Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party didn't vote against having a free-trade agreement with Ukraine, but is instead rejecting a bill that promotes carbon pricing.

The Liberals argue the Conservatives are following segments of the U.S. Republican party in chipping away at support for Kyiv against Russia's invasion, leading to a heated exchange in the House of Commons.

Parliament is debating government legislation that implements a negotiated update to an existing trade deal between Canada and Ukraine.

The proposed deal primarily focuses on maintaining market access under an agreement the Harper government had negotiated. It also includes new investment provisions that Ukraine says could help with an eventual rebuild of the war-torn country.

The text being debated also adds a new environmental chapter in which both countries agree to "promote carbon pricing."

Ukraine has had a price on carbon in place for years, and its ambassador is urging Canada to pass the legislation.

Conservatives unanimously voted against sending the bill to committee on Tuesday, despite all other parties approving it.

"We brought in the free trade agreement, we voted against Justin Trudeau forcing a carbon tax into that pre-existing agreement," Poilievre said, arguing the carbon tax has been "devastating" for the Canadian economy.

Poilievre told reporters in Toronto that a carbon tax in Ukraine would impede its economic recovery, despite the country having a carbon tax since 2011.

"This is cruel and frankly, it is disgusting, that Trudeau's ideological obsession with taxing working-class people, seniors and suffering families has come ahead of what should have been a free-trade agreement," he said.

Liberal House leader Karina Gould argued the Tories are abandoning Ukraine and not taking climate change seriously.

"With Tuesday's vote, when the Conservative Party of Canada voted against the Canada-Ukraine free-trade agreement on a red herring there's something deeper going on," she told reporters on Parliament Hill.

"We've seen in right-wing political circles in the United States a hard turn against Ukraine, towards supporting Russia," Gould said, accusing the Tories of ushering in "American-style, right-wing politics."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2023.