Canada’s new aid for Ukraine is the right thing to do

The federal government announced $200 million in military equipment alongside $35 million in non-lethal aid.

On December 3rd, the Canadian government announced $200 million in military equipment purchases for Ukraine:

“Today, the Honourable David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, announced that Canada will purchase a package of critical military capabilities sourced from the United States under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), in partnership with other NATO Allies. Canada’s contribution to this PURL package will be CAD $200 million.

This package is valued at approximately USD $500 million and includes capabilities that have been specifically identified by Ukraine as urgent requirements to support its defence against Russia’s war.

Launched in August 2025, the PURL initiative addresses Ukraine’s most urgent military needs by sourcing critical capabilities that the United States can provide in greater volumes than Europe and Canada alone, such as air defence, ammunition and other critical equipment. Canada welcomes this initiative, recognizes the collective Allied effort, and continues to carefully evaluate how to best support Ukraine’s pressing defence requirements.

Today’s announcement builds on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s August announcement of Canada’s full funding of an earlier PURL package, bringing the total of Canada’s contribution to PURL to approximately CAD $892 million.

Canada has demonstrated its ongoing and steadfast support for Ukraine, committing over $6.5 billion in military assistance since February 2022. Canada remains fully committed to supporting Ukraine in the long term against Russia’s aggression.”

The move comes amid growing fears that the Trump Administration is selling out Ukraine:

“Der Spiegel said it had obtained an English summary of Monday’s call, featuring what it said were direct quotations from European heads of government in which they expressed fundamental doubts about Washington’s approach to the talks.

The French president described the current tense phase of the negotiations as harbouring “a big danger” for Ukraine’s embattled president, according to the summary. Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, reportedly added that the Ukrainian leader needed to be “very careful”.

“They are playing games with both you and us,” Merz was reported as telling him – a remark the magazine concluded was a reference to a diplomatic mission to Moscow this week by President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The magazine said other leaders also voiced their concerns, with Finland’s Alexander Stubb, who has bonded with Trump over golf, reportedly warning “we must not leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys”.”

If Ukraine were to be defeated, or if it were forced to accept a ‘peace’ that left it vulnerable to another invasion, Russia would commit even more widespread atrocities on Ukrainian civilians in occupied territories. Russia would also become more powerful, as it would forcibly conscript hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and utilize Ukraine’s massive industrial base to increase weapons production. In turn, Russia would be emboldened to launch further attacks on Canadian allies in Europe, with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia all at risk. Russia would also be able to expand military activity in the Arctic, putting Canadian security and sovereignty at risk.

The cost of dealing with a world in which Russia wins in Ukraine would be much higher than helping support Ukraine now. It is essential to remember this, especially when some try to politicize aid to Ukraine – politicization efforts that quite often echo Russian propaganda narratives almost verbatim.

That’s why, from both an ethical standpoint and from the perspective of Canada’s national interest, continuing to provide aid to Ukraine is the right thing to do.

Spencer Fernando

Image – YouTube

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