There has been a lot of talk from our government about supporting the people of Ukraine through sanctions placed on Russia.
While these sanctions are direct actions taken to penalize Russia, they are also heavily impacting the lives of Canadians living in that country, like my family and myself.
The situation in Ukraine is a horrible tragedy and they need as much help as they can get. That being said, statements mean nothing without action. Talking about how proud you are to be blacklisted by Russia really doesn’t do much to help what’s going on, now does it? Right, Mr. Angus? (as per the Sudbury.com article of March 16)
It seems like our leaders are proud of speaking up, but they aren’t so good when it comes to acting and standing by what they say.
"We need to speed things up, expedite people fleeing the tyranny that Russia has put on Ukraine," Ford said. (Quoted from a Sudbury.com article on Feb. 28).
This is the same premier that I contacted directly about assistance for my family trying to flee the tyranny imposed by Russia. The same premier who’s office told me there’s nothing they would do, and to call Justin Trudeau. The Prime Minister’s office, for the record, didn’t even return my calls.
To date, I have contacted France Gélinas, Marc Serré, Doug Ford, and Justin Trudeau’s offices. Ford and Trudeau dismissed and ignored my plight entirely. I guess a single vote really doesn’t mean that much to them.
Gélinas’ office called to wish me luck.
Serré’s office, at least, made a few calls on my behalf and provided me with some guidance.
Factually, none of them provided assistance for a local man and his family needing to return home. Someone that for years lived, paid taxes, volunteered, voted and worked in the Greater Sudbury community. A man and his family who would be returning to contribute to Canada again.
The thing is, my family isn’t asking for any of these politicians to perform a miracle. We are simply asking for the same quality of assistance that they are offering to anyone else being harmed by this situation. We’ve done everything in our power to help ourselves, but the sanctions imposed by the Canadian government are causing us harm now.
First, we were able to access money via a couple of banks. That was taken away, and so we could only get money through Western Union. That option was also taken away, and now we are completely cut off. Not being able to access even Western Union is negatively impacting the average citizen, but it isn’t having an effect on Putin’s war machine.
Honestly, you would think the members that we have voted into government, would want to help a fellow Canadian. Someone being harmed by the decisions they themselves have made.
My three children, my wife and I are innocents caught in the crosshairs of this war. Perhaps we don’t have missiles pointed at us, but we are running out of money for food, our children are outgrowing their clothes, and we are struggling to pay the utilities for our home.
Day by day, the situation becomes more dire and our ability to survive here gets worse. We are reaching the limit of what our support network can help us with. Faced with limited options we even requested help from our extended family and friends through a GoFundMe campaign. While the money raised there will be of help, it’s not nearly enough to fund the plane tickets, nor the expenses of setting up a new home for a family of 5.
Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Joly, Premier Ford and every MP/MPP out there, we need help! We need you to support us the same way you are supporting everyone else being harmed by this situation. Real support, not just words.
Daniel de Chevigny
Tyumen, Russia