Inside the KGB mind of Putin, World War II was a great victory, with the Kremlin's armies stationed on East German borders less than 600 kilometres from France. For agent Putin, the loss of this empire was an historic humiliation.

During the February 23, 2014 closing ceremonies of the Sochi Olympic Games in Russia, the world watched the pageantry in the stadium, including the ominous coming together of a giant hammer and sickle. In the west, most did not notice. As the son and grandson of refugees who escaped the horrors of the Soviet Union, I felt a foreboding. I called family in Ukraine. The symbolism was not lost on anyone in central and eastern Europe. Four days later, on February 27, an unprepared west witnessed a geopolitical event in Crimea that changed our world order. Putin ordered the military invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on the false pretext of Russian ethnic grievances. This had not been seen in Europe since the 1930s and Sudetenland. It was the first act in Putin's plan to dismember and collapse the Ukrainian state, its revolution of dignity and democracy. This Russian military annexation violated the letter and spirit of every post-World War II treaty and agreement guaranteeing the integrity of international borders. Our rules-based international order, which has largely prevented territorial wars of expansion, has been jeopardized. Today no small state bordering Russia can feel secure.

Soon after the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, and the west's initially confused response, Russia invaded Donbass. Today, three years hence, the result is that there are over 10,000 dead, approximately two million internally displaced, and a frozen hot conflict within Europe. Weekly, we receive reports of more Russian tanks and artillery systems being moved into Ukraine. Daily, we read the front-line casualty figures. In fact, in the last 24 hours, four Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action.

Within Crimea and occupied Donbass, extra-judicial arrests are commonplace, those incarcerated are tortured, and summary executions are frequent. Crimea's indigenous people, the Crimean Tatars, are particularly targeted. Their Mejlis, mosques, and schools are raided and closed, their leaders arrested or disappeared.

As part of Putin's hybrid global war against liberal democratic values and governments, Russian hydrocarbon billions corrupts political and corporate elites in the west, such as former German Chancellor Schröder and former U.S. security chief Michael Flynn. Far right nativist parties and movements are financed, such as Le Pen's National Front, political elections are sabotaged, the U.S. presidential election is hacked, and there is Montenegro's attempted coup d'état.

However, in this amorphous borderless global hybrid war, there is a hard military front line. It stretches from the Baltic to the Black Sea. With our U.S., British, and German allies, we have placed soldiers on Russia's borders with the Baltic states and Poland. In the Black Sea, we have placed a frigate and deployed air force personnel to train with Romania's air force. On this hard military front line, there is an active regional war in Donbass. There the Kremlin is testing the resolve of the democratic west. Will the west sacrifice Ukraine in the hope of satisfying Russian revanchist neo-imperialism in the manner that Czechoslovakia was sacrificed by the west after the invasion of Sudetenland?

Canada has made it clear that there will be no appeasement. While we diplomatically engage Russia, sanctions will continue, and the Canadian military will continue to deploy into Ukraine to help train and equip the Ukrainians as they head to the front lines. With Operation Unifier, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally Ukraine in the face of Russia's war against Ukraine, and we are containing Putin's—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry, the time is up. The member may be able to finish in questions and comments.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Thornhill.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, indeed I will give the member a chance to continue, with his answer to my question.

In describing this recent deadly, bloody, destructive surge by the Russian-directed forces in eastern Ukraine, my colleague seems to be making the arguments that we on this side of the House have been making for responding to Ukraine's appeal for an expansion of Operation Unifier, and for the defence of lethal weapons, the anti-tank, anti-armoured mobile artillery and satellite imagery, which the government in Kyiv has been so passionately requesting discretely, given the diplomatic appreciation of the basic extension of Operation Unifier. However, my colleague's remarks would seem to be supporting the feeling on this side of the House that we should be responding with much more to the request of the government of Ukraine.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, in fact, there is no light between the previous government's positions when it comes to Ukraine and the current government's position. What we have seen on this file is a realization in the House of Commons in Canada's Parliament, by all parties, that Ukraine needs to be supported. The NDP, the Greens, the Bloc, the Conservatives, and the Liberals have come together, whether it is the free trade agreement or when it comes to Operation Unifier.

When it comes to the second point with regard to how we can expand on this, our government has the front line of this war, the hard front military line that runs from the Baltic down to the Black Sea. We have engaged in a new mission. We have taken the lead in Latvia. We are on the front line with the Russian border when it comes to Latvia.

