As a second round of talks gets underway between Ukraine and Iran on the destruction of Flight PS752, an Iranian official said today Canada has no part in the negotiations and called Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne “impolite.”
Saeed Khatibzadeh, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, apparently took offence when Minister François-Philippe Champagne said recently that Canada will hold the Iranian “regime” to account.
“I am so … sorry that the Canadian nation must witness such literature from such a foreign minister,” said Khatibzadeh in Farsi today from Tehran.
Earlier this month, Champagne joined Canadian victims’ families protesting on Parliament Hill and said that Canada will not be “intimidated ever by an Iranian regime who would not want us to get to the bottom of this.”
Ukraine’s delegation, headed by its deputy foreign minister, is in Iran for three days of meetings that began today with Iranian officials and the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization. Three working groups are expected to discuss Iran’s investigation, judicial process and compensation for the airline and victims’ families.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, told CBC News earlier this month that Ukraine would be representing at the talks all five countries — Canada included — that lost citizens when Iranian military forces mistakenly shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Jan. 8, killing everyone onboard.
Shevchenko said the Ukrainian delegation will be pushing Iran for answers, accountability and compensation.
Today, Khatibzadeh said Iran will not be dealing with Canada.
“Canada is not a conflicted party. The friendly Ukraine government and people are our conflicted party,” said Khatibzaeh in Farsi.
“Our approach toward the Ukrainian plane is clear. It was a very bad tragedy. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s responsibility is to fulfil the right of the victims and their families of this incident and fix it.”
The destruction of PS752 claimed the lives of 176 passengers — including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
Ukraine has gone through one round of talks with Iran already. On Oct. 5, Shevchenko told CBC News that Iran asked his government to cut other countries out of the talks.
“I would be fair to say, yes, Iran has approached Ukraine with a proposal to deal with these issues bilaterally,” Shevchenko told CBC News. “Our response is we prefer to deal with the situation all together, with all the countries involved. It’s very important for us to have a joint position and speak [with] one voice.”
Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and the U.K. also lost citizens when PS752 went down. Canada spearheaded the International Coordination and Response group to put pressure on Iran to provide transparency and accountability in response to the crash.
Ukraine has launched a criminal investigation of the incident and the RCMP is assisting with the investigation, Canadian officials have said. The Canadian government announced this month it’s also creating its own forensics and assessment team to “collect, organize and analyze all available information, evidence and intelligence” from Flight PS752.
Champagne’s office said today the minister is “actively working with his international partners to advocate for thorough and credible investigations to uncover the causes and those responsible for this terrible tragedy.”
“Canada will work tirelessly to ensure that the families of the victims can get the answers they deserve,” said Champagne’s press secretary Syrine Khoury in a media statement.
Hamed Esmaeilion — whose wife Parisa Eghbalian and her nine-year old daughter Reera Esmaeilion died on Flight PS752 — is the spokesperson for an association representing victims’ families in Canada. He said Khatibzadeh’s comments about Canada’s position made him angry.
“I got really upset when I heard that this morning,” he said. “I think they’re not in a position to give Canada morality lessons.”
He said he sees Khatibzadeh’s comments as an attempt to divide the countries demanding transparency and justice from Iran.
Esmaeilion said Iran is trying to argue Canada has no right to be involved in the talks because it does not recognize dual nationality.
His association is urging the Ukrainian delegation to focus on holding Iran accountable and seeking justice before talking about compensation for families.
Iran denied shooting down the Ukrainian aircraft for three days after the crash. As international pressure and evidence began to mount, Tehran admitted its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “mistakenly” shot down the jet just hours after Iran’s forces fired missiles at Iraqi bases where U.S. troops were stationed.
That attack was retaliation for an American drone strike that killed a high-ranking Iranian military general in Iraq.
In July, Champagne rejected a report by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization claiming that human error was to blame for the jet’s destruction.
That report stated that the IRGC had moved its surface-to-air missile battery and didn’t properly reorientate it afterwards, causing it to fire in the wrong direction. The report also said a communication breakdown led those manning the missile battery to misidentify the commercial jet as a threat, and that they opened fired twice without getting approval from ranking officers.
Champagne also accused Iran of “stalling” when it waited for roughly seven months to send the plane’s black boxes to Paris for download and analysis. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization’s preliminary report in August said that the flight recorders captured only 19 seconds of the cockpit conversation after the first missile strike — it did not reveal details of what that recording captured. A second missile hit the plane 25 seconds later, according to Iran.
Several Canadian cabinet ministers, including Champagne, said the report provided only “limited and selected information” and demanded that Iran explain why the airspace over Tehran was kept open on a night of heavy military activity, and why the missiles were launched in the first place.
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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