As questions and uncertainty swirls around the potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, Canadian federal party leaders and their members are calling on the federal government to preserve peace and prevent military action in the region.
Foreign policy experts are concerned about the possibility of another invasion taking place, much like the annexation of Crimea in 2014, following the removal of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s democratic president.
NDP critic for foreign affairs, Heather McPherson called for “a peaceful solution to this crisis” ahead of last week’s emergency debate on Ukraine support.
“Like many Canadians, New Democrats are alarmed by escalating threats of further Russian invasion into Ukraine and the danger this poses to the Ukrainian people and their democracy,” McPherson said in a January 31 statement, noting “Canada was the first country to recognize Ukraine’s independence 30 years ago.”
McPherson wrote that the NDP “has always believed peace is achievable through diplomacy,” while noting the New Democrats were the first party to “bring up the concerns in Ukraine at the foreign affairs committee.”
The NDP is calling on the Trudeau government to focus its efforts on deterrents, including “diplomacy, non-lethal assistance, and possible economic sanctions against Russia.”
“Bloodshed must be avoided through coordinated international pressure and stronger sanctions,” she added.
NDP urging Trudeau to focus on gender-based violence
McPherson and the NDP has also called on the Trudeau government to “honour its commitment to the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda to ensure the full inclusion of women in all diplomatic, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding efforts.”
In a statement to rabble.ca, McPherson noted the party has “tabled a motion in the foreign affairs committee to ensure that all studies done incorporate perspectives and witnesses who use a gender analysis in order to assess the impact on women and girls globally.”
McPherson noted that “conflicts of this scale often disproportionately affect women and girls due to gender-based violence.”
“Because of this in 2000, Canada joined other countries in signing the UN resolution on Women, Peace and Security, calling for active and meaningful participation in all conflict-prevention and conflict-resolution mechanisms,” she said. “New Democrats are urging the federal government to stick to that commitment.”
Liberals focused on de-escalation, Green Party calling for major foreign policy reform
On January 26, the Prime Minister called on Russia to “de-escalate and engage in meaningful dialogue until a peaceful diplomatic solution is reached.”
He announced additional support for Ukraine, authorizing a three-year extension for the Operation UNIFIER training mission—a $340 million commitment.
As part of the support, the federal government revealed its plan to deploy an additional 60 personnel to join the roughly 200 people on the ground, noting the capacity could soon rise to 400.
“This also includes a provision of non-lethal equipment, intelligence sharing, and support to combat cyber-attacks,” Trudeau explained.
Trudeau also announced the federal government would provide up to $50 million to “deliver development and humanitarian aid.” That’s in addition to a $120 million loan Canada granted Ukraine in January.
In a press release issued ahead of a January 31 emergency debate, interim leader of the Green Party of Canada, Amita Kuttner, urged the Trudeau government to “take a more active role in an expanded diplomatic effort towards a permanent ceasefire in the conflict zones of eastern Ukraine.”
Warning that Russian intervention in Ukraine could “trigger a NATO military response,” Kuttner noted “there is no winning with an armed conflict.”
“Any military action by Russia must be met with a suite of punitive sanctions and other economic measures,” they wrote, encouraging non-violent responses to “military aggression and human rights violations.”
Additionally, the Green Party reiterated its opposition to “the export of weapons to this conflict zone.”
Kuttner denounced the failure by NATO to reform their peace and security models that “excludes the two superpowers.”
“Faced with the growing threat of the climate crisis, the global community must not waste time and effort on neo-imperial ambitions and military expansionism,” Kuttner said. “It’s time to set aside these conflicts, create diplomatic solutions and work collectively to deal with the existential crisis we all share in common.”
On February 2, Yvan Baker, Liberal MP for Etobicoke Centre, noted in the House of Commons that Russia has recently amassed over 130,000 soldiers on Ukraine’s border.
That same day, Trudeau dismissed the idea of taking lethal defensive action. Instead, he says he gave Ukraine exactly what they wanted.
“We are delivering the support that Ukraine asked for, both economic support and, most importantly, the immediate expansion of Operation Unifier, which is an extraordinarily successful operation that has trained over 33,000 members of the Ukrainian military forces to be able to stand strongly against any further Russian incursion,” Trudeau said.
While the Conservatives—who ousted their leader last week—slammed Trudeau for not intervening and provoking a global crisis, both Canada’s federal government and the country’s major parties seem determined to deescalate the situation.
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