Why Canada is violating its own Russian sanctions

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Canada is getting heat for granting a Montreal company an exemption from Russian sanctions. The company fixes turbines used in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which supplies natural gas from Russia to Germany.

Ukraine is not happy with Canada, saying that granting this exemption sets a “dangerous precedent” that will only “strengthen Moscow’s sense of impunity”. But Germany pushed hard for this decision because the pipeline in question supplies more than 50 per cent of the country’s natural gas. Meanwhile, Russia has been reducing gas flow to Europe which is sending the country deeper into an energy crisis.

The Globe’s parliamentary reporter Steven Chase explains what the sanction controversy is all about and how Canada is involved, why Canada sided with Germany and what that means for the war in Ukraine.