It has been six months since Russia launched its current attacks on Ukraine on Feb. 24, sparking months of death, destruction, and condemnation from the international community.
From the outset of the invasion, Canada has stood in support of Ukraine, offering financial, military and humanitarian aid, while seeing the House of Commons unanimously declare what has been transpiring in Ukraine a “genocide.”
The federal government has also moved in lockstep with other nations in levelling sanctions on an ever-growing list of individuals and entities, pledging further retaliatory measures will come despite Russia pushing back.
With no imminent end in sight, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that while he hopes the war can end “quickly,” Canada will “be there to support Ukraine and Ukrainian people with what they need for as long as it takes.”
“Ukraine is certainly fighting for itself… But they’re also fighting for the rest of us… and that’s why we are unequivocal: Putin must not win,” Trudeau said.
While the impacts of what the prime minister has called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “illegal, unthinkable invasion” are, of course, most severely being felt in Ukraine, the war has had global political, policy, and diplomatic implications, including here in Canada.
Marking the six-month mark since the war began, CTVNews.ca looks at six key moments for Canada.
ZELENSKYY ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT
In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought the realities of war onto the floor of the House of Commons.
In his straightforward and emotional virtual address to Parliament— donning an army green sweater with a Ukrainian flag off to one side in his frame—Zelenskyy implored Canada to further assist his country in its fight against the ongoing Russian attacks.
“We’ve been friends with you, Justin. But also I would like you to understand and I would like you to feel this. What we feel every day. We want to live and we want to be victorious,” Zelenskyy said, as the full House chamber sat in rapt attention.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy places his hand on his chest as he listens to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deliver opening remarks before addressing the Canadian parliament, Tuesday, March 15, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
During his 20-minute address, Zelenskyy called on Canada to continue its military and humanitarian response efforts, and to keep up its sanctioning of powerful and influential Russians until they do not have “a single dollar to fund their war efforts.”
The Ukrainian president also sought to put Canadians in Ukrainian shoes, detailing the realities of Russia’s war. Asking whether Canadians could imagine waking up to bombing in their city, or having their children ask what is going on, having to flee to bomb shelters with limited food, water or connectivity, Zelenskyy painted a grim picture of what at that point was 20 days of war in Ukraine.
CANADA’S DEFENCE BUDGET BOOST
Coming on the heels of Zelenskyy’s impassioned address, Trudeau’s government felt concerted pressure to enhance its defence spending in the April 2022 federal budget.
While a substantial increase to Canada’s defence spending may not have previously been on the books, the war in Ukraine saw concerted calls for Canada to fulfill the NATO commitment to spend two per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
The 2022 budget didn’t allocate enough for that commitment to be met, though Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland did unveil an $8-billion spending package focused on both further aiding Ukraine, while also shoring up North American defence systems.
In addition to considering domestic defence readiness, the government has pledged “up to” $1 billion in new loans to the Ukrainian government through a new “Administered Account for Ukraine at the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” and committed to offer an additional $500 million in military aid to Ukraine.
The visit, meant to show Canada’s support for the country, also included the prime minister reiterating the federal government’s commitment to military assistance for Ukraine and came alongside another tranche of sanctions against Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, attend an award ceremony for a Ukrainian sapper and his legendary dog Patron in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Trudeau was accompanied by Freeland and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly on the trip. They toured devastation in the Kyiv suburb of Irpin, which was badly bombed by the Russians.
“It is clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for heinous war crimes. There must be accountability. Canada will support Ukraine as you seek justice for your people who Russia is killing and brutalizing,” Trudeau told reporters on the ground.
The visit followed trips to Ukraine made by other world leaders, and was viewed as a key signal of solidarity and strength.
EMBASSY POLITICS IN CANADA AND UKRAINE
During his trip to Ukraine, Trudeau also announced the reopening of the Canadian embassy in Kyiv. To mark the reopening, he participated in a Canadian flag raising ceremony at the embassy alongside Freeland, Joly and Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Larisa Galadza.
The embassy had been closed and diplomatic staff were largely relocated in early February, weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. By the time Canada announced the reopening, the government had already been facing mounting pressure to reinstate a diplomatic presence, as many allies had done.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine Larisa Galadza and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raise the flag over the Canadian embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine on Sunday May 8, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/CBC News/Pool/Murray Brewster
However, the move was almost entirely symbolic. There’s yet to be a full restoration of embassy services, and according to The Canadian Press, as of the end of July the ambassador was still not working out of the embassy for security reasons.
Back home, amid calls from some for the federal government to expel Russian diplomats from Ottawa, the city decided to install blue and yellow “Free Ukraine” street signs in front of the Russian Embassy.
UKRAINIANS RESETTLED, TROOPS TRAINING
The war in Ukraine has also prompted thousands of Ukrainians to come to Canada, prompting communities across the country to come together to collect supplies and help their new neighbours make homes here.
Since the federal government first announced in March that it would be opening new ways for Ukrainians to seek refuge in this country, approximately 74,500 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada.
Ukrainian nationals fleeing the ongoing war in Ukraine arrive at Trudeau Airport in Montreal, Sunday, May 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
However, less than half of the approximately 495,900 applications received under Canada’s emergency travel authorization to travel to and stay in Canada temporarily have been approved, according to the latest federal figures.
And, while Canada still has no plans to send troops into combat in Ukraine, Canadian soldiers are being called upon to help train Ukrainians.
Earlier this month Defence Minister Anita Anand announced that up to 225 Canadian Armed Forces personnel would be deploying to take part in a training mission of Ukrainian soldiers in the U.K. under Operation Unifier.
NORD STREAM TURBINE TURBULENCE
After months of unshakable unity between Canada and Ukraine, the federal government’s decision in July to grant a two-year exemption to federal sanctions allowing a Canadian company to return repaired turbines from a Russian-German natural gas pipeline brought the first real rift between the two countries since the war began.
That was Putin’s goal, the federal government has argued, saying that the Russian president’s attempts to weaponize energy as a way to drive a wedge between allied countries was really behind Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom turning down the taps of its gas flow through Nord Steam 1 to Germany.
The decision sparked fast and furious reactions from the federal opposition parties in Canada, as well as Ukrainians, including Zelenskyy who called it “a manifestation of weakness.” However, the move has been backed by the U.S. and other NATO allies and Canada continues to stand behind it.
Supporters of Ukraine hold a rally against the Canadian government’s decision to send repaired parts of a Russian natural gas pipeline back to Germany, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sunday, July 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Considerable details were shared by key government and diplomatic players about what led up to Canada making this decision during a special summer parliamentary committee study earlier this month.
“This waiver is not a one time decision. The maintenance of all six turbines in Canada will cement Russia’s ability for years ahead to weaponize energy and to derail the efforts to address climate change, and it will be done with Canada’s blessing,” Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Yuliia Kovaliv said during testimony on Aug. 4. “We urge you: do not take the bait. There was no need to waive the sanctions to call the Putin regime’s bluff… You just can Google the history. This logic of appeasement already failed to prevent the war in Ukraine.”
While the turbine has been returned, it remains out of use, prompting Ukrainians to revive calls for Canada to immediately revoke the permit.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
