When it comes to this, MPs from all parties agree 100%

March 26, 2014

Canada has a long history of principled leadership in global affairs.

And as events unfold in Ukraine and Russia, where old, Cold War views threaten to turn back the clock on the rights and freedoms Canadians helped bring to Eastern Europe and beyond, our leadership is needed again.

With the help of your donations, I was able to visit Ukraine — where I listened to the positive message of the Ukrainian people, met with the country’s new leadership, and saw where brave demonstrators fought and died in the streets of Kyiv for their newly restored freedom.

Yet, while I was in Kyiv, a different scene was playing out in the South. Russia’s Vladimir Putin was slowly invading Crimea — a territory about half the size of Nova Scotia.

As I’m sure you’ve read or seen on the news, Russia then annexed Crimea, grossly violating international law and is now massing troops on Ukraine’s borders.

This is a dangerous situation for Canada and the world. We cannot stand idly by as Putin tries to take us back to a bygone era of fear and intimidation.

I, and others, have stood with the people of Ukraine against this aggression and have been “punished” by Putin in retaliation, in a move that targeted Liberals, Conservatives and NDP alike.

For standing up for the principles of democracy, I have been banned from visiting Putin’s Russia, a badge of honour I am proud to wear in support of Canadian and Western values.

I know my Parliamentary colleagues — including Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar, Conservative MP James Bezan, House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, and others targeted, like Paul Grod of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress — feel the same way.

Stand together with Canadian Parliamentarians targeted for sanctions by Russia — and add your name now:

http://www.liberal.ca/stand-up-for-international-leadership/

Let’s show the world that Canada stands for principled leadership – and that we stand together.

Chrystia Freeland

MP, Toronto Centre