WARMINGTON: NDP MPs meet German chancellor to talk about Ukraine – Toronto Sun

NDP parliamentarians were talking about Ukraine in Germany with that country’s leadership, but insist they were not there on the taxpayer’s dime.

NDP tweets from over the weekend show leader Jagmeet Singh, fellow NDP MPs Charlie Angus and Heather McPherson and NDP National Director Anne McGrath were in Germany, posing for a picture just inside what was once the East Germany — just steps from where the Berlin Wall used to separate communism and democracy.

“We are meeting today with representatives of the Social Democratic Party. Later today, we will be meeting Chancellor Olaf Scholz,” tweeted Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus, complete with a photo of the four just inside Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. “We will be discussing the Ukraine war, the energy/climate crisis in Europe and how Canada can play a role.”  

What? Come again? 

Members of the fourth party in the House of Commons met with a G7 leader instead of someone from the Trudeau government. Was this part of their effort to prop up the Liberal minority government until 2025 or were they there as members of the NDP? 

It turns out the NDP say they were merely attending Germany’s ruling Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) convention on their own accord.

But they sure got some special access.

“Jagmeet Singh discussing the response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine with Jana Puglierin (head of European council on foreign relations) Dovile Sakaliene (Vice President of Lithuanian Social Democratic Party), Lars Klingbeil SPD Chairman,” said a tweet from Angus. 

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Singh later tweeted he was “honoured to have attended (the) Foreign Affairs Panel” and “Canada has a meaningful role to play in the world.”

McPherson, the MP for Edmonton Strathcona, tweeted a photograph of her and Singh and said she was “very excited” to join her NDP colleagues “to discuss global energy policy, the war in Ukraine, affordable housing strategies and progressive politics with the German government.”  

They later posted a picture of Singh meeting with Scholz and a group shot with the chancellor as well. 

Singh said: “I was happy to tell the chancellor that he can count on me as an ally. That I will use my power to push the Liberal government to act on the world stage to protect our environment and respect human rights. We have to build a strong transatlantic relationship to tackle challenges — challenges that cross borders, like the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis. As a first step, we must make Canada a renewable energy super-power to create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs here at home and tackle the climate crisis in Canada and abroad.”

Does that sound like something from a prime minister?

“I can confirm that the Government of Canada did not pay for these MPs’ travels or contribute to planning this trip,” said a spokesperson on behalf of Prime Minsiter Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly. 

NDP communications director Melanie Richer added: “This trip is not being paid for by Canadian taxpayers and follows all ethics rules for Members of Parliament.” 

It’s still not clear, however, just who is picking up the tab?