Feds defend response to Cuba attacks
Government says it moved fast to have diplomats suffering mysterious illnesses assessed
OTTAWA— The federal government is defending its response to the mystery attacks in Cuba that have left some Canadian diplomats and family members suffering health problems, insisting that it moved fast to have those affected assessed by medical professionals.
But a senior official told the Star that it was initially thought that the problem was acoustic in nature and that concerns about brain injuries only emerged months later.
“We acted with the information we had at the time,” the official said.
The department was reacting to concerns revealed to the Star by diplomats and their professional association that Ottawa was slow to react to the risk that was unfolding in 2017 when Canadian and U.S. diplomats suffered concussionlike symptoms in mysterious incidents.
Yet in a Feb. 23, 2018, note to the department, the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers said that “continuity of mission operations was given priority over security.”
As well, those affected have complained about “fragmented, slow and inconsistent” medical assessments they say have delayed diagnoses and treatment.
Those revelations prompted opposition critics this week to urge the federal government to pull out all the stops to ensure those affected get speedy treatment.
“When you send people abroad on behalf of Canada, I think it’s the basic duty of the government to ensure their health and safety,” said NDP MP Hélène Laverdière, the party’s critic for foreign affairs and herself a former foreign services officer.
“They have been slow to react and to take precautions. They’ve left people in peril and their health might be affected for life,” she told the Star.
That was echoed by Conservative MP Erin O’Toole, who drew parallels to Can- ada’s responsibility to care for military personnel injured on duty.
“I look at the diplomatic corps and service abroad in a very similar way that I look at the military. Anyone who is injured in the line of serving Canada, should be taken care of by their government,” O’Toole said.
The government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he understood the “anger, frustration and ongoing questions” of those affected, especially given that the cause of the health problems remains a mystery.
However, he said that the Global Affairs Canada reacted as best it could when confronted with reports of mysterious attacks and subsequent health symptoms suffered by diplomats and their family members.
He says that Canada was notified about the situation on April 26 when the U.S. ambassador in Havana met with his counterparts from other countries. Managers at the Canadian embassy were informed and were checking on their people. On May 8, all Canadian embassy staff were briefed, he said.
At that point, noises were associated with the incidents suffered by the Americans, leading some to brand it as a “sonic attack.” Yet while some Canadians felt unwell during this time, there had not been similar reports of strange noises that could be definitively linked to an incident, the official said.
That changed on June 1 when a Canadian family suffered a nighttime incident that mirrored what the Americans had experienced — strange noises and instant symptoms that included nosebleeds.
Days later, that family was flown to Miami for medical testing. Global Affairs moved quickly to sign an agreement with the Department of National Defence to have diplomats and family members tested at Ottawa’s Montfort Hospital. The first family was tested June 11 and by July 4, anyone who thought they had symptoms was brought to Ottawa for assessment.
The testing though was focused on acoustic symptoms.
The professional association has complained that some individuals sent to Canada waited weeks and months for appointments.
“Some were tested and others not . . . some members were sent back to Havana without any results or official medical clearance,” the association said in its February note to Global Affairs. During this time, senior officials from Global Affairs, the Privy Council Office and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police trav- elled to Havana to get firsthand accounts of what was happening.
Health Canada also developed baseline testing for employees and family members in Cuba as well as those going to Havana, even just for a short time, though the association has complained that this testing didn’t happen until seven months after the first reported health incident.
The official disputed complaints that diplomats headed to Havana were not properly informed about the risks. “We made it clear to all staff in Havana that they could leave without penalty and thoroughly briefed all outgoing staff,” the official said. He said everyone briefed chose to go to Havana.
The association says that families headed to Havana last summer were only briefed about the situation a few weeks before going and given the chance to withdraw but with no reimbursement of expenses. “They were left with little choice from a financial point of view but to proceed with the posting plans,” the association said.
The official denied reports that the June testing of the Canadian family revealed brain injuries. It was only later that the true severity of the potential injuries from these incidents became clear.
In March, two Canadians travelled to the University of Pennsylvania on their own initiative to be seen by brain injury specialists who had treated U.S. diplomats from Cuba. That testing revealed that the Canadians had suffered the very same brain injuries as the Americans.
The department is looking at medical facilities in Canada that could provide the kind of specialized expertise that the University of Pennsylvania has offered American diplomats.
O’Toole suggested that the Veterans Affairs Department, which provides services for ill and injured military veterans as well as the RCMP, should take on diplomats who suffer health problems in the course of their work.
While U.S. and Canadian officials are making headway in better understanding the medical consequences of the incidents, they remain in the dark about the exact cause.