OTTAWA—Member of Parliament Carol Hughes is one of several MPs from Northeastern Ontario who are among 313 Canadians, top officials, parliamentarians and anti-Russian figures in Canada who have been placed on Russia’s travel blacklist. Russia made the announcement last week in relation to similar moves by Canada following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In fact, all members of parliament have been declared persona non grata by the Russian government.
“Like most other members of parliament, I was placed on a Russian travel blacklist for having the audacity to speak out against the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine,” stated Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes. “If (Russian president) Vladimir Putin doesn’t want me to travel to Russia, so be it. I will wear the blacklist as a badge of honour for doing the right thing and standing up for the people of Ukraine.”
MP Hughes said, “I certainly didn’t have any plans to travel to Russian any time soon. I have not travelled out of the country since 2016. Should I decide to travel outside of Canada, it would be to countries that have leaders who respect international human rights and the sovereignty of other nations. As we have seen frequently during this illegal invasion, even ordinary Russian citizens don’t want this war.”
“I was moved by (Ukraine) president Zelensky’s address to Parliament (March 15), as were Canadians across the country,” said MP Hughes. “As such, I will continue to call for the government of Canada to provide more humanitarian aid to Ukraine, give the opportunity to Ukrainians fleeing their homeland a chance to settle as refugees in Canada, and push for stronger sanctions against Putin’s closest oligarchs.”
