UCC / NP-UN National Affairs Desk
Ihor Michalchyshyn, CEO and Executive Director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and Orest Zakydalsky, UCC Senior Policy Advisor, testified at the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence, in hearings on Russia’s war against Ukraine, April 21.
Michalchyshyn and Zakydalsky briefed the Committee about Russia’s crimes against humanity and war crimes against Ukraine. Michalchyshyn stated, “Russia is a criminal state that must be isolated from the international community. The UCC has consistently argued that Russia must be designated a state supporter of terrorism and that Russian diplomats must be expelled from Canada. I ask that this Committee support these calls.”
Michalchyshyn and Zakydalsky shared recommendations for Canadian policy to aid Ukraine in winning the war. The UCC calls for Canada to:
• Substantially increase the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine – tanks, armoured personnel carriers, long-range missile systems, air defence systems, naval defence systems and requisite ammunition.
Canada’s Federal Budget 2023 includes only $200 million for the provision of military assistance to Ukraine. This represents a 60% decrease over Canadian commitments in Federal Budget 2022 ($500 million) for the provision of weapons to Ukraine. In 2022, Canada exceeded the planned budgetary expenditure and provided over $1 billion in weapons and military assistance to Ukraine. Canada has the capacity to substantively increase the provision of weapons to Ukraine.
• Work with allies to increase the provision of fighter aircraft to Ukraine.
Following months of delay by Canada’s allies on the provision of fighter aircraft to Ukraine – caused principally by a self-deterrence inexplicable in its policy logic – several allies have, laudably, begun to supply fighter jets to Ukraine. Poland and Slovakia, for example, have provided MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. It is likely that other allies will soon join these states in providing fighter jets to Ukraine – including NATO jets such as the F-16.
Canada can and should play an important role in ensuring the increased provision of fighter aircraft to Ukraine. Canada has the capacity to train Ukrainian pilots on NATO jets. Canada can also use its considerable political influence and capital within NATO to encourage those allies who can provide more jets to do so in the quickest possible timeframe. The more jets Ukraine has the more likely that Ukraine will be able to defend its cities from Russian air attacks and protect its skies during military operations.
• Contract with the defence industry to substantially increase production and procurement of armaments and materiel.
Canada is not immune to the threat posed by Russia. On April 13, Canada’s Minister of National Defence noted, for example, that since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine there has been a “notable rise in cyber threat activity by Russian-aligned actors.”1
The threat posed by Russia points to the need for a substantive increase in investment in order to produce the necessary armaments and materiel to deter further Russian aggression, be it against Ukraine, or against NATO members. Budget 2023, however, does little to address the deficiencies in ammunition, weapons and materiel production.
Budget 2023 allocates only $605.8 million over 5 years to “replenish CAF stocks of ammunition, explosives and materiel donated to Ukraine” and only $1.4 billion over 14 years, “to acquire new critical weapons systems needed to protect the Canadian Armed Forces in case of high intensity conflict, including air defence, anti-tank, and anti-drone capabilities.”2
The UCC concurs with the position of some fifty former Cabinet Ministers, Generals, and Senior Civil Servants, who stated in an open letter published April 16:
“Canada cannot afford to conduct ‘business as usual’. We strongly encourage Prime Minister Trudeau, his Cabinet and the Government to lead and act with a sense of urgency and heed the recent call of the NATO Secretary General to treat 2% of GDP as a floor rather than a ceiling for defence spending. The Government must radically accelerate the timelines for procurement and redress the poor state of our nation’s current defence.”
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