Mr. Speaker, last week, President Zelenskyy came to Canada looking for more support to defeat the Russian invaders. He should have left here reassured that his visit was a huge success, but instead the Liberals created a diplomatic nightmare that completely overshadowed President Zelenskyy’s visit.
The Prime Minister’s negligence has fuelled the Russian propaganda machine. The hurt this caused to Ukrainian and Jewish communities is unimaginable. Ukraine has already survived multiple genocides: the Holocaust, the Holodomor and the Sürgünlik of the Crimean Tatars. This incident is deeply personal. President Zelenskyy himself is Jewish and lost family in the Holocaust. His defence minister, Rustem Umerov, is a Muslim Crimean Tatar born in the gulag.
It is time for the Prime Minister to stand in his place and publicly apologize to President Zelenskyy, the people of Ukraine and, indeed, all Canadians.