Ontario’s Labour Minister has been banned from going to Russia.

Monte McNaughton, the MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, in a letter emailed to supporters said he’s been blacklisted by the Russian government.

In January, McNaughton, who as minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development, responded to a question from CBC News about provincial support for refugees from Ukraine saying “Russia is a terrorist state…Ontario will always support our Ukrainian community and the refugees fleeing Putin’s war of aggression.”

Yesterday, McNaughton and 333 other high profile Canadians were banned from Russia for allegedly spreading “rabid Russophobia” after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Federation says the latest blacklist is in retaliation for Canadian sanctions.

“Back in January, I called Putin’s war illegal and genocidal. I said that Putin was a terrorist for invading Ukraine – a strong and free democracy,” McNaughton wrote to supports

“My colleagues and I have been banned from entering Russia. Apparently, Putin and his gang of war criminal thugs don’t like it when people stand up to them; they don’t like it when people speak honestly. Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to continue to do, each and every day. 

“I am proud to stand with Ukraine against Putin’s war of aggression.”

More than 205,000 refugees from Ukraine have settled in Canada since the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. By January, the Ontario government had provided more than $300 million to support those moving to the province.