Jan. 14, 2021
Kyiv Post
Ukraine’s Friend of the Week: James Bezan, Canada’s Shadow Minister for National Defense
And what gives us all good hope is that the West is holding on to wise, serious politicians thinking way farther the tip of their own noses when it comes to strategic choices.
James Bezan, Canada’s shadow minister for national defense, showed the best of himself in this situation with the pro-Russian propaganda this week of two so-called Canadian experts on Russia, Gilles Breton and Piotr Dutkiewicz, who published an article in a Kremlin mouthpiece calling for a thaw in relations between Ottawa and Moscow.
On Jan. 11, the politician reacted to the article on his Twitter page saying the following:
“I’m shocked these so-called experts want to “thaw” our relationship with Russia proving they are acting on Putin’s behalf. It’s appalling to think anyone wants to normalize relations when Russian forces illegally invade and occupy Ukrainian territory.”
Mr. Bezan went on to say that “these Putin proxies want Canada to ignore the fact the Kremlin was recently linked to the Solar Winds cyber attack in the USA and the attempted assassination of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. The list goes on and on.”
His response had its final punch with “Canada must never appease Putin nor normalize relations with Russia until they get out of Ukraine. I’m proud of our previous Conservative government’s strong record of holding Russia to account for violating international norms and the rule of law.”
Well, dead on, Mr. Bezan.
Very few could have said this better than you. This is that very sentiment that helps Ukraine keep afloat amid Russia’s war, which is now in its seventh year.
We at the Kyiv Post can only draw inspiration from Bezan’s commitment to honor and truly Western democratic values countering the temptation of evil.
And also, we can definitely proclaim him our nation’s friend of the week.