“The reports of Putin’s war crimes against Ukrainians are appalling. As Ukrainians are being bombed and killed by Putin’s illegal invasion of their country, New Democrats welcome newly announced sanctions against Russia. However, it’s extremely unfortunate that there are still parts of the Russian defense sector that haven’t been sanctioned this far into Putin’s war. While the NDP has been calling for the expansion of these measures, the Liberals refuse to take the necessary steps.
We are also concerned that while yachts and properties are being seized by other countries, there has been little information regarding how Canadian sanctions are being enforced and how effective they’ve been in hitting Putin and his oligarchs where it hurts. We have been urging the government to be more transparent to ensure sanctions aren’t just empty words, but truly laser focused on those who are benefiting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
National Post: 'Not informed': Mélanie Joly tells inquiry she was kept in the dark for years on foreign interference
Earlier this week, current national security and intelligence adviser Nathalie Drouin said she had seen no evidence there are “traitors” in Parliament and that some of the conclusions in the NSICOP report made her “very uncomfortable.”
Mendicino said he believes there is a need to “clear the air” about NSICOP’s findings.
“I am very worried that the entire conversation around foreign interference and parliamentarians is being transformed into a kangaroo court with very little regard for the process of understanding how we assess intelligence,” he told the inquiry.
“I think it is extremely important that we heed the opinion and the evidence that has been given to this commission, from Ms. Drouin, from CSIS, around the fact that… this NSICOP report has gone further than where they are at in the assessment of the intelligence,” he added.