We have also instituted the Ukrainian Defence Reform Advisory Board, and put Jill Sinclair, a former assistant deputy minister of defence, on this board to help Ukraine as it works toward this ambitious goal to be NATO compliant by 2020. That is a new effort. We are helping Ukraine to become NATO compliant. We are also working on making sure that the whole front line is covered. We understand clearly what this hybrid Putin war entails.

As I said, it is encouraging that in the House everyone stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Chair, I would like to thank the hon. member, who is chair of our Canada-Ukraine Friendship Group. He does that very enthusiastically.

My question for the member is something that no one else this evening has spoken to, and it is a matter of contention in Ukraine. We know that some of the regions, like eastern Ukraine, are calling for a federated type of government, some kind of more decentralized government in decision-making, but there is great reluctance within the current national government to move in that direction.

What hope does the member see in there being some kind of resolution of that dispute? Would that in any way help to bring some of the people in eastern Ukraine more onside with Ukraine being on their side and there being some hope of working together as a nation again?

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, this question of federalization of the Ukrainian state has been around since 1991 when I was first engaged in Ukraine. It is a small minority that have pushed that particular political agenda. It does not have broad support among the people of Ukraine, nor does it have the broad political support. Where it did have support, in fact, was among groups such as former president Yanukovych's party, and the remnants of that party that still have some base in eastern Ukraine.

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Chair, I am proud to add my voice to those we have already heard on this important topic.

I have had the fortunate experience to visit Ukraine three times: first, with my family, as our place of heritage on my maternal and paternal sides; second, as a business owner and scientist; and finally, last November, as Canada's minister of labour, to provide assistance in workplace safety, especially in the heavy industrial sector of mineral exploration. In addition, I took a tour of Chernobyl, the world's largest single nuclear disaster.

We are continuing to build our connections with Ukraine, not only military ones, but also economic and cultural ones. Today, we are talking about that military stand with the renewal of Operation Unifier. Very significantly on the other front is the fact that we have signed the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. It represents an important milestone in the Canada-Ukraine relationship and will bring greater prosperity, economic security, and economic independence to the Ukrainian people.

It has been three years since Russia's illegal annexation and invasion of Crimea. Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity were violated. We were right to condemn it then, and we are right to continue to condemn it now. The occupation has led to distress, economic instability, and severe suppression of human rights. Canada has called on Russia to reverse this illegal and immoral decision. Ukrainians are tough and steadfast in their desire for a free, independent, democratic country.

My grandfathers and father emigrated from the villages of Senkiw and Bridok in Ukraine, and settled in southern Manitoba, in Arbakka and a little village called Senkiw after the one in the homeland with the first wave in 1896. For me as a second generation Canadian, my connection to Ukraine is strong. There are over 1.25 million Canadians who, like me, call themselves Ukrainian Canadians. We recognize the importance of continuing to partner with Ukraine and keeping our connection to the homeland alive generations down the road. This is why it gives me a great deal of pride to have had the opportunity to participate in sending 10 Canadian ambulances, five from my home province of Manitoba, to Ukraine. This was thanks to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress whose hard work keeps the connection between our two countries alive.

I must thank John Holuk and Myroslava Pidhirnyj of the UCC whose hard work brought the ambulances and medical kits to the people who need it most at the front line and in health service centres. These ambulances are a reminder that Ukrainians are still working hard to reach the same freedoms and standard of living that we enjoy in Canada, but they cannot do it alone. Sometimes they need ambulances; other times they need training and supplies. This is why we are proud to continue Operation Unifier standing at the forefront of the international community's response to the crisis. Operation Unifier gives us the chance to partner our military expertise, delivering military training and capacity building.

Canada's continued engagement in Ukraine demonstrates our reliability as a defence partner and our commitment to European security while we are enabling Ukrainian forces to defend their country's sovereignty and contribute to regional international stability. Canada's support is not limited only to the military assistance. It is much broader and includes policing, financial, developmental, and humanitarian supports.

We look forward to working with our partner, Ukraine, in the future.

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Madam Chair, I can tell the personal nature of this issue for my colleague from Kildonan—St. Paul as well as for my colleague from Etobicoke earlier, and for the people they have the pleasure of representing in their two communities.

