Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, I too apologize to the witness. I certainly take what you say into consideration. You referenced it at the beginning of the meeting.
I apologize that we're in the situation we're in now, but we are, because the motion has been put.
That last speech was a little hard to listen to, because when it comes to commitment to Ukraine, it was unanimous up until about a year ago. Since then, of course, we've seen the party opposite abandon Ukraine.
You'll know, Mr. Chair, that there was a meeting in Toronto with the Ukrainian community. Some of the members opposite were in that meeting. The community talked about the lack of support they're receiving from the official opposition. Members from the Ukrainian diaspora talked about being used as political pawns, as a wedge issue, here in Parliament. The Leader of the Opposition came to Hamilton as part of his “make Canada great again” tour, and he referenced all the support that the government provided and focused on this one issue, saying that we haven't delivered.
I have the list in front of me of everything that has been committed and has been delivered, and almost every single item on this page on the government's website, which is very current.... If you wanted to access it at any point in time today, from artillery to field equipment to clothing, infrastructure, individual meal packs, maritime items, tanks.... The list goes on, and we've delivered on almost every single thing that we've put through in our consecutive budgets over the last two years since this conflict has started.
Yes, we do have this outstanding issue, but I think it flies in the face of the narrative, the picture, that the member opposite tried to create here, which is that the government is not committed. If there is a party in Parliament that is not committed to Ukraine.... Of all the days to bring it up, we received word today that the free trade agreement they voted against was approved today. They're just without shame.
I couldn't believe it when the Leader of the Opposition showed up in Hamilton to speak to the Ukrainian community after he has let them down. That extends to other communities, not just in Hamilton but around the country. The Polish community is very concerned about what happens next and about the lack of support we're seeing from the official opposition. It is also in addition to the nonsense that we see south of the border in terms of what the Republicans are doing, which is exactly what our friends across the table here are doing as well. They're trying to wait this out. They're hoping that Trump does their dirty work and that they won't be forced to continue to oppose assistance to Ukraine.
It's hard to listen to that in this setting. It's hard to listen to it in Parliament when they talk about their support, when in fact we know it's quite the opposite with the votes. It's all on the public record. That's the beauty of the system we have here.
Also, the Ukrainian community is onto them, and the fact that when they had that meeting in Toronto they had to call them out in a private meeting that ended up being recorded, I think is proof in terms of where the Ukrainian community is. I thank the other parties for their continued support, because it should be unanimous, and unfortunately it isn't.
To the motion, Mr. Chair, I think the last part of this, the “within 14 days”, is unreasonable. I would move an amendment to strike that, and I would also seek the committee's concurrence in looking at revising the first part of this motion in terms of getting an update on what we have approved in our budgets, what has been delivered and what is outstanding.
There may be something in addition to what Mr. Bezan has referenced here today in his motion that is outstanding, and I'd like to know what those other items are, but I think that telling one side of the story without the other as it relates to what we have invested in supporting Ukraine and highlighting here at the committee when they made their way overseas.... Have they been utilized? What's outstanding? Also, of course, we have our budget that is going to be released next week, so we can add to that list.
I'm not going to belabour the point, but I think that at a minimum we need to remove the 14 days, and I would seek to propose an amendment that is all-encompassing and shows everything that's on the table as it relates to support for Ukraine. Then we can have the debate when the ministercomes and talk about which parties are there for Ukraine and which ones are not.