After his rather authoritarian crackdown on “Freedom Convoy” truckers last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to be attempting to rehab his reputation with other Western democracies.

So with that in mind, he made it a point to announce that, amid Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine last week, his country will no longer be partaking in Russian oil, which is the primary source of income for President Vladimir Putin’s government.

Trudeau’s stance differs from that of the United States, which is currently importing around 550,000-600,000 barrels of Russian crude daily, though before Joe Biden took over the reins of power last year, his predecessor, President Donald Trump, had turned America into an energy-producing powerhouse and a net energy independent oil and gas exporter.

“Today, we are announcing our intention to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia, an industry that has benefited President Putin and his oligarchs greatly,” Trudeau declared, Bloomberg reported.

The stance had the desired effect; Trudeau got some adoring press:

• Reuters: “Canada to supply anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, ban Russian oil imports”
• BBC: “Canada to ban imports of crude oil from Russia”
• Times of Israel: “Trudeau announces Canada ban on Russian oil imports”
• Canada’s Global News: “Premier Kenney encouraged by Trudeau ban on Russian oil, wants Biden to follow suit”
• Bloomberg: “Trudeau Says Canada to Ban Russian Crude Oil Imports”
• Calgary Herald: “Canada banning all oil imports from Russia, sending anti-tank weapons to Ukraine”

Only, there’s just one catch.

Canada hasn’t bought oil from Russia in years.

In a short update at the very bottom of Bloomberg’s report, there’s this admission: “Canada hasn’t imported any crude oil from Russia since 2019, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told lawmakers on Monday.”

The Blaze notes:

And though Trudeau did admit in passing during his announcement that “Canada has imported very little amounts in recent years,” many reports hailed the PM’s announcement but glossed over his admission and hyped the “message” Trudeau was sending to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and his lackeys in the Kremlin.

For example, the Global News echoed the PM’s statement that “Canada is not a major importer of oil from Russia” while linking to a government report showing that not only is Canada “not a major importer,” but had not imported any Russian crude since 2019 — something that neither Trudeau nor the newspaper bothered to point out.

Reuters’ and the BBC’s reporting skipped over the fact that Canada has bought no Russian crude in years and instead highlighted data on the $228 million worth of Russian energy Canada imported in 2021, making Trudeau’s announcement appear more serious than it was.

Both the Reuters and BBC reports glossed over the reality that Canada hasn’t bought Russian crude in a couple of years, highlighting instead information that the country had purchased $228 million worth of “energy” from Russia last year, making Trudeau’s announcement appear to be far more serious than it was.

Now, if the United States — i.e. the Biden regime — really wanted to hurt Russia, the president would announce during his State of the Union Address Tuesday evening that a) he was ending all importation of Russian oil; b) restarting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline; and c) reopening federal lands to oil exploration and drilling.

In short, he would replace Trump’s energy independence policies and not look back.

But sadly, we know that he won’t do that.