QUESTION PERIOD — Global Affairs
Support for Ukraine
February 28, 2024
Senator Gold, since 2018, commonsensical Conservatives have been calling on your government to do more to support Ukraine as they continue to defend their country from Russia’s illegal invasion. Justin Trudeau has tried to divide and distract Canadians in his rhetoric on Ukraine, but has failed to deliver the military equipment that Ukraine needs.
Ukraine has asked the Government of Canada to provide them with 83,000 surplus CRV7 rockets currently stockpiled by the Canadian Armed Forces. Instead of making Canadians pay millions of dollars to decommission these weapons, why doesn’t your government give these weapons to Ukraine? Even the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence agreed with the Conservative motion at committee to do just that.
What is your government waiting for? Why don’t we get this badly needed military equipment to Ukraine so that the people of Ukraine can fight off this Russian invasion?
Thank you for your question. The support of this government for Ukraine and its defence against Russia’s illegal invasion has been strong and unwavering. The government has committed over $2.4 billion in military aid from tanks to armoured vehicles to ammunition and, indeed, has announced an additional $3 billion in military support for Ukraine.
When it comes to delivering on our commitments, the government remains in close contact with the Ukrainian government and our allies to continue to help Ukraine meet its needs during this time of war.
Senator Gold, recently, a Ukrainian news story headline said that Justin Trudeau was a “great talker.” That’s the reality. Now we need to go from talk to action. There are 31,000 Ukrainians who have lost their lives in this invasion, so we have to take action. The Ukrainian government has even offered to come and take this equipment to make sure they can get it to the front line.
Your government seems to be very good at allowing thousands of stolen vehicles to leave quickly out of the ports in this country. Why can’t you, in an effective and efficient way, get this military aid to Ukraine ASAP?
Canada is delivering aid to Ukraine in a tangible, concrete and real way, and it will continue to do so to help Ukrainians defend themselves against Russian aggression. It will do everything it can, both in terms of aid and other measures of support, to also support the Ukrainian people as they struggle this winter with the war that has devastated their country.
