Sunday, May 11, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Bombardier’s import of Russian titanium enables Russia’s destruction of Ukraine: Marcus Kolga in the Toronto Star

Companies that prioritize profits over human lives must be held accountable, not given a free pass on sanctions violations; they should be subjected to public scrutiny and our most severe condemnation.

April 30, 2024
in Foreign Affairs, Latest News, Columns, Foreign Policy, In the Media, Europe and Russia, Ukraine, Marcus Kolga
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Bombardier’s import of Russian titanium enables Russia’s destruction of Ukraine: Marcus Kolga in the Toronto Star

This article originally appeared in the Toronto Star.

By Marcus Kolga, April 30, 2024

Sanctions function like a prescribed course of medicine: their effectiveness hinges on sustained application and timely adjustments to ensure they precisely target and progressively weaken the ailment.

This ensures that the sanctions we impose do not merely symbolize disapproval but affect the desired outcome — the curtailing of Russia’s capacity to wage war in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Without enforcement, sanctions lose their potency, much like medication that isn’t taken as directed. Western governments must rigorously enforce sanctions by closing loopholes, denying waiver requests from morally vacant corporations and penalizing violations.

Last week’s revelation that the Canadian government granted Airbus Canada and Bombardier waivers to import Russian titanium is a glaring and embarrassing example of this.

Such exceptions do not only undermine the integrity of our sanctions regime but in the case of the exempted Russian titanium supplier, VSMPO-AVISMA, they directly support Russia’s military-industrial complex and the destruction of Ukraine and its people.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin has adapted to sanctions; sidestepping many of the measures imposed by the international community by exploiting the moral flexibility of less ethical nations and authoritarian allies to create shadowy pathways that circumvent sanctions on gas, oil and technologies.

Worse yet are the Western companies that inadvertently support Russia’s efforts by continuing their business unabated, driven by greed, a stark absence of moral judgment, and with an apparent indifference to the humanitarian catastrophe that their finances help fuel. These interactions have provided Russia with economic lifelines, reinforcing the apathy of the Russian people to the Kremlin’s savage war, and allowing Vladimir Putin to sustain his barbaric war.

According to the February 2024 Canadian Global Affairs sanctions listing for Russia’s VSMPO-AVISMA, the company was initially sanctioned because it was found to have provided “components for Kalibr missiles and drones … to Russian soldiers and to the Russian Ministry of Defence.”

In other words, VSMPO-AVISMA supplies parts for the Russian missiles and drones that are being used to obliterate Ukrainian towns, cities, and civilians.

Airbus Canada and Bombardier’s choice to continue partnering with their lethal Russian supplier, contrasts starkly with the moral clarity of Boeing, which decisively cut off all its titanium imports from Russia in 2022.

Companies that prioritize profits over human lives must be held accountable, not given a free pass on sanctions violations; they should be subjected to public scrutiny and our most severe condemnation.

The Canadian government must resist the lure of corporate lobbying for sanctions exemptions the enable war and mass human rights abuse. Such waivers set a dangerous precedent, potentially triggering a stream of similar concessions and diluting the efficacy of our sanctions.

The rejection of Russian oligarch Igor Makarov’s request to be removed from Canada’s sanctions list — despite his purported secret disavowal of Putin — illustrates a correct and principled position.

In response to the morally corrupt corporations that are exploiting and enabling Russia’s war against Ukraine, Canada should spearhead the creation of an international coalition, akin to an Interpol for democracies, focused on co-ordinating and enforcing sanctions.

This body would ensure that sanctions are not just a series of empty proclamations but a cohesive, global strategy and tool to challenge Russian, Chinese and Iranian tyranny.

Canada’s innovative legislative efforts, led by figures such as Sen. Ratna Omidvar, to seize and repurpose frozen Russian assets within Canada’s borders should serve as a model for other nations. This proactive stance not only deprives criminal authoritarian regimes like Russia of resources but also channels those resources toward ending war and defending democracy and human rights.

To truly challenge the threat posed by authoritarian regimes like Russia, our sanctions must be unwavering, consistent, and universally upheld and we must not yield to corporate avarice.

The battle for Ukraine is not merely territorial but a test of the international community’s resolve in upholding global peace, justice and democratic values.

Marcus Kolga is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and director of DisinfoWatch.

Source: Toronto Star
Previous Post

Canadian Competitiveness in Resource Development – A Post-Mortem: Heather Exner-Pirot

Next Post

Can ‘minilaterals’ save the world? Stephen Nagy in the Japan Times

Related Posts

The US should be worried about Canada’s foreign policy: Casey Babb in The Hill
United States

How Did Trump Impact the Canadian Election? Brian Lee Crowley on American Thought Leaders: Tonight at 9PM ET

May 10, 2025
Canada must launch review of paediatric gender clinic practices: Mia Hughes in the National Post
Gender Identity

Canada must launch review of paediatric gender clinic practices: Mia Hughes in the National Post

May 9, 2025
Growing success with post-secondary education in Indigenous communities: Ken Coates & Sheila North for Inside Policy Talks
Inside Policy

Growing success with post-secondary education in Indigenous communities: Ken Coates & Sheila North for Inside Policy Talks

May 9, 2025
Next Post
‘ASEAN centrality’ and the emerging great power competition: K. Yhome for the Observer Research Foundation

Can ‘minilaterals’ save the world? Stephen Nagy in the Japan Times

Newsletter Signup

  Thank you for Signing Up
  Please correct the marked field(s) below.
Email Address  *
1,true,6,Contact Email,2
First Name *
1,true,1,First Name,2
Last Name *
1,true,1,Last Name,2
*
*Required Fields

Follow us on

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

  • Inside Policy Magazine
  • Annual Reports
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

Lightbox image placeholder

Previous Slide

Next Slide

Share

Facebook ShareTwitter ShareLinkedin SharePinterest ShareEmail Share

TwitterTwitter
Hide Tweet (admin)

Add this ID to the plugin's Hide Specific Tweets setting: