Canada’s leftist Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, flush with new “emergency powers” that enable him to crush political dissent without due process, promised on Tuesday that Canada would stand against imported Russian authoritarianism in Ukraine.
“Russia’s flagrant disregard for the independence of a sovereign nation is a serious threat to security and stability in the region and around the world. Canada and our allies will defend democracy. We are taking these actions today in a stand against authoritarianism,” Trudeau said as he announced sanctions against Moscow.
Trudeau’s choice of words prompted a good deal of derision from observers who thought him either dishonest or incredibly obtuse for denouncing authoritarianism immediately after imposing it on Canada. Other critics pointed out that Ukrainian government was not exactly clean and pure of authoritarian tendencies.
Trudeau’s government used brutal force to break up the Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa over the weekend, seriously injuring an elderly woman (and initially denying it had done so). Even after the protest was broken up, Trudeau insisted on claiming “emergency powers” that allow his government to freeze the bank accounts of convoy supporters. Organizers of the protest were arrested and denied bail,
The first round of Canadian sanctions includes a ban on financial dealings with entities in Luhansk and Donetsk, the two “independent republics” unilaterally created by Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Trudeau said Canada would sanction any Russian lawmakers who follow Putin’s lead by recognizing the territories created by Putin.
“This recognition is a violation of Russia’s obligation under international law and the Charter of the United Nations. Canada also denounces Russian military actions, including orders to move into Ukraine which is a clear incursion of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
“This is a further invasion of a sovereign state, and it is unacceptable,” Trudeau declared.
Canadians are banned from buying Russian sovereign debt and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Canada will “apply additional sanctions onto state-backed Russian banks and prevent any financial dealings with them.”
“We are prepared to target even more of Russia’s financial sector and oligarchy and we’re ready to make significant announcements related to Canadian exports to Russia,” Joly warned.
“As the economic pressure mounts from the sanctions imposed by Canada and its allies, Russia will need to seek new funding by leveraging their sovereign debt. We will make it illegal for Canadians to join in that effort, both directly and indirectly. Without a way to recover these costs the Russian economy will be severely impacted,” predicted Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
In addition to the sanctions, Trudeau said Canada will send another 460 troops to reinforce NATO positions in the Baltic states, including an artillery unit dispatched to Latvia. A Canadian frigate and patrol plane will also be sent to eastern Europe by the end of March.
Trudeau evaded questions from the press about why these forces were not dispatched sooner, since the Latvians requested them weeks ago. He suggested the deployments were delayed as a carrot to entice peaceable behavior from Putin, and would now be wielded as a stick because Putin chose to invade Ukrainian territory.
“One of the things that we have seen with Putin’s demands around Ukraine and NATO presence is that far from seeing a reduction of Western forces in eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin has achieved the opposite,” Trudeau said.
“We are looking for Russia to stand down, to cease its violations of Ukrainian sovereignty, Ukrainian territorial integrity, to return to negotiation tables,” Trudeau said of Canada’s goals.