Maple Leaf Foods CEO criticizes ‘narcissist in Washington’ after Iran deaths
TORONTO – After the Flight 752 disaster killed his colleague’s wife and son, Michael McCain, chief executive of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., took to Twitter on Sunday night to admonish the Trump administration for escalating tensions with Iran.
“I am very angry, and time isn’t making me less angry,” McCain wrote on Maple
Leaf Foods’ official Twitter account.
“A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran.”
McCain is at the helm of a major Canadian meat processing empire, with 12,500 employees and production facilities in Canada and the U.S., including a planned $310-million plantbased protein plant in Indiana.
Without ever naming
Donald Trump — referring to him instead “a narcissist in Washington” — McCain criticized the president’s abandonment of the Iran nuclear agreement and the recent U.S. killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
Iran retaliated with missile strikes on U.S. military positions in Iraq, then hours later, Iran fired on Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, killing on 176, the majority of them en route to Canada via Kiev.
After initially denying any involvement, Iran admitted on Friday to shooting down the plane, calling it a “disastrous mistake” caused by human error.
“The collateral damage of this irresponsible, dangerous, illconceived behaviour 63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire,” McCain said.
The Canadian government has since updated its figure to 57 Canadians killed.
“We are mourning and I am livid,” McCain wrote.
Iran admitted on Saturday that it accidentally shot down the plane in which 57 Canadians, mostly of Iranian descent, died.
Iran said its air defences were fired in error while on alert after Iranian missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday told a vigil for some of those killed in the disaster that he would “pursue justice and accountability” for what happened.