Trudeau accuses Tories of turning their backs on Ukraine's needs, announces more aid

OTTAWA -

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the Conservatives on Friday for voting against a bill to implement a free-trade agreement with Ukraine, accusing them of turning their backs on the embattled country's needs for partisan reasons.

"I've actually boasted ... that it's not a political debate in Canada: All parties in Canada stand with Ukraine," Trudeau said at the Canada-EU Summit in St. John's on Friday.

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"So it is particularly troubling to see ... that suddenly the Conservative Party of Canada would choose to not stand with Ukraine in something that they need."

He noted there has been a rise in "right-wing rhetoric" in the United States and in some parts of Europe, where some political leaders have called for their countries to pull back on aid for Ukraine nearly two years into the war.

In the House of Commons this week, Conservative MPs voted against a bill to implement a negotiated update to an existing trade deal between Canada and Ukraine, touching off a heated debate.

Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre has insisted that they were rejecting the legislation because it promotes carbon pricing, which he said has been "devastating" for the Canadian economy, and not voting against the trade deal itself.

The deal, which is based on an agreement made under the former Conservative government, focuses on market access and includes provisions aimed at helping Ukraine eventually rebuild.

An additional environmental chapter being debated in the House of Commons includes language that says both countries agree to "promote carbon pricing."

"We brought in the free trade agreement. We voted against Justin Trudeau forcing a carbon tax into that pre-existing agreement," Poilievre told reporters on Thursday.

Canada's chief trade negotiator has said the language around carbon pricing is meant to clarify that such policies won't hamper bilateral commerce.

Ukraine has had a price on carbon since 2011, and the country's ambassador is urging Canada to pass the legislation.

When asked about Poilievre's policy on the Ukraine trade deal on Friday, European Council President ΓÇïCharles Michel said he wouldn't comment on Canadian domestic politics.

But he stressed the importance of supporting Kyiv "without being intimidated" by anyone.

"From the European side, we are determined to support Ukraine, and to not use arguments that could come off as excuses to pull back in support for Ukraine," he said in French.

Stephane Dion, a former Liberal leader who is Canada's special envoy to the European Union, told reporters in St. John's that repealing Ottawa's price on carbon could hurt trade with the continent.

That's because the EU is phasing in the carbon border adjustment mechanism, a levy on carbon emissions for imports that aren't already subject to such a price abroad.

"If you don't put a price on carbon, the EU has been very clear, they have a tax at the border against the free-riders of climate change," Dion said. "Carbon pricing is a tool to increase our ability to trade in Europe."

Canada announced another $60-million contribution of military aid for Ukraine on Friday, including nine million rounds of ammunition and around 11,000 firearms. That's part of a $500-million package of aid that was announced during the summer.

Canada has committed more than $2.4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of the country began in February 2022.

South of the border, Republicans have resisted calls from President Joe Biden for more help in recent months.

The White House has been pressing lawmakers to pass a nearly US$106-billion emergency spending package that includes more than US$61 billion for Ukraine.

GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been arguing the money would be better spent on domestic priorities.

Congress ignored a roughly US$40-billion supplemental request before a Sept. 30 funding deadline. Then last week, it passed a stopgap funding measure that keeps the government operating through early next year, but with no additional Ukraine aid.

The United States has committed more than US$60 billion in aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, including more than US$43 billion in military aid.

A recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests 45 per cent of the U.S. public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, down from 52 per cent in October.

The poll of 1,239 adults was conducted Nov. 2-6 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2023.

-- With files from Dylan Robertson and The Associated Press