Canada to give $25,000 to victims’ families
OTTAWA• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada will give $25,000 to families of victims of flight 752 to help cover expenses, while also continuing to press Iran for full compensation for shooting down the civilian jet.
The government will offer the financial support of $25,000 per victim to families, including both the 57 Canadians and the 29 permanent residents, Trudeau said on Friday, adding that the families need support to arrange travel and cover costs.
“This is a unique and unprecedented situation, because of the international sanctions placed on Iran and the difficulties that imposes on these families,” he said. “We expect Iran to compensate these families, but they can’t wait weeks. They need support now.”
The outlay will cost just over $2 million to the government. Trudeau said he does not expect families to repay these funds with any compensation they may receive from the Iranian government. The prime minister said families of approximately 20 of the victims want their loved ones’ remains returned to be buried in Canada, and he expected some remains would be returned to the country within days.
Trudeau said the Canadian government would expedite visas and waive fees to make it easier for families to travel. He also said the government will set up a national 1-800 line that connect families with a lawyer to provide pro-bono legal advice.
Ukraine International Airlines flight 752
took off from Tehran’s airport on Jan. 8 and
was only minutes into the flight when it was hit by one — and possibly a second — Iranian surface-to-air missile. All 176 people on board, including 57 Canadians, were killed. Of the passengers on the flight, 138 were ultimately bound for Canada.
The bodies of all 11 Ukrainians who died in the crash have been identified and will be
transported to Ukraine on Jan. 19, the interior
ministry in Kiev said in a statement.
For days following the crash, Iranian authorities blamed a mechanical issue, but in a stunning admission last week they admitted they had accidentally shot down the plane.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-philippe Champagne was in Oman this week to meet
with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, and
discuss the issue.
WE EXPECT IRAN TO COMPENSATE THESE FAMILIES, BUT THEY CAN’T WAIT WEEKS.
According to a readout of the meeting provided by Champagne’s office, Iran agreed to “a transparent analysis of the black box data,” which are the flight recorders from the plane.
In addition, they discussed the need for Iran to provide full access to officials from Canada and other countries affected so they can “provide consular services, assist in ensuring victim identification meets international standards and participate in a thorough and transparent investigation.” They also discussed Iran’s duty to compensate the families of the victims.
A summary of the meeting on Iran’s foreign ministry website said that Zarif promised co-operation during the investigation, and that Zarif and Champagne agreed to meet again.
That meeting came after Canada and representatives from Britain, Sweden, Afghanistan and Ukraine — the four other countries with citizens aboard the downed airliner — gathered in London on Thursday.
They came up with a list of demands for Iran, which includes pressing that country to co-operate with the investigation. The countries are all asking that Iran punish those responsible and compensate the families of victims.
Meanwhile, two Canadian investigators from the Transportation Safety Board have been on the ground this week, examining wreckage and visiting the crash site.
“Iran does not have the level of technical expertise and mostly the equipment necessary to be able to analyze these damaged black boxes quickly,” Trudeau said.
“There is a beginning of a consensus that ... (France) would be the right place to send those black boxes to get proper information from them in a rapid way and that is what we are encouraging the Iranian authorities to agree to.”
Trudeau said the Iranian government has cooperated with Canadian investigators, but he made it clear there needs to be an independent international investigation of the incident.
“We have been assured by Iran, but we are also ensuring through the international community that there will be a full, rigorous investigation.”
More than two-thirds of Canadians are not confident there will be a full and accurate account of the disaster, an Angus Reid Institute poll released on Friday said.
The jet was shot down shortly after Iran fired missiles at American bases in Iraq. Those missiles were fired as a response to an earlier American drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Trudeau said earlier in the week that without the heightened tensions, the jet would have had a safe flight, but he made it clear he believes Iran is ultimately to blame.
With Iran facing a deepening crisis as it grapples with unrest at home and rising pressure from abroad, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered his first Friday prayers sermon in eight years.
He called the downing of the civilian airliner a bitter accident that saddened Iran and made its enemies happy.