Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blames what he called "MAGA influence" for sinking support for Ukraine within his nation's government.
During a press conference with visiting European leaders, Trudeau connected a gambit by his Conservative rivals in Ottawa to hard-right rhetoric in the United States and Europe. He said that they are "starting to parrot Russian disinformation and misinformation and propaganda."
Canada's Support for Ukraine
The country is home to roughly 1.4 million Ukrainian Canadians and has the second-largest Ukrainian diaspora after Russia. Until now, Canadian politicians of all stripes have been united behind support for Kyiv.
But earlier this week, conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and his party turned heads in Parliament by voting as a bloc against legislation updating the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement. Despite the opposition, the bill passed with the support of Bloc Quebecois and NDP MPs for study at the committee level.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the new deal when he met with Trudeau in Ottawa this fall. As per Politico, Kyiv had asked Canada to fast-track the modernized legislation to help attract investments to rebuild the war-torn nation.
But the surprising conservative vote against the legislation included claims that the new trade deal with Ukraine would impose Canada's controversial carbon tax, which Poilievre has vowed to kill.
However, no such provision exists in the legislation, and Eastern European countries have had their carbon mechanism since 2011. Officials from Ukraine were taken aback by the sudden opposition to the legislation, which former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper championed.
Trudeau has called the Conservatives' opposition to the deal "frankly absurd." He called out what he said was a bigger trend behind the twist in support, using the moment to his political foes to Trumpian influences.
During a news conference, the prime minister said that seeing the Conservative Party not supporting Ukraine is ridiculous. He said that the real story is the rise of a right-wing, American MAGA influence, according to Reuters.
MAGA Influence on the Right-Wing Party
The remarks come as Trump seeks re-election in the 2024 presidential race in the US and is currently the leading candidate for the GOP's nomination. He has expressed sharp criticism of American support for Kyiv and said he could end the war in 24 hours if re-elected.
There is a relatively small but vocal group of Republicans who have criticized Ukraine's assistance for several months. They have accused Kyiv of failing to fight corruption, which Ukrainian and US officials deny sufficiently.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa said that the agreement "does not include any specific instruments on decreasing carbon footprint, including specific taxation instruments."
The federal government's chief trade negotiator testified before a House of Commons committee earlier this month. He said the provisions were not binding and were meant to promote discussion and cooperation.
Ukraine's carbon tax is part of its efforts to gain membership in the EU and the country's government is developing a form of carbon pricing to bring its policies in line with EU trade requirements, said CBC.
