Burnaby MLAs are among the latest round of Canadians banned from entering Russia.
The country's foreign ministry announced on Wednesday (April 12) that 333 Canadian citizens are being "permanently banned," including Burnaby-Lougheed MLA Katrina Chen, Burnaby North MLA Janet Routledge, Burnaby-Deer Lake MLA Anne Kang and Burnaby-Edmonds MLA and speaker of the house Raj Chouhan.
"I learned today that I'm included on an ever-growing list of people worldwide that the Russian government has sanctioned," Routledge wrote on social media in response.
"It does not change the fact that I believe the invasion of Ukraine was unprovoked."
Canada's Governor General Mary Simon, Olympic gold medallist Tessa Virtue and women's hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser were also listed.
Burnaby South MP Jagmeet Singh, Burnaby North-Seymour MP Terry Beech and New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian were all included on earlier lists.
B.C. Premier David Eby and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are also among the 1,537 Canadians banned.
Trudeau announced in February 2022 that Canada would sanction Putin, along with his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and other top Kremlin figures, holding them responsible for the "brutal, needless attack" on Ukraine.
Trudeau also said Canada would support the removal of Russia from SWIFT, the digital payment and messaging network that connects thousands of banks worldwide, which he said would make it even harder for Putin to "finance his brutalities."
- with files from The Canadian Press
