PM seeking full investigation
At least 63 Canadians killed on doomed flight
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is demanding a thorough investigation of an airline crash that left at least 63 Canadians dead in Iran on Wednesday morning.
The jet crashed just after takeoff, killing Canadians from cities across the country. Academics and students, young children and newlyweds were all among the dead after the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737800 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran bound for Kyiv.
The Peace Tower’s flag was ordered to half- mast. Trudeau said it was a national tragedy for Canada and expressed condolences to the loved ones of all those who died.
“They all had so much potential, so much life ahead of them,” he said. “While no words will erase your pain, I want you to know an entire country is grieving with you.”
He said 138 of the 176 passengers on the doomed jet were ultimately bound for Canada, set to take a connecting flight to Toronto, and foreign affairs has indicated the number of Canadians among the dead may rise.
The prime minister spoke with several world leaders Wednesday and said the government would work with other countries to find out what happened in the crash, which came just after the Iranian government shot ballistic missiles at military bases in Iraq.
“Our government will continue to work closely with its partners to ensure that this crash is thoroughly investigated,” he said.
He said nothing could be ruled out at this point, including a missile strike, but he said people should not jump to conclusions.
“It is too early to speculate. I encourage people not to speculate.”
Transport Minister Marc Garneau said the limited information that was available so far was not enough to draw any conclusions.
“It took off in a normal fashion, climbed to altitude, a very standard departure. However, we lost contact with it, suggesting something very unusual happened,” he said.
Garneau said both the Transportation Safety Board and Transport Canada were offering assistance to authorities in Iran and Ukraine to help with the investigation.
Iranian authorities have said they won’t be sharing the two black boxes from the plane with Boeing, the plane manufacturer.
Canada has no diplomatic ties with Iran after the former Conservative government cut ties and closed the embassy in Tehran in 2012. Trudeau said Foreign Affairs Minister François- Philippe Champagne was set to speak with his Iranian counterpart later on Wednesday and Canada would have a role in the crash investigation.
“I am confident that we are going to be able to be part of the investigation,” he said. “Canada is one of a handful of countries that has a high degree of expertise when it comes to these types of investigations.”
Trudeau said he was also hopeful that consular teams would be able to go to Iran to help families repatriate their loved ones’ remains to Canada.
The plane crashed just hours after Iran fired missiles at two military bases in Iraq, where Canadian troops are also stationed. The strike was a retaliation for the fatal strike last week against Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
No Canadians or Americans were injured in the strike. The NATO mission Canada is a part of has been on pause since Soleimani’s death, but Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance said the troops were ready to resume the mission when called upon.
U. S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the strike against Soleimani was necessary to prevent an attack against America.
“Last week we took decisive action to stop a ruthless terrorist from threatening American lives,” Trump said.
Trump said Wednesday’s missile strikes in Iraq had not resulted in any casualties and Iran did not appear to be contemplating further strikes.
“Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” said Trump.
Without offering more details, Trump said he would be asking for more support from NATO countries for future operations. “Today, I am going to ask NATO to become much more involved in the Middle East,” he said.
Canada already has troops in Iraq, as part of a NATO mission working to train Iraqi soldiers and combat ISIS, or as it is also known Daesh. That mission has removed the terrorist group from territory across Iraq and Syria.
Trudeau spoke with Trump on Wednesday, but said the U. S. president did not offer more information on what he is looking for from NATO or make a specific request of Canada.
“We talked about the importance of continuing the fight against Daesh and continuing to stabilize Iraq.”
Canada raised its travel advisory in Iran on Wednesday, advising all Canadians to avoid any non- essential travel to the country.
Those needing help can contact the department’s response centre at 613- 9968885 or 1- 800- 387- 3124, or by sending an email to sos@international.gc.ca.