An address by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in which he urged Canadians to imagine Russian bombs falling on national landmarks such as Toronto’s CN Tower was met by a thunderous, near three-minute standing ovation by the Canadian Parliament this morning.
Speaking to the politicians and guests via video call from the war-torn capital of Kyiv, Zelensky at once thanked Canada for its support and begged it to do more. Namely, to work with NATO to close the airspace above Ukraine.
“Volodymyr, the years I’ve known you, I’ve always thought of you as a champion for democracy. And now, democracies around the world are lucky to have you as our champion,” said Trudeau, introducing the leader and spurring the first standing ovation.
Zelensky began by imploring Canadians to put themselves in the shoes of Ukranian’s citizens and imagine waking up at 4 a.m. to the sounds of explosions—explosions that you will have to explain to your children, explosions caused by a hostile regime looking to subjugate your people.
“Before I begin, I would like you to understand my feelings, and the feelings of all Ukranians, as much as it is possible,” he said.
“Justin (Trudeau) and his guests, can you imagine every day you receive memorandums about the number of casualties including amount, women and children?” he asked. “Can you imagine the famous CN tower in Toronto, if it was hit by Russian bombs?...I don’t wish this for anyone.”
“Can you imagine when you ask your friends, a nation, to please close the sky, close the airspace, stop the bombing, how many more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities before you make this happen?”
The speech was passionately received by the audience, but it’s clear Zelensky would trade the applause for more military assistance from the NATO members in an instant. To date, Canada has raised $145 million in funding to support humanitarian assistance in Ukraine in addition to military training and weapons.
“What I am trying to say is that you all need to do more to stop Russia, to protect Ukraine, and by doing that, to protect Europe from the Russian threat,” said Zelensky. “We are not asking for much, we are asking for justice. For real support.”
Shortly after Zelensky addressed Canada’s House of Commons, Trudeau was named as one of 313 Canadians that have been barred from entering Russia, according to a press release on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website. The list includes nearly every sitting member of Parliament—except for a few, like Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has already been banned from Russia—as well as the leaders of every major Canadian party.
“Can you imagine the famous CN tower in Toronto, if it was hit by Russian bombs?”
Standing at 550m in height, the CN Tower is an iconic structure in Toronto’s downtown core and easily the most recognizable building in the country.
Its potential circumference of destruction has been previously noted in a Reddit post displaying how the massive structure could crush various parts of Toronto’s downtown core should it topple, including the commuter epicenter of Union Station, or the home of the Blue Jays, the Rogers Centre. One commenter on the post also points out, “That is far too close to Burrito Boyz for my comfort.”
You can watch the full exchange between Trudeau, Zelensky, and the Canadian parliament here:
