Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party and the Official Opposition, released the following statement calling on Justin Trudeau to send surplus weapons to Ukraine:
“Since 2018, common sense Conservatives have been calling on the Trudeau Government to do more to support Ukraine so they can defend their country from Russia’s illegal invasion. This includes both sending surplus weapons to Ukraine’s armed forces and replacing Russian oil and gas with Canadian energy for our closest allies, which creates jobs for Canadian workers instead of fueling Putin’s war machine.
“Justin Trudeau has tried to divide and distract Canadians in his rhetoric on Ukraine, but he has failed to deliver the military equipment that Ukraine actually needs. He has failed to increase the production of much-needed 155 mm artillery shells despite promising Ukrainians he would do so, and has not sent the NASAMS air defence system, even though he announced he would over a year ago. Ukrainians can’t defend themselves with photo ops.
“It’s time for less talk and more action. Currently, the Canadian Armed Forces is sitting on a stockpile of 83,000 CRV7 rockets that the Trudeau government has slated for disposal. 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.
“Common sense Conservatives call on the Trudeau government to fulfill their promises and provide additional munitions and materiel so that Ukraine can win this war. The Trudeau government must also replace any donated weapons with new tanks, howitzers, munitions, weapons and other equipment and ammunition for the Canadian Armed Forces. Canada’s defence and security relies on it.”