Conservatives Reject Liberal Claim That They Abandoned Ukraine

The federal Conservatives are pushing back against Liberal accusations that they have abandoned Ukraine by voting against a bill that would implement an updated Canada–Ukraine trade deal after Tory leader Pierre Poilievre argued that it would impose a carbon tax on the country. “Liberals renegotiated the Canada-Ukraine free trade deal, and they wanted to add, unbelievably, a carbon tax,” said Conservative MP and international development critic Garnett Genuis on X. “Conservatives think Ukraine needs weapons. Liberals think Ukraine needs a carbon tax.” Mr. Genuis said the Tories had attempted to propose a motion to the bill expanding its scope to make it easier to sell weapons to Ukraine, but it was rejected by the Liberals. “The bottom line is that the Ukrainian army needs guns and bullets to use to kill Russian soldiers. That’s how war works. No amount of good intentions and flowery speeches and performative allyship are going to get around that simple reality,” he said....