Speaking in support of Ukraine and Ukrainian people

March 3 I had an opportunity to speak in support of Ukraine and in support of the people of Ukraine, and to call on the provincial government to do more.  My speech, from Hansard, is below.  

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, my heart aches and bleeds with the devasta­tion that is happening today in Ukraine. The uncon­scionable invasion by Russia breaks inter­national rules and laws of behaviour. It is a fight for demo­cracy, a fight for freedom and a fight for inter­national law and order. The people of Ukraine are fighting against extra­ordin­ary odds. We must do whatever we can to help.

      The Russian invasion of Ukraine involves rockets and bombs, which are falling indiscriminately, in­cluding on hospitals, and causing major civilian' casualties, including children. Reports today say more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have died.

      An article in The Economist asks, has Vladimir Putin committed war crimes in Ukraine? The article continues, I quote, there is no serious doubt that Russia has broken inter­national law in Ukraine. The Inter­national Criminal Court came into force in 2002 to prosecute four main crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. There is prima facie evidence that Russia has committed at least three of these. Clearly, Russia has committed crimes which are recog­nized inter­nationally.

      Let us put this in the context of the situation in  Manitoba where we have a Criminal Property Forfeiture Act This applies to property which was acquired, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, as a result of unlawful activity where the property was acquired before or after the coming into force of this act. The act further states: If the director is satisfied that the property is proceeds of unlawful activity or an instrument of unlawful activity, he or she may com­mence proceedings in court forfeiting the property to gov­ern­ment.

      Consider a specific example. Buhler Industries is widely known to be operated by Russian interests. The owners are believed to be oligarchs who support the activities of Vladimir Putin, who's initiated the Russian war against Ukraine where these crimes have been committed.

      There's discussion today of measures which might be taken with respect to Russian invest­ment in Canada. Traditionally, products from busi­nesses where there's specific concerns about the owner­ship of the busi­ness are boycotted or activities and funds are frozen. But a boycott of Buhler Industries would cause great harm to workers at Buhler Industries and to a major manufacturing industry in Winnipeg, which produces excellent products. There are alter­na­tive ap­proaches which could be used.

      Manitoba gov­ern­ment could nationalize Buhler Industries or the Manitoba gov­ern­ment could in­vesti­gate whether the owners of Buhler Industries have been involved in supporting the crimes against the Ukrainian people. If the latter is true, the plant could be confiscated under the criminal forfeiture act in Manitoba. The plant could be taken over and operated by the Manitoba gov­ern­ment to ensure the continuation of jobs in Manitoba and the continued production of products.

      Let me now talk about the approach to refugees. The gov­ern­ment has said it supports immigration in Manitoba. In both Ukraine and in Afghanistan there are individuals in great need who are fleeing their home country. Many are highly trained pro­fes­sionals and individuals who can contribute sub­stan­tially to the growth of our province.

      Manitoba needs to make a major effort to support immigration from Ukraine and, at the same time, Afghanistan. The gov­ern­ment should imme­diately commit to specific targets of the number of im­migrants to be supported and should work with Manitobans in the Ukrainian and Afghan com­mu­nities to bring refugees here and to provide support to their settlement in our province.

      The Province should commit to hiring ad­di­tional staff in the Prov­incial Nominee Program and to having gov­ern­ment-funded immigration settlement positions for local organi­zations. The gov­ern­ment of Manitoba needs to imme­diately do much more to help the refugees who are fleeing situations which are dire and to enable them to settle in Manitoba and contribute to our province.

      The Province can and must do much more. I call on the Manitoba gov­ern­ment to act.

      Thank you. Merci. Miigwech. Dyakuyu.