Trudeau’s Pathetic Russia Virtue Signaling

President Joe Biden greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Build Back Better World initiative, Tuesday, November 2, 2021, during the COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has proven to everyone time and again there are political lows to which only he can sink. Now he has proven it again. In a Trudeau-style grand announcement, the prime minister announced that he would ban all imports of Russian crude oil to Canada, despite Canada not having imported any crude from Russia in years. The pathetic virtue signaling would be surprising from anyone else, but for Trudeau it’s par for the course. Chris Field reports for The Blaze:

Among the myriad criticisms of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine situation has been his refusal to announce a ban on imports of Russian crude oil. Though the U.S. has the capacity to supply its own oil, Democrat-imposed restrictions have severely limited our domestic supply and forced the country to become more reliant upon foreign oil imports, including more than 500,000 barrels of Russian crude oil every day.

Despite the fact that oil sales are a major income stream for Moscow — and are thereby funding the Russian attacks on Ukraine — Biden has elected to continue buying Russian oil.

But Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has no such hang-up and on Monday announced a ban on imports of Russian crude.

“Today, we are announcing our intention to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia, an industry that has benefited President Putin and his oligarchs greatly,” Trudeau declared, Bloomberg reported.

And he got positive headlines for his stance:

• Reuters: “Canada to supply anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, ban Russian oil imports”
• BBC: “Canada to ban imports of crude oil from Russia”
• Times of Israel: “Trudeau announces Canada ban on Russian oil imports”
• Canada’s Global News: “Premier Kenney encouraged by Trudeau ban on Russian oil, wants Biden to follow suit”
• Bloomberg: “Trudeau Says Canada to Ban Russian Crude Oil Imports”
• Calgary Herald: “Canada banning all oil imports from Russia, sending anti-tank weapons to Ukraine”

However, Trudeau’s brave stance was nothing but symbolism: Canada has not imported Russian crude oil in years.

In a short update at the very bottom of Bloomberg’s report, there’s this line: “Canada hasn’t imported any crude oil from Russia since 2019, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told lawmakers on Monday.”