The federal Conservatives are pushing back against Liberal accusations that they have abandoned Ukraine by voting against a bill that would implement an updated Canada–Ukraine trade deal after party Leader Pierre Poilievre argued that it would impose a carbon tax on the country.
Mr. Genuis said the Conservatives had attempted to propose a motion to the bill expanding its scope to make it easier to sell weapons to Ukraine, but it was rejected by the Liberals. “The bottom line is that the Ukrainian army needs guns and bullets to use to kill Russian soldiers. That’s how war works. No amount of good intentions and flowery speeches and performative allyship are going to get around that simple reality,” he said.
“I really think that it speaks to how pathologically obsessed Trudeau is with the carbon tax, that while the knife is at the throat of Ukrainians, he would use that to impose his carbon tax ideology on those poor people. The last thing they need is a carbon tax when they’re trying to rebuild from war from this illegal invasion by Russia,” he told reporters before heading into question period on Nov. 22.
Canadian officials have also said that the carbon-pricing language in the agreement—which Ukraine’s president signed during his September visit to Ottawa—is not legally binding.
The national president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, an advocacy organization for local Ukrainian communities, also said he hoped the Tories would reconsider their position.
“The Ukrainian Canadian Congress was disappointed that the official Opposition unanimously voted against legislation that would update the Canada Ukraine Free Trade Agreement,” Alexandra Chyczij said in a statement. “We call on the official Opposition to revisit this position before third reading.”