Langley Advance Times runs a new weekly feature, call it “At Your Service.”
It’s another forum in which to put questions to our local politicians about key issues facing our community and its residents.
Using a basic question-and-answer format, elected officials will be asked one question at a time and given the opportunity to respond (to a maximum of 250 words) on that said issue.
Alternating between elected groups, Langley City and Langley Township councils, Langley school board, Langley MLAs, and Langley MPs each have a chance to participate.
The answers provided will be published in their entirety online each Sunday.
.
MOST RECENT – AT YOUR SERVICE: Liberal MLAs call for overhaul to B.C.’s student funding model
.
QUESTION
Both Langley MPs were asked the same question: What more can Canada do to provide support to Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion?
.
ANSWERS
MP John Aldag
A. Canada has provided unprecedented support to Ukraine.
We are providing economic, military, and humanitarian relief to Ukraine, while punishing Russia economically.
We have provided $620 million in loans to Ukraine so they can support their economy throughout this war.
We are providing weapons including anti-tank weapon systems and non-lethal aid such as helmets, body armour, and gas masks.
Canada has committed $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. This will help provide essential life-saving services such as emergency health services, water, food, and shelter.
Canada has adopted measures to ensure Putin suffers from this war and deter him further aggression. These measures include personally sanctioning over 1,000 people who have been enabling Putin.
We have also excluded Russian banks from the international financial system. These measures will turn Russia into a secluded state, ensuring Putin’s terrible decision is not profitable.
Finally, we have created a Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, available for individuals fleeing Ukraine. There is no limit to the number of Ukrainians who can apply. This is the fastest, safest, and most efficient way for Ukrainians to come to Canada and eliminates many of the normal visa requirements.
While we have taken these measures and many more, we are continuing to increase support for Ukraine.
We are working with allies to secure additional military support as the war enters a new phase in Ukraine’s east.
Ensuring Ukraine has a full and uninterrupted supply of weapons is critical to their success in repelling the Russian invasion.
.
MP Tako van Popta
A. Ukrainians are enduring enormous suffering at this time, and many of us feel helpless, shocked, to see what is happening to our friends and their country.
We can provide short-term assistance through the usual channels, such as the Red Cross and other charities and NGOs, but we can also provide temporary or permanent homes for many displaced Ukrainians. Canada needs to be ready to welcome a sudden influx of Ukrainian visitors and refugees.
Conservatives stand with Ukraine, the people of Ukraine, and the more than one million Canadians with ties to Ukraine.
We continue to believe that Canada must strengthen our own defences and renew our commitment to the NATO alliance in the face of the threats from Russia.
In response to President Zelenskyy’s address to the House of Commons in March, CPC leader Candace Bergen stated, “we must do more, together with our allies to secure Ukraine’s airspace. We need to protect at a minimum the airspace over the humanitarian corridors, so that Ukrainians can seek safe passage away from war zones and to allow humanitarian relief to reach those areas under siege.
“Canada must do whatever it can to cut through any red tape and welcome Ukrainians who are fleeing,” she said.
“Although we know that what Ukrainians want most is to be able to live in their home nation, free, sovereign, and peaceful. We can be a haven until peace is restored.”
I couldn’t agree with Ms. Bergen more.
.
UP NEXT
Next week’s Langley City councillors are being asked: What is and should the City be doing to encourage the highest and best use of its industrial lands – to create jobs and strengthen the tax base?
.
Watch for their answers online Sunday.
.
PAST COVERAGE
AT YOUR SERVICE: City council weighs in on supervised consumption sites
AT YOUR SERVICE: Langley trustees applaud positives found amid pandemic
AT YOUR SERVICE: Township council weighs in on lack of industrial land
AT YOUR SERVICE: MLAs see feds as partners in SkyTrain to Langley
AT YOUR SERVICE: Creating more housing, on all fronts, critical to stabilization: MPs
AT YOUR SERVICE: Heat wave another call to action – City council
AT YOUR SERVICE: Pools need to be part of Township-wide recreation planning
AT YOUR SERVICE: No current need for year-round schooling in Langley, trustees agree
AT YOUR SERVICE: MLAs suggest staying the course on battling of B.C. wildfire
AT YOUR SERVICE: MPs call for borders to be safely re-opened
AT YOUR SERVICE: Langley City council wants to keep higher density development north of Nicomekl
AT YOUR SERVICE: Passports key to keeping B.C. businesses open, people safe during pandemic
AT YOUR SERVICE: Trustees ponder what kids are missing out on during pandemic
AT YOUR SERVICE: Education should trump rules for vaccination of health-care workers, suggest MLAs
AT YOUR SERVICE: How to handle rising housing prices
AT YOUR SERVICE: City council divided on call for indoor pool
AT YOUR SERVICE: Council ponders vaccine requirements for workers
AT YOUR SERVICE: Skyrocketing enrolment prompts intensified lobby by trustees
AT YOUR SERVICE: Political stripes aside, MLAs agree heat dome was tragic and action required
AT YOUR SERVICE: MPs agree much must be done to right wrongs for Indigenous
AT YOUR SERVICE: Is pay parking in the City a viable consideration?
AT YOUR SERVICE: Some suggest more needed to protect floodplains from development
AT YOUR SERVICE: Monitoring student transport not good use of school district resources – trustees
AT YOUR SERVICE: Liberal caucus floats all-party committee in reaction to emergencies
AT YOUR SERVICE: Langley MPs address issue of rising food costs
AT YOUR SERVICE: Inflation inevitably hits City taxpayers in the pocketbook
AT YOUR SERVICE: Future of Aldergrove core up for debate
AT YOUR SERVICE: Trees and more greenspace at root of climate change solutions
AT YOUR SERVICE: Inflation inevitably hits City taxpayers in the pocketbook
AT YOUR SERVICE: Councillors differ on future of SkyTrain beyond Langley City
AT YOUR SERVICE: Bigger schools not necessarily solution to rising land costs
AT YOUR SERVICE: High gas prices of concern for MLAs of both stripes
AT YOUR SERVICE: Empty homes can be safety concern, but not huge concern in City
AT YOUR SERVICE: Most of council content with current pothole repairs
AT YOUR SERVICE: Survey gives school district tools for staff recruitment, retention
.
story tags