Poilievre accuses Liberals of using trade deal to push 'carbon tax ideology' on war-torn Ukraine | Canada News Media
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Poilievre accuses Liberals of using trade deal to push ‘carbon tax ideology’ on war-torn Ukraine

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OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party voted this week against a bill updating a Canada-Ukraine trade deal because it included an agreement to  “promote carbon pricing,” while Liberals are portraying the move as an abandonment of the war-torn country.

On Wednesday, Poilievre accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of wanting to “impose his carbon tax ideology” on a country at war.

Conservatives voted against C-57, a bill to implement a new free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine, in second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Government House leader Karina Gould said after the vote she was “absolutely gobsmacked” by the Conservatives’ vote.

The main issue the Conservatives say they have with the revised trade deal, which was signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit in Ottawa last September, is its reference to “promote carbon pricing and measures to mitigate carbon leakage risks”.

Ukraine has had a carbon tax in place since 2011 that consists of a small levy of a bit more than a dollar per tonne of CO2 emissions from industrial emitters.

Canada’s carbon tax is at $65 per tonne this year and is set to increase to $170 per tonne by 2030.

C-57 was able to move to committee with the support of the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, who all voted in favour of the bill.

Poilievre told reporters on Wednesday that his party supports free trade with Ukraine, pointing out that former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper’s government had negotiated the original free trade deal in 2015. The deal took effect in 2017, when Trudeau was prime minister.

“I really think 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,” said Poilievre before his caucus meeting on Wednesday.

“The last thing they need is a carbon tax when they’re trying to rebuild from war and from this illegal invasion by Russia,” he added.

Bruce Christie, assistant deputy minister for trade negotiations at Global Affairs Canada, told a parliamentary committee meeting on Nov. 7 that such pledges are “not binding provisions; they are co-operation provisions”.

Other recent trade deals with the U.S., the European Union, the Trans Pacific Partnership have not mentioned carbon taxes.

Poilievre said that Conservatives would remove any reference to the carbon tax in the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal if his party took office, and would instead focus on providing Canadian energy and munitions to Ukraine so that it can defend itself against Russia’s invasion.

On Wednesday, senior Liberals took turns in question period blasting the Conservatives’ refusal to support the new trade deal with Ukraine.

“For the past 18 months, I was pleased to say that we had a multipartisan approach to addressing Ukraine. Unfortunately, that evaporated in a puff of smoke with a very decided and methodological vote taken on behalf of the Conservatives,” said Justice Minister Arif Virani.

Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, accused the opposition of abandoning Ukrainians at a time when they are “dying, literally, on behalf of freedom-loving people of the world”.

“Canadians will remember this moment, and we will never forget that shameful party,” he said.

Gould said she did not believe the Conservatives’ reason for voting against the bill, calling the carbon-tax explanation a “red herring”.

Ukrainian political and business representatives have said the new trade deal will be crucial for Ukraine’s postwar recovery and have urged all members of Parliament to support C-57.

Alexandra Chyczij, national president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, said she was “grateful to all the parties in the House who supported the legislation in second reading”. She made no mention of the Conservatives’ position on this matter.

“Ukraine can and will defeat Russia – but the Ukrainian people need our sustained support – both in strengthening Ukraine’s economic resilience and in increasing military support,” she said in a statement.

 

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Christian McCaffrey is placed on injured reserve for the 49ers and will miss at least 4 more games

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.

The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.

McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.

McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.

The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.

After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.

He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.

Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.

The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.

San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.

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Canada’s Newman, Arop secure third-place finishes at Diamond League track event

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BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.

Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.

Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.

Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.

Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.

Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.

Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

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Bologna prepares for Champions League debut with draw at Como while Juventus held

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MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.

Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.

Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.

AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.

Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.

Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.

Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.

Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.

Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.

Unbeaten sides

Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.

Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.

On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.

Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.

The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.

Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.

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AP soccer:

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