Ukraine asked for 83,000 surplus rockets, Trudeau remains silent
If Canada doesn't ship the rockets to Ukraine it will cost millions to dispose of them
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Published Feb 02, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Canada has been sitting on a request from Ukraine to take more than 83,000 missiles off our hands that was sent last year.
It questions the claim by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Canada will be there to support Ukraine with whatever they need.
In fact, Trudeau was making that claim again on Friday while accusing the Conservative Party of not supporting Ukraine.
“We will continue to be there unequivocally to support Ukraine in everything they need,” Trudeau said.
Yet, the Trudeau government has not agreed to send these air-to-ground rockets to Ukraine.
Currently, the Department of National Defence says there are 83,303 CRV7 rockets warehoused in the munitions depot in Dundurn, Saskatchewan, about 45 km south of Saskatoon.
The rockets were taken out of commission over the last several years and are slated to be decommissioned, a process that would take a long time and a lot of money. Not all of the rockets are functioning still, according to officials, but that is something the Ukrainians acknowledged when making their request.
“I understand that of the 83,000 CRV7 stock, there is a high percentage that is not functional. However, Ukraine desperately needs munitions, and we have put a task force together to examine each of them if Canada is willing to entertain our request. The task force has identified the equipment needed to update and arm them,” Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of the defence intelligence of Ukraine wrote in November 2023.
Lt. Gen. Budanov even said the Ukrainian military would work with the company that made the rockets to salvage as many as they can.
So far, the Trudeau Liberals have been sitting on the request.
On Friday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the federal government to ship the rockets.
“Ukraine has asked the Government of Canada to provide them with these surplus weapons. Instead of making Canadians pay millions of dollars to decommission these weapons, common sense Conservatives are calling on the Trudeau government to give these weapons to Ukraine who can use them in the defence of their sovereignty,” Poilievre said.
He also questioned why Trudeau promised Ukraine an air defence system a year ago that has yet to materialize. That’s something Poilievre raised in the House earlier this week but rather than answer that charge, or the claim that Trudeau’s government allowed detonators to be shipped to Russia, Trudeau raised Poilievre’s opposition to the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal.
After years of unanimous support for Ukraine, the issue has become a battleground for votes here at home.
The Liberals have been leading the charge on this front, claiming the Conservatives don’t want to help Ukraine defeat Russia all because the Conservatives oppose parts of the trade deal. The truth is, it was the Conservatives who negotiated the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal, and it is the Liberals who are simply updating it.
The Conservatives object to a section they say enshrines Canada’s carbon tax, which they oppose, in a legally binding treaty. Regardless of their opposition, the update will pass when voted on next week.
Claiming this opposition is somehow akin to backing Putin, which is what the Trudeau Liberals have been trying to do, is ridiculous but par for the course as the Liberals play diaspora politics to try and win back support amid horrible poll numbers.
To claim that either of the two main parties don’t support Ukraine in its battle against Russia is absurd, but this is what we are reduced to.
It’s totally legitimate for the Conservatives to ask questions about missing air defence systems, or detonators or turbines being shipped to Russia. It’s also legitimate to ask why these munitions have not been offered up to Ukraine despite a request being made months ago.
Yes, many of them may not work anymore, but Ukraine says they have the team and tools to repair what is salvageable.
Trudeau should stop spending all his time attacking Poilievre over Ukraine and spend some time getting those rockets on a plane bound for Kyiv.
blilley@postmedia.com
Either Canada ships the now surplus rockets or we spend millions to dispose of them but so far, the Trudeau government isn't acting.
torontosun.com
