Federal Liberal cabinet ministers say Canada needs to continue to support Ukraine as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accuses Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday of being a “big talker… little doer” when it comes to helping the country’s war efforts.
Renewed conversation around Canada’s backing of Ukraine comes as MPs are about to vote to pass the modernized Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, and as a new Angus Reid survey indicates Canadians’ attention is plunging, as is support among Conservative voters.
“What’s most important here in my opinion, is to explain to Canadians and to the world, what the reality of the situation in Ukraine is. Yes, the war is happening in Ukraine. However, it is also a war for us,” Freeland said in French, speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.
“We need to understand what the goal of Vladimir Putin is. Putin wants to change the world… wants to rewrite the rules that we have established in the world,” Freeland said. “He wants a world in which it is the strongest countries with the largest armies that are able to control everyone else. This would not be a good world for Canadians.”
Also speaking to reporters, Treasury Board President Anita Anand and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly—fresh back from a visit to Ukraine—said that Tuesday’s vote to pass the trade deal revamp legislation to the Senate will signal to allied countries that Canada’s support remains steadfast, “as long as it takes.”
“We know that the Conservatives will let down Ukrainians. Poilievre has been talking a lot about, and crying about the importance of freedom, but the reality we know that he’s about freedom for some and not for all,” Joly said.
The Liberals have been highly critical of Poilievre’s rejection of the trade bill and his stated reasoning is being concerned over carbon pricing promotion and the wording within it, despite Ukraine already having a carbon price.
Trudeau and his MPs have repeatedly made the case in public and through direct targeted ads in ridings with sizable Ukrainian diasporas that the Conservatives have turned their backs on the war-torn country.
On Monday, the Conservatives tried to pass an amendment to the trade pact implementation legislation known as Bill C-57, seeking to send the bill back to the committee study stage to remove “all references to carbon pricing and carbon leakage.” That effort failed with all other parties voting to reject the change and uphold the legislation as drafted.
Angus Reid’s latest data indicates that “on average” Canadians see the Conservatives voting against the trade deal revamp as a “net negative” for the country’s international reputation and for trust in a potential future Conservative government to stand up for allied countries in the future.
Bracing for the Conservatives to once again vote against the legislation Tuesday, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said it’s a “question of principle.”
“We know where the Conservatives stand. I think you’ve heard them in the House of Commons and you’ve heard their mealy-mouth excuses for not supporting our brothers and sisters in Ukraine in their fight against a Russian aggressor,” Miller said. “Our government’s support will not wane.”
Asked about his Ukraine positioning during a Montreal press conference Tuesday, Poilievre pivoted to attacking Trudeau, pointing to the recently-revived acrimony over the embarrassing invitation extended to a Nazi veteran during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Canada last year.
“Justin Trudeau is a big talker and a little doer when it comes to Ukraine,” Poilievre said.
“He’s made all these announcements of hundreds of millions of dollars of different equipment that he’s never actually delivered,” he said.
Poilievre vowed a federal Conservative government would do more for Ukraine, including by giving Ukrainians missiles that Canada planned to dispose of, and by changing environmental laws to promote natural gas exports to Europe to “break European dependence” on “evil dictator” Vladimir Putin’s Russian energy supply.
This is a developing story, check back for updates…