I wonder if my colleague could speak to the unwavering support the Government of Canada and all Canadians have for Ukraine, not only as it relates to support and training of the military in Ukraine for the support of their sovereignty, security, and instability, but also the way the government, through development assistance, is supporting civil society and persons affected by the conflict, and the other ways in which Canada is showing its support for her ally, Ukraine.

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Chair, it is difficult in such a short time to explain the number of linkages that we have with Ukraine.

As I indicated before, just our scientific knowledge and the sharing we do there has been significant over the years. Back in 2004, we were an active participant in a program with the UN to mobilize Ukrainian scientists who had been trained in war science to find them domestic and industrial occupations around the world. If we look at Chernobyl and the disaster left for Ukraine to manage and ensure the leakage is contained, our contribution has been significant. Canada's contribution has been in engineering and science and monitoring. We also have an opportunity every year to see a group of young Ukrainian interns come to the House, to our Parliament. Many of us have taken on those young interns, and they have gone on to become activists back at home calling for democracy.

Probably the most significant thing we did was to help Ukraine move forward on its goal to become a free, independent country aligned with the EU and Canada through the free trade agreement.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I understand the member participated in a bit of a dog and pony show the Liberals took into Winnipeg with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to talk about the extension of Operation Unifier. I understand that the government took full credit for $700 million of humanitarian assistance in aid and loans that have been provided to Ukraine. I would point out that some 600 million of those dollars were provided by the previous Conservative government. I just offer her this opportunity to correct the record to lay out that this has been bipartisan, and indeed, there has been all-party support for Ukraine.

I would ask her to respond to the Ukrainian Canadian community's questions in Winnipeg of why the government is not supplying lethal weapons to the Ukrainian military to defend themselves from this Russian aggression.

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Chair, there is absolutely no question that the member opposite and the party across the aisle supported Ukraine in their term. That party invested and stood as a strong partner with Ukraine. The record shows that, and I am very proud to be on this side of the House continuing the very strong support in that partnership. There could be no doubt that both parties have been strong and true partners.

The situation now with a very aggressive and active war front on the Donetsk front is very troubling. There have been 10,000 wounded and thousands of soldiers' deaths. The capacity to handle an active front like that with such a large and mobilized opposition is troubling. Is it better to use words or military weapons? Given this circumstance, given what we have to play along the whole Russian front requires very complicated and delicate diplomatic manoeuvring. It is very important that we be very cautious when we look at how we handle the situation.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Calgary Nose Hill.

Canada and Ukraine share a special relationship. The Ukrainian diaspora in Canada is the largest outside Ukraine with more than 1.3 million Canadians claiming some connection to Ukraine.

Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2014, including the illegal annexation of Crimea on March 21, 2014, three years ago tomorrow. Estimates from different sources place the combined military and civilian casualty rate at close to 50,000. Let there be no misunderstanding that the conflict is ongoing and it can only go from bad to worse.

In April 2015, Prime Minister Harper, on behalf of Canada, responded to the deteriorating situation by announcing Canada would deploy approximately 200 Canadian Armed Forces personnel to Ukraine until March 31, 2017. For nearly two years, Canadian troops have been providing training in explosive ordnance disposal, flight safety, logistics system modernization, military policing, and medical training.

After repeated delays and requests from Ukraine's president, Canada has finally extended the mission to Ukraine until March 2019. As far as Canada's participation with this mission is concerned, my first concern has been and always will be for our Canadian soldiers and their families. This is a hot zone. Even before the announcement that Canada was extending the Ukraine mission, Petawawa was already preparing for a summer deployment.

On March 9, the Conservative Party, after months of giving the Prime Minister the opportunity to do the right thing, brought to the attention of Canadians the most recent example of how the Liberal Party devalues the dangers inherent in missions like the one we are debating today. The decision to claw back the danger pay of soldiers on the front line in the war against international terrorism has soldiers asking me if their pay will be cut by not receiving the proper recognition of being in a hot zone.

Soldiers remember being sent to Afghanistan without the proper uniforms. Soldiers remember their comrades from the conflict in Afghanistan who were killed or injured by a roadside bomb because the Liberal Party played politics with air support when it cancelled the helicopter contract. In fact, history repeats itself with the same type of politics being played with the fighter jet replacement. Without the proper strategic airlift to get soldiers off the roads, lives were needlessly sacrificed.

Soldiers are asking what else the Liberals will take away besides their danger pay. What happens when the injured soldier comes home?

