Quebec Green Party leader under fire for wanting to give in to Russia

Mar 6 2022, 7:01 pm

In a political landscape where most leaders are outspoken about their support of Ukraine and admonishment of Russia’s invasion, one voice from Quebec stands out with a take that goes against the grain.

In the afternoon on Friday, March 4, Quebec Green Party Leader Alex Tyrrell shared his thoughts on how Russia’s demands should be accepted on social media.

According to Tyrrell, Russia’s reasonable demands include:

  • Neutral, non-nuclear status for Ukraine
  • Ukraine demilitarization and “denazification”
  • And “recognition of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the sovereignty of the pro-Russian separatist regions of Eastern Ukraine, Donetsk, and Luhansk”

Tyrrell said that these are “reasonable demands that I believe should be accepted by the Western countries and the Ukrainian government.”

“I therefore call on the Canadian, American and NATO governments to stop sending arms to Ukraine and to support serious negotiations with Russia now to allow for an immediate deescalation and to save lives,” he wrote.

The stance Tyrrell took immediately caused a reaction.

Amita Kuttner, the Interim Leader of the Green Party of Canada, condemned Tyrrell’s comments and reiterated that Quebec’s Green Party bears no relation to the Green Party of Canada.

Although Tyrrell said he condemns the Russian invasion and the violence “on both sides of the conflict as well as the diplomatic failure that led to this war,” many were quick to criticize his statement.

Claims of right-wing extremism and nazism in Ukraine do not appear to match with the fact that according to the Central Election Commission, Zelenskyy – who has Jewish heritage – won the election with 73.22% of the votes in 2019.

Tyrrell’s controversial take is a minority view, especially when the official government of Canada’s stance on the Russian invasion is clear.

Canada has already taken many steps to support Ukraine and condemn Russia, including providing military support and imposing sanctions.

And Canadians themselves are stepping up, showing support by donations to humanitarian aid organizations and even via Airbnb to get money directly to Ukrainian families.

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