BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to a story titled 'Canada condemns Ukraine kindergarten shelling as military mulls more troops for NATO.' published Feb. 17.
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Much has been written about Canada's "overwhelming support" for Ukraine ever since it wrested itself from communist Moscow's overlords during the latter days of the Cold War.
Our prime minister, Justin Trudeau, considers himself a "close friend" of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has promised to offer him every support in the ongoing geopolitical crisis with Vladimir Putin and Russia. Canada dispatched a few hundred soldiers to help enhance the capabilities of Ukraine's military forces by providing training.
Why, then, did it take so long for the prime minister to authorize the granting of a $500-million loan and a donation of nearly $8 million in lethal weapons to Ukraine as it awaits a possible Russian invasion? A more appropriate question is why Canada never dispatched a peacekeeping force inside the former communist breakaway nation as we once did in so many conflict zones before?
President Zelenskyy and his people have repeatedly asked us to provide lethal weapons and dispatch Canadian soldiers to the front line as a means of deterrence. Instead, Ottawa waited until American intelligence had already revealed an invasion of Ukraine could've happened this past week. It was only after the Ukrainian Canadian Congress approached the Ministry of Immigration to streamline refugee sponsorship that Canada decided to take a more 'definite' stand against Russia and Vladimir Putin.
Sometimes Canada's inconsistent or slow-witted approach to our allies means a few get harmed or abandoned in the process — like the people of Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. This is why the U.S and Britain dispatched missiles and anti-tank weaponry to help equip Ukraine's military and defence militias. A better friend would not have placed conditions demanding the loan only be used for financial stabilization.
Placing Canadian soldiers inside Latvia was a wise and prudent decision, but ultimately leaves Ukraine in the lurch.
Christopher Mansour
Barrie
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