Conservatives put Canadian support for Ukraine in jeopardy

Elmwood–Transcona

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2024 (932 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

February will mark the two-year anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. This unjust war has claimed the lives of at least 10,000 civilians, including over 560 children. At stake in the battle is nothing less than the international rules-based order itself.

When the fighting began, Canada showed a strong, united front in support of Ukraine. I am proud to have been one of the first MPs to raise the issue in the House of Commons. I have been banned from entering Putin’s Russia; a distinction I carry with pride.

Unfortunately, in the fall of 2023, Canada’s effective, united front in support of Ukraine began to crumble.

First, former House Speaker Anthony Rota invited and introduced a former member of the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, a volunteer unit under Nazi command in the Second World War, to the House during Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament.

Not only did this embarrass Canada and our parliament, it created a pretext for Russian propagandists to accuse President Zelenskyy and Canada, untruthfully, of being Nazi sympathizers. New Democrats called immediately for the Speaker’s resignation when this came to light.

Instead of joining our call right away, the Conservatives spent a couple days trying to blame it on the Prime Minister to score political points. They did this even though the Speaker is not required to have his guests vetted by the Prime Minister’s Office, something the Conservatives know very well.

Not long after Rota’s debacle, the Conservatives again chose political point-making over substantial support for Ukraine by voting against a renewed trade agreement, a move publicly condemned by the Ukrainian ambassador and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Conservatives say they object because the deal imposes a carbon tax on Ukraine, but they ignore key facts: (1) Ukraine has had its own carbon tax since 2011; (2) They require a carbon tax to join the European Union, something essential for Ukraine’s long-term defence, and; (3) President Zelenskyy is fighting a war and does not have time to defend the Ukrainian tax to Canadian Conservatives.

It is a disconcerting trend, given that it follows efforts in the U.S. Republican party to discredit the Ukrainian government and reduce U.S. aid to Ukraine. We know that former President Trump often praises Vladimir Putin and his fondness for Russia is reverberating through the conservative movement in the U.S. … and now apparently with some of Trump’s admirers in Canada.

The Ukrainian people are fighting for democracy on behalf of us all. We owe it to them not to let our domestic politics compromise our support for their efforts. I join with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in urging Canada’s Conservatives to change their tune and vote in favour of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement when it comes before the House for a final vote.