Canadian Ambassador to Russia Sarah Taylor sparked outrage with her remarks at a memorial in St. Petersburg, drawing accusations of historical revisionism and Russophobia.
After tossing a cheap handful of lowers on a sacred memorial, Dr. Taylor carefully crafted a condemnation of not only the Russian people but the dead and their children’s children. The following statement on the ambassador’s official “X” profile should be the reason for her being recalled to Ottowa or expelled by Russia.
“Our best offering to the dead is truth — remembering both the heroism and the suffering of Leningrad, the outcomes of both Molotov-Ribbentrop and of Yalta — so that we learn from history rather than distorting it to our current ends.”
The Russophobia Continues
In the wake of the disgraceful comment by Canada’s top representative to the Russian Federation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova took note that the Canadian ambassador made the USSR equally responsible with Germany for the outbreak of World War II, defiled the decisions of the Yalta Conference and accused the Russian Federation of distorting historical truth.
Who can fathom visiting such a hallowed monument to courage and perseverance and then spewing venom to make a political statement? The Siege was the most destructive in history, causing an estimated 1.5 million deaths. Ottowa somehow managed to elevate the former ambassador to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia to Russia’s chief of mission to condemn the people her nation should be seeking good relations with. Further statements by her mirror the dastardly Russophobia the liberal world order has sunken to. The ambassador went on to say the horrid death of those besieged at Leningrad was “a pity, but their own fault.”
Zakharova proceeded to school the anthropologist/archaeologist slash angel of peace among all nations, reminding the ambassador of the Munich Agreement, in which Great Britain participated, which heads the Commonwealth of Nations, of which Canada is a member. The Munich Agreement was an agreement reached in Munich on 30 September 1938 by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. This annexation emboldened Hitler and led to further escalations.
Interestingly, the Soviets offered to help the Czechs repel German aggression, but Poland or Romania did not permit the Red Army to cross their territories. By the end of 1930, the Nazis had taken over the rest of the country, creating the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. It’s a “pity” that the conquered nation’s significant military arsenal played an important role in Germany’s invasions of Poland and France in 1939 and 1940. Regarding Canada’s current mistress of detente with Russia, I am reminded of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s role in the Munich catastrophe. After the conference, and just before invading Poland, Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler told his generals
“Our enemies are men below average, not men of action, not masters. They are little worms. I saw them in Munich.”
Just Deserts
Worms. Truly. If we look at Canada’s role in WW2 (besides helping to start it) it’s interesting to note that more Soviet people died at Leningrad than the Canadians ever managed to muster out to fight the Axis powers. Readers might be interested to know that about half of those forces never left Canada but stayed home awaiting…. Well, awaiting something.
Researching Canada’s role in defeating fascism versus that of the Russians and the Soviet Union, many contrasts arise. For instance, at the onset of the war, Canada managed to muster 348 troops to help Britain fight Germany’s Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel in North Africa. One of Canada’s most pitiful moments during the horrific conflict was a propaganda campaign, including “If Day,” or a staged Nazi invasion of Winnipeg that generated more than $3 million in war bonds. Perhaps Sarah Taylor’s mission to Moscow is a newer version of “If Day,” designed to get all those gritty Canucks on their ear about Putin?
I hope it’s not unfair to be a big harsh toward Canada in this discussion. However, at the same moment Canadian and British forces were being humiliated in the disastrous Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, President Vladimir Putin’s father, mother, and brother were starving in Leningrad under the Nazi guns. Putin’s brother would succumb to disease brought on by malnutrition, and his father would become a kind of folk hero. The Canucks were more interested in building defences for Newfoundland, protecting Hong Kong in a failed attempt to help the British against the Japanese, and flying missions over Alaska.
The Canadians finally participated effectively during the Allied invasions of Sicily and then Italy, losing some 25,000 dead in those bitter campaigns. In all, Canada lost 42,000 dead in WW2. The Soviet Union suffered military losses of about 10 million and an additional 18 million civilian casualties. The Axis forces on the Eastern Front lost just over 5.1 million. By comparison, the Axis only lost about 700 thousand troops on the Western front throughout the duration of the conflict.
In fairness, I must mention the brave Canadians who fought in the First Canadian Army and were responsible for liberating much of the Netherlands from German occupation. Canada lost 7,600 troops in those operations in 1945. Ironically, the people of the Netherlands sent 100,000 handpicked tulip bulbs as a postwar gift for the role played by Canadian soldiers.
In 2025, Canadian Ambassador to Russia Sarah Taylor stooped over and laid eight flowers on a monument to the deadliest siege in the history of warfare. She then proceeded to insult hundreds of millions of people across Eastern Europe who lost loved ones to the dark fascism that threatened the world almost a century ago.
In my humble opinion, Ottawa should either replace this reprehensible diplomat or the Canadian diplomatic mission to Russia should be given 48 hours to clear out. Normally, an apology would suffice in such situations. However, I sincerely doubt this ultra-liberal bureaucrat has the capacity for either accountability or decency. What a disgrace.
Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, he’s an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books
