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Minister Fast Meets with Community Leaders

Mar 2, 2015 | Newpathway, Community, Featured

On Saturday, February 28, International Trade Minister Ed Fast, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre Ted Opitz and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for the Francophonie Bernard Trottier held a round table for Ukrainian-Canadian community leaders from the Greater Toronto Area to discuss recent events in Ukraine and the Canadian-Ukrainian partnership.

During the meeting, Minister Fast assured the community leaders that Canada remains at the forefront of the international support for Ukraine in its opposition to Russian aggression and occupation. He also said that Canada’s long-standing bilateral development assistance programs continue to invest in Ukraine to advance democracy, strengthen human rights and support sustainable economic growth. Ed Fast discussed his recent trade and development mission to Ukraine and updated participants on the ongoing negotiations toward a Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.

After the meeting, Minister Fast told the New Pathway that the future Free trade agreement will eliminate tariffs and reduce other barriers to trade like rules and regulations. He sees Ukraine's grain, dairy and IT sectors among those which will benefit the most from the agreement. Ukraine could also benefit from Canada's experience in food processing, mining and oil and gas technologies. The future Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement will help give confidence to the world that Ukraine is a good place to trade with and invest in. Minister Fast told us that since our previous interview a month ago, there have already been further discussions of the agreement between the two governments. He, however, recognized that the Ukrainian government currently has a very limited capacity to engage in the trade negotiations due to the war and the financial crisis.

To our question whether the Western governments are closing their eyes to the issue of Russia's violations of the ceasefire, and its capture of Debaltseve, Minister Fast assured us that the Canadian government is not allowing this issue to slip under the radar. He said that in Canada's discussions with the U.S. and the E.U. about the situation “nothing is off the table” and that he expects a decision “very soon”.

President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Paul Grod told the New Pathway that at the meeting the Ukrainian community leaders asked the Canadian Government to continue leading other countries in their assistance for Ukraine, to continue supporting Ukraine financially and to provide lethal military arms and equipment. He noted that the bulk of Ukrainian military casualties are from rocket fire and encouraged the Canadian government to provide Ukraine with counter-artillery equipment. Mr. Grod mentioned that the Ukrainian community is encouraging the opposition parties not to oppose assisting Ukraine with lethal weapons. Paul Grod is also asking Canada to lead the imposition of deeper economic sanctions on Russia like sanctions on its gas monopolist Gazprom and switching it off the interbank payment system SWIFT.

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