Poilievre Says Carbon Tax Provision Preventing Party From Supporting Ukraine Trade Deal

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 19, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party voted against a free trade agreement with Ukraine because of wording in the bill around promoting carbon taxes.

“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,” Mr. Poilievre told reporters before heading into question period on Nov. 22.

“Common sense Conservatives will, when we take office, continue with our free trade record with Ukraine. We will remove any reference to the carbon tax, and we will actually put in things that will help.”

On Nov. 21, Bill C-57, also known as the modernized Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, came up for its first vote at the second reading. While Conservative MPs unanimously voted against advancing the bill, citing fears it would “impose” a carbon tax on Ukraine, it passed 205–109 due to the backing of the Bloc Quebecois, NDP, and Green Party.

The deal was signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during Mr. Zelenskyy’s visit to Ottawa back in September.

The text of the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine states that the two countries will “cooperate bilaterally and in international forums” in order to, among other things, “promote carbon pricing and measures to mitigate carbon leakage risks.” It does not include provisions forcing the country to impose a tax.

During question period, Liberal MP and Minister of Employment Randy Boissonnault accused the Conservatives of ending their support for Ukraine. In response, Mr. Poilievre accused the prime minister of “betraying” Ukraine by refusing to implement an agreement to supply Europe with natural gas and break its dependency on Russia, and by failing to vet Ukrainian guest in the House of Commons Yaroslav Hunka, who was later revealed to have fought for a Nazi unit during World War II.

“He’s betraying Ukraine with this terrible agreement to force a carbon tax on Ukrainians that will destroy their ability to fight a war and rebuild their economy. We will axe the tax and stand unequivocally with Ukrainians in their fight for freedom,” Mr. Poilievre said.

Minister of International Trade Mary Ng said the agreement does “not impose a price on pollution on Ukraine” because the country already has one in place. Since 2011, Ukraine has had a carbon tax that applies to emissions from stationary sources in the industry, power, and buildings sectors, and in 2018 the country decided to steadily increase the carbon tax rate.

Mr. Poilievre said if the carbon tax was “already there,” then the Liberals wouldn’t have needed to put it in the deal.

On Nov. 22, Liberals and New Democrats on the Standing Committee on International Trade voted against a Conservative motion to expand Bill C-57 to allow for more weapons and munitions exports to the country.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis said the Conservatives supported the free trade deal with Ukraine, but it needed to be “evaluated on its merits.”

“Liberals put a carbon tax that nobody wants into a trade deal, while the same Liberals voted against including arms exports in this bill. Ukraine needs weapons and not a carbon tax,” he said.