Iran’s civil aviation authority has said it’s following international rules and will allow other countries to participate in its investigation of a plane crash that killed 63 Canadians.
But the role Canada is being offered by Tehran amounts to the bare minimum required by the international legal convention on aviation accident investigations — and at this point does not include active participation in the probe into the crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 on Wednesday, or access to information from the flight data recorder.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today that won’t be enough — that Canada needs full access for its experts to help with the investigation.
“The families of the victims and all Canadians want answers,” said Trudeau. “I want answers. That means closure, transparency, accountability and justice.”
‘I think it is too soon to be drawing conclusions,” Trudeau says. 0:31
The Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed by 193 governments around the world, includes standards and requirements for international co-operation on aircraft accident investigations.
Since Canadians died onboard Flight PS752 in Tehran, Canada has some rights that kick in automatically, according to the international requirements.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is allowed to appoint an expert to the investigation. The agency already has designated an expert who can visit the scene of the crash. The TSB confirmed Thursday that Iranian authorities have invited it to the crash site and it’s “making arrangements” to travel there.
Canada’s designated expert also will be able to receive and review information released by Iran’s aviation officials, monitor the progress of the investigation, and receive a copy of the final report according to the convention.
‘These families need their answers’
David McNair is a former veteran Canadian aviation safety investigator with the TSB. He said the level of access to the investigation Iran is offering is “quite limiting for countries who lost citizens.”
“They don’t get information on the witness interviews, the flight data recorder information,” said McNair. “They’re quite limited … A lot of questions have to be answered and you have to wait for [the] investigating authority to release information.
“These families need their answers and they need them quickly. It’s a very tough situation.”
The TSB can ask for additional information and offer the Iranians its expertise. But there’s no guarantee that offer will be taken up, said the TSB.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne has put pressure on his Iranian counterpart to grant Canada deeper access and permit it to take an active role in the investigation. Canada cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012. The Trudeau government has since tried without success to re-establish diplomatic relations.
Canada appeals to Ukraine
Since Canada is without an embassy in Iran, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he hopes it can get access to the investigation through Ukraine, and has offered Ukraine technical assistance with the probe.
The State Aviation Administration of Ukraine is also investigating the accident, since the aircraft belonged to a Ukrainian carrier. Transport Canada said it has expertise in aircraft design, maintenance and flight operations and is ready to assist.
WATCH: Ukraine mourns, sends investigators to Iran
A day of mourning was declared in Ukraine as the country sends crash investigators to Iran to determine the cause of the crash. 1:56
If Ukraine or Iran accepts Canada’s request for clearance to help with the investigation, it would give Canada access to a ‘second tier’ of the investigation. According to the international rules, an invitation from Iran or Ukraine (or both) could entitle Canadian authorities to participate in all aspects of the investigation under Iran’s investigator-in-charge. That access would include:
Visiting the scene of the accident.
Examining the wreckage.
Obtaining witness information and suggesting areas of questioning.
Full access to all relevant evidence as soon as possible.
Copies of all pertinent documents.
Participation in off-scene investigative activities, including examinations, tests, simulations and technical briefings.
Participation in investigative progress meetings, including deliberations related to analysis, findings, causes, contributing factors and safety recommendations.
Canada also could make its own submissions to the investigation. The final investigation report is supposed to be completed within a year.
WATCH: The challenge of investigating a plane crash with Iran
Canada’s last diplomat in Iran, Dennis Horak, talks to Adrienne Arsenault about the challenges Canada faces as it looks for answers into what brought down Flight 752 because there is no diplomatic relationship between the countries. 3:20
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
