The Liberal government accused Conservatives on Wednesday of abandoning Ukraine by voting overwhelmingly against an updated free trade deal that promotes carbon pricing.
Most of the Conservative caucus voted nay on the deal in the House of Commons at second reading Tuesday, triggering a chorus of heckling from the government benches.
The issue surfaced again during question period on Wednesday, with the Conservatives and Liberals exchanging blows and accusing each other of betraying Ukraine.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was just trying to score “small political points” at the expense of supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
“We’re seeing how much Ukrainians are on the battlefields defending their freedom and fighting for ours, and now you see Poilievre playing shenanigans,” Joly said after a Liberal caucus meeting.
“This is absurd.”
Poilievre calls Ukraine trade agreement a carbon tax deal
Featured VideoConservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party is not supporting the modernization of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement because it involves promoting carbon pricing.
Poilievre defended his party’s decision, saying that while the Conservatives support free trade with Ukraine, they can’t back any deal that involves a price on carbon.
“I really think it speaks to how pathologically obsessed Trudeau is with the carbon tax that he, while the knife is at the throat of Ukrainians, would use that to impose his carbon tax ideology on those poor people,” Poilievre said Wednesday.
“The last thing they need is a carbon tax when they’re trying to rebuild from war — from this illegal invasion by Russia.”
Ukraine already signed onto carbon pricing, which it needs in order to one day become a member of the European Union and avoid tariffs.
Poilievre said a Conservative government led by him would continue free trade with Ukraine, which was negotiated under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper’s government. Poilievre said he would remove any reference to carbon pricing from the agreement.
“The argument that Poilievre is using about the carbon tax and the agreement is a red herring,” said Liberal MP Yvan Baker on Wednesday.
Baker, chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, said Canada’s existing free trade agreement with Ukraine only covers goods. The updated version includes services and investment, things Baker said are essential for Ukraine to rebuild.
Baker argued the Conservatives’ vote is part of a larger pattern of behaviour contributing to waning public support for Ukraine.
Liberal MP accuses Conservatives of voting against Ukraine
Featured VideoLiberal MP Yvan Baker, who chairs the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, said the Conservative’s decision to vote against the updated Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement shows the party doesn’t support Ukraine.
“[Poilievre] argues that the war doesn’t affect inflation, when we know the war is the primary reason for food and energy price inflation around the world, including here at home,” Baker said.
“It’s very clear yesterday’s vote is just another example that the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives don’t support Ukraine.”
The revised Canada-Ukraine trade treaty was signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his September visit to Ottawa.
Bill C-57, an Act to Implement the 2023 Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine, is now headed to a committee for study after passing the Commons by a vote of 205 to 109 with support from the NDP, Greens, Bloc Québécois and the governing Liberals.
Head of Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce disappointed
Zenon Potichny, president of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, expected the vote to get unanimous consent.
“It was disappointing,” Potichny said in an interview with CBC News.
“It sort of sends a bad signal, first of all, to Ukraine.… Why would you block it when you know your Canadian companies also will get more contracts, more jobs, more involvement in Ukraine?”
Zenon Potichny is president of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce. (Paula Duhatschek/CBC)
Baker defended the spending and said Canada needs to continue to support Ukraine.
“We either pay a small price now by helping the Ukrainians win this war decisively, or we pay a much bigger price later and much higher inflation, much greater security risks in the years to come,” Baker said.
Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, said past Conservative voters are most likely to say Canada has been offering too much support for Ukraine and that Canada should stay out of the conflict all together.
“Conservative voters, in general, are more likely to profess higher support for focusing on domestic affairs and less support for Canada having a large intervening role in crises or conflicts around the world,” Kurl said.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
