In both the U.S. Congress and Canada’s Parliament, the Russia invasion of the Ukraine has brought governing and opposition parties together in their support for the Ukraine. When Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed these governing bodies this week, he received a standing and emotive ovation from both sides of the aisle. Parties on the left and on the right have suddenly been galvanized in support of their mutual and strong opposition to Vladimir Putin’s war on the Ukrainian people. One has not seen this kind of unified alliance in many years. While there may be minor differences in the nature of support for the Ukraine, the general approach has been to provide more military and humanitarian aid to that country and to punish Russia with more and more economic sanctions.
In addition, both the U.S. and Canada have moved to strengthen their support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in its resolve to support the Ukraine in this horrendous war. In addition, the Russian threat has led to leaders in both countries and in Europe to revisit their defence spending. As Jonathan Weisman in the New York Times notes: “On the left, Democrats are acquiescing to higher military spending and dropping a bid to pull back rapidly from fossil fuels. On the right, Trump-era isolationism and attacks on the trans-Atlantic alliance are being relegated to the fringe in Congress.” The current Canadian government has also indicated that it will be moving to increase defence expenditures particularly in light of the Russian threat to Canada’s Artic region. Canada has been reluctant to increase these expenditures in the past, but both liberals and conservatives now see such an increase as necessary due to the recent events and the need to better support NATO.
Also, both the U.S. and Canada now support an increase in a joint North American energy approach, including an increase in the production and transport of fossil fuels. Both countries still believe that a reduced reliance on non-renewable energy sources is necessary to combat the impact of climate change, but are more willing to use fossil fuels as a bridge to the increased use of renewal energy sources and green technologies. This may encourage the Democrats to revisit their anti-pipeline policies in order to facilitate the flow of Canadian crude oil to the U.S., something the Republicans have supported in the past. Both administrations firmly believe that Europe will need to reduce its dependence on Russia for fossil fuels. However, this approach will take years to implement and will require the continuing support of future American and Canadian governments.
Canada has one of the largest populations of Ukrainians in the world outside of the Ukraine, forcing governments to support the Ukraine militarily and through sanctions on Russia. Politically, no government can ignore the impact of the Russian invasion on these Canadians. One should expect that all political parties will continue to support foreign policies in opposition to Vladimir Putin. One can also expect that support for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), implemented by a pact made in 1957 at the height of the Cold War, will increase. NORAD has been placed under the joint command the air forces of Canada and the U.S., and is the key means for both countries to reinforce our mutual defence of North America.
All in all, we should look forward to greater unity of both left and right leaning political parties when it comes to foreign policy, defence policy and energy policy. This may be one of the few benefits derived from our reaction of the unfortunate and tragic situation in the Ukraine. Time will tell!
FROLITICKS 
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