The Russian invasion of Ukraine has angered democratic countries around the world. As a result, will this brutal Russian evasion wake us up? By us, I mean our Canadian federal government. For example, will the promised sanctions include refusing to import Russian oil? What else will these sanctions include?

Is Self-Sufficiency not a Good Thing?

This Russian invasion is driving oil prices amongst other things. Why would we not want to be as self-sufficient as possible as a nation? The pipeline debate should resurface in spades. Hopefully, the debate will stop and the pipelines will prosper.

In short, Russia supplies a large portion of the world with oil, including Canada, even though we have our own oil. Our (self-inflicted) problem is that we don’t have pipelines to distribute the oil we have across our large country. We would rather accept oil from Russia than create pipelines to use our own oil efficiently and economically. Really?

The National Post described the dilemma well back in 2018. This opinion might be considered visionary today:

Opinion: The fact is that if we don’t provide it, someone else will — even if that someone is Vladimir Putin

Stewart Muir,  Special to Financial Post

Is Crude Oil on Tankers Clean?

Russian crude oil comes into Canada and the USA on huge tankers along the St Lawrence River to the Great Lakes to the east as well as along the Pacific coast to the west. The tankers often sit around in our waters before they are loaded and unloaded too. How clean can that be? Why are eco-green fans not screaming about how potentially dirty this practice is? In summary, oil leaks polluting our waterways are acceptable, but pipelines are not?

Which Country is Next in Russian Invasion?

Will Putin stop at infiltrating Ukraine or will he push into other, former Soviet Bloc countries? Should Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine’s fellow non-NATO member Moldova be worried? NATO is an alliance of 30 North American and European countries created in 1949 after World War II. Unfortunately, Ukraine is not (yet) a member of NATO. Word is they did apply in 2008; reasons for the delay in their acceptance are controversial, to say the least.

How to Help Ukraine

It will be interesting to see just how other countries respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Troops from around the world are deployed to protect neighbouring NATO members. Sanctions are a must to punish Putin and his communist/nationalist regime and their economy.

Above all, the people of Ukraine need help from across the pond. Our country has a huge contingency of Ukrainian immigrants that now call Canada home. Legitimate fundraising options to help Ukrainians stuck in Europe are popping up as the world reacts. Just be sure to check them out first. The Globe and Mail has compiled a recent list here in Canada.