I brought the case of Warrant Officer Roger Perreault to the floor of the House. His treatment has been nothing short of scandalous. What about the Roger Perreaults and other soldiers like him who are waiting to receive the critical injury benefits they so deserve? To the soldiers and veterans who are watching this debate, I want them to know I have their back.

As a veteran Conservative member of the Standing Committee on National Defence, I am pleased to confirm that through the defence committee, I have been pushing the government to accept the recommendations of the National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces ombudsman, Gary Walbourne, in the report presented last fall to the Minister of National Defence, “Simplifying the Service Delivery Model for Medically Releasing Members of the Canadian Armed Forces”. Specifically, soldiers need to know that if they are injured and no longer meet the universality of service requirement, the support is there.

Of the many problems that I am called upon to intervene in regarding service in the Canadian Armed Forces, the issues surrounding medical release are the most frustrating, both for releasing soldiers and their families. The need to provide the soldier a seamless transition has become an issue of crisis proportion since Prime Minister Chrétien first committed Canada to the mission in Afghanistan. It is time to move on and do what is right.

The first reform that must take place is to ensure no currently serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces is medically released without all services and benefits in place. Each year approximately 1,500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces are released due to illness or injury, of which about 600 are directly related to military service.

Once released from the Canadian Armed Forces, the soldier becomes the responsibility of Veterans Affairs Canada. Ill and injured members must prove to Veterans Affairs Canada their illness or injury was attributable to or aggravated by their military service. While the Canadian Armed Forces have all the medical and personnel information needed to support a claim, the information systems between the departments are completely independent of one another. Medically releasing soldiers are required to obtain medical and service documents from the Department of National Defence, and then to plead their case to Veterans Affairs.

Once again, I am calling on the government to implement the recommendations given in the report from the military ombudsman.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague from Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, the vice-chair of the national defence committee, for her passion and her support for the Canadian Armed Forces. She has always fought to ensure that they are well represented at committee and in the House; that their care, needs, and benefits are, first and foremost, at the forefront of our debates here; and that they get the proper equipment and kit to do the jobs they are so often called upon to do.

In the situation in Ukraine, there are over 200 members of the Canadian Armed Forces training with Ukrainian military members. They are somewhat removed from harm's way, but at the same time, the situation over there is fluid. Russia has a very advanced military and can move over a lot of territory very quickly.

I would ask the member to talk about the concerns she has about danger pay, tax benefits, and things provided to those in the armed forces and in support of military families back home that are dealing with long periods of separation from their loved ones who are deployed. Can she talk about how that should be implemented for Operation Unifier and Operation Reassurance, with our troops going to Latvia?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Chair, it is really important to have a seamless transition so that when military personnel are injured, be it in training at home or in helping in training train overseas, they know that if something happens to them, they will be taken care of, and if they cannot meet the universality of service, they will have the proper pension in place without having to fight another fight for it.

My colleague mentioned earlier what is needed over there. In June 2014, there was a Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association meeting in Vilnius. Soldiers from the front were parliamentarians. Olekas was leading the delegation. He was on crutches, because he had been injured. I still have his list today, and it sounds like he is still asking for more of the same. He says they do not need advice. What they need are helmets and body armour. Our troops have the wonderful Pacific Safety Products fragmentation protective vests, but they are using pieces of tin. I hope we will provide them with what is needed where we can.

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Madam Chair, no one will debate how much everyone in the House respects the women and men of our Canadian Armed Forces. I am pleased that we finally have a Minister of National Defence who is willing to work hard to overcome some of the challenges the women and men in uniform have faced, given the last 10 years of the previous government's leadership on that file.

As it relates to Canada's mission in Ukraine and support for the Ukrainian people, I wonder if the member opposite has any comments on how important it is that we extend this mission to ensure that the armed forces in Ukraine are receiving the support they need to maintain their sovereignty, security, and stability and how support for the Ukrainian people will help enhance their democracy, the rule of law, and security for the people of Ukraine.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Chair, ongoing support is very important. At that parliamentary association meeting in Vilnius in 2014, the Lithuanians were commemorating their 25 years of independence, and they unveiled a museum. It showed different depictions of what they went through when they were fighting for their independence, but unlike the history itself, they wanted to show solidarity with Ukraine. For every battle they went through for their independence, they showed what Ukraine was going through at that time. It was just a few short months before that Putin's Russian forces had invaded Crimea. The stark memory I have is of the Lithuanians' body armour. They were two flat pieces of tin held together at the shoulders with men's pants belts. That is what they were using for body armour.

They require continued support in materials and training, and, of course, in looking for the lost treasury, which was stolen by their former president.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Chair, I will start my speech by giving a deep note of thanks and appreciation to the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces who are participating in this mission and other missions abroad. Oftentimes we do not take enough time to appreciate the sacrifice of these people and their families in upholding the law and the Canadian vision of democracy and peace around the world.

I am disappointed that the first debate the Liberals have initiated in the House of Commons is on a mission that the Conservatives put forward. The Liberals are really not doing anything different with respect to this mission and have declined to start debate on sending our men and women in the armed forces into harm's way on a peacekeeping mission, which for all intents and purposes is just a bid to buy a seat on the UN Security Council. They should be ashamed of that, given the UN's complete lack of any sort of response to the crisis in Syria. The Liberals are exceptionally misguided in their approach to defence and foreign policy in this regard.

None the less, this debate gives me an opportunity to highlight the fact that it was our Conservative government that took leadership in starting Operation Unifier. We were one of the first voices in the world to firmly and strongly stand against the illegal occupation of Crimea and to stand with the people of Ukraine, especially in light of the exceptional contributions that the people of Ukraine have made to Canada's history. As an Alberta MP, whenever I have an opportunity to talk about the contribution of the Ukrainian community in Alberta, I always choose to do so, and I am acknowledging that today.

In the brief time I have, I would like to speak about my exceptional disappointment in this self-congratulatory exercise that the Liberals are engaging in tonight. They have done little to nothing to address the issue of internally displaced people in Ukraine. I do have to give credit to my colleague who is the chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. He went against his party to a certain extent and forced a study on internally displaced people around the world and how the government would respond to that. In that committee study, we heard testimony, which frankly made vomit rise in my mouth, about the situation facing over 1.2 million people in Ukraine.

If members have not had a chance to read the recommendations in the report that came out last summer, I would encourage them to read the testimony. The human rights violations and abuses against internally displaced people in Ukraine should light the world on fire. The Liberal government has done nothing on the internally displaced persons issue to date in spite of the Ukrainian community in Canada asking for action.

The Liberal immigration minister stands in the House of Commons and talks about how the Liberals are bringing in tens of thousands of refugees. However, I have not once heard about the prioritization of internally displaced persons from Ukraine. It is wrong for the Liberals to stand in the House of Commons and force a take-note debate on this issue without talking about how IDPs are going to be supported.

There has been a lot of discussion about the amount of aid going from Canada to assist Ukraine. Before my Liberal colleagues get up and offer talking points in this regard, I would note and pre-empt them by saying that most of that money was announced under the previous Conservative government. There has been little to no additional support for Ukraine announced in spite of what we expect to be an unprecedented level of deficit to be presented in the federal budget this year.

With my remaining time, I would draw the attention of my colleagues to the statement made by my colleague from Thornhill on some of the things the Liberal government should be doing to support this initiative, including supporting and implementing Magnitsky legislation. I have heard nothing from the Liberal government indicating that it wants to support this. This is a huge call from the Ukrainian community in Canada and around the world.

A number of recommendations from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress have not been addressed by the Liberal government to date. If the Liberals have the audacity to stand in the House of Commons and pat themselves on the back, I wish they would do so by offering something new.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Chair, I wonder if the hon. member would care to comment on what the missed opportunity might have been with the $11 billion in lapsed funding that the defence department turned back to the federal treasury in 2015, or perhaps the $1.13 billion that Veterans Affairs turned back over to the treasury in the years leading up to 2014. It looks as though we missed some opportunities there to do some of the things that the member is advocating now.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Chair, any time a Liberal, especially a rookie member of Parliament from the Liberal Party, stands in the House of Commons and decries any sort of defence funding, I would ask him to look to his colleagues, who have consistently voted against any sort of expenditure increase to the Department of National Defence. I would ask him to talk to colleagues who were in the House of Commons when a former Liberal government sent our men and women in uniform into the desert in bright green camo.

The Liberal government's record on supporting our men and women in uniform is not only misguided and dangerous: it is woefully abysmal. I find it extremely rich that the member would even raise this point at this hour of the night.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Before we carry on, I want to ask hon. members not to think of characterizations of other hon. members in such a way.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman.