A House of Commons` committee says Canada should expel Russian diplomats who are participating in activities not “consistent” with their roles — but whether Ottawa will commit to doing so is up in the air.
The Canadian government hasn`t expelled any Russian diplomats since Moscow`s full-scale war in Ukraine began nearly a year ago on Feb. 24, 2022.
In studying the war, the Foreign Affairs and International Development committee released a report last week detailing its impacts, and made 14 recommendations to the federal government on how it can continue to strengthen its support for Ukraine.
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Among those was for the government “to expel Russian diplomats involved in any activities that are not consistent with their official diplomatic status.”
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In March 2022, four European Union nations expelled several Russian diplomats accused of spying; the last time Canada expelled Russian diplomats was in March 2018, in lockstep with the United Kingdom over a nerve agent attack. A government official said, “There is no decisive position on whether to accept all the recommendations, etc. or each one, but we can say that our position on the expulsion of Russian diplomats has not changed.” . Speaking in the background, Global News said.
“The notion of reciprocity in foreign policy and the fact that what the Russian people are doing in Moscow really matters, that mentality hasn’t really changed.”
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Grantley Franklin, spokesman for Global Affairs Canada (GAC), told Global News in an email that it was “important” to keep the Canadian embassy in Moscow.
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“This keeps open channels of communication, allows for on the ground monitoring of developments to counter Russian disinformation, and permits the delivery of consular services to Canadian citizens,” Franklin said.
“This in turn requires allowing the Russian Embassy to remain open on a reciprocal basis.”
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In April 2022, Russia`s ambassador in Ottawa said any diplomatic expulsion will be met in kind by expelling Canadian officials in Russia, the Hill Times reported. Earlier that month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called diplomatic expulsion a “symbolic gesture,” and said that Canadian diplomats in Moscow play too important of a role.
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Orest Zakydalsky, senior policy advisor with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), told Global News his organization doesn`t see a reason why Russia should still have a diplomatic mission in Canada.
“In terms of this recommendation, this is something the government should be doing anyway. Diplomats involved in matters that are not part of diplomatic affairs should be expelled regardless of the commission’s recommendations,” he said.
“Their expulsion is not symbolic, but it would actually enhance Canada’s security.”
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A government source told Global News that Ottawa is reviewing its recommendations and that the government will “always comply with the Geneva Conventions and the rules and expectations set forth therein”, adding that the Russian ambassador has been summoned six times since the General Assembly. . War has begun.
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“As long as he parrots Russian propaganda, he will continue to be summoned,” they said.
“For us, the people of Moscow are very important. They do important work and we want to make sure they stay in a position to do that work.”
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In its report, the overseas affairs committee stated GAC officers who testified as a part of the look at expressed “a cautionary observe approximately slicing off the possibility for … high-degree contact, whether or not it`s with the Russian ambassador right here or thru our ambassador in Moscow.”
Marta Dyczok, an partner professor of records and political technological know-how at Western University, informed the committee that Canada ought to nevertheless do extra to diminish its “diplomatic relations” with Russia.
“They want to preserve the embassy and consulates open — diplomatic channels want to stay open — however the length of its diplomatic missions does now no longer want to be similar to in the course of peacetime,” Dyczok stated in the course of testimony.
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Trudeau stated in April that Ottawa decreased the dimensions of its diplomatic body of workers in Moscow following President Vladimir Putin`s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and after the 2018 poisoning in Salisbury, England, of a former Russian intelligence officer, and his daughter.
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Zakydalsky stated the UCC will preserve to press Ottawa in this issue.
“We will preserve making the factor to the authorities that it’s miles a be counted of each protection for Canadians, and … that there ought to now no longer be Russian diplomats right here in Canada fomenting, seeking to destroy … our society,” he stated.
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