Russia’s Foreign Ministry has banned hundreds of Canadian officials from entering its borders, including one from our community.
Michael Barrett, the MP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, is one of the 313 politicians and other community leaders banned on Tuesday. The bans are a response to Canada’s latest round of sanctions against Russian officials, and its support of Ukraine throughout the invasion.
“I was officially blacklisted by the Russian Federation along with fellow parliamentarians for speaking against Vladimir Putin’s thug regime and war crimes,” Barrett says, “but we will not back down from our support for the Ukrainian people and to bring Putin to justice.”
Barrett also says he wants to see Canada do more to help Ukraine, like helping bolster the country’s air force and helping move fuel and other goods through its supply lines. “Canada along with our allies must do more to secure Ukraine’s airspace,” he says, “and protect the airspace above humanitarian corridors.”
“We cannot ignore that Putin’s attack against Ukraine is an attack against all of us,” he concludes, “and his continued aggressions against humanity must not go unchecked.”
