Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today. I am happy to be back, this time as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
We all remember January 8, 2020. We remember our feelings of devastation from the tragedy. We remember our grief over the incredible lives lost. The downing of flight PS752 is a Canadian tragedy.
Let me begin by reiterating my deep condolences to the families for their loss.
I have had the opportunity to speak with families a number of times over the past year. Each encounter is a painful reminder of their heartbreaking loss. The stories and incredible lives of their loved ones touched so many of us. They will be remembered.
From the beginning, the government has been focused on providing families and loved ones with the support they need.
Global Affairs’ consular team worked around the clock to deliver services and deployed a team to Iran to provide immediate local assistance to families. Officials worked to respect the wishes of the families to repatriate their loved ones. They brought in Farsi speakers to translate documents and answer questions. Counselling services, legal advice and expedited banking support were all arranged for families free of charge. Visas were facilitated to enable relatives to travel to Canada to settle affairs and to support surviving family members, with all fees waived. RCMP coordinated local police across the country to offer continuing support to all family members.
To reduce the immediate financial burden, as families dealt with the loss of their loved ones, $25,000 per victim was made available to families for emergency costs. Canada matched private donations to the Canada Strong campaign. Talks were opened with the airlines to ensure prompt compensation, as required by law.
Our support to the families continues to this day, with regular communication with families. In December the Prime Minister designated January 8 of each year as the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Air Disasters. We are offering a pathway to permanent residence to family members, establishing scholarships in memory of those lost on PS752, and will establish a physical tribute in remembrance of air disasters.
From that very first day the Prime Minister was also absolutely clear. Canadians and the families have questions, and they deserve answers from Iran. We knew that getting a full accounting of the causes of this tragedy from Iran was going to be a long and difficult process. Only Iran has full access to the evidence, the crash site, witnesses, and those ultimately responsible. Iran’s initial denials of responsibility, and their lack of transparency since, has not inspired confidence.
The government continues to work tirelessly and in coordination with other nations affected by this tragedy.
To keep Iran accountable for its actions, Canada founded the PS752 international coordination and response group to bring the voices and efforts of all the grieving nations together. We have repeatedly raised PS752 at the ICAO Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council and just recently, last week, at the G7.
In March 2020, our government appointed the Honourable Ralph Goodale as the Prime Minister’s special adviser on PS752. In December 2020, he delivered his report. In it, Special Advisor Goodale asked 23 groups the critical questions we expected Iran to answer.
Despite Iran’s final report, released in March of this year—14 months after the downing—we are still without a complete accounting of the events that led to the disaster.
We knew that we could not trust Iran to produce these answers. This is why we stood up the Canadian Forensic Examination and Assessment Team. We await their final analysis, but we fully expect a transparent account of what Canada knows and an assessment of Iran’s final report, including what questions remain outstanding.
We are now entering into the process of negotiations with Iran to ensure that they make full reparations, which includes a transparent accounting of the true causes of this tragedy, as well as compensations.
We enter this process with eyes wide open. Our focus will be on getting answers backed with credible evidence from Iran, first and foremost, for the victims and their grieving families. We will also ensure that we receive assurances, in concrete terms, that measures have been put in place to prevent such a tragedy from occurring in the future.
Throughout this process we will continue to keep the world’s attention on this issue. We will raise it at every appropriate multilateral venue. Our resolve will not fade. And we will never forget. This is our solemn promise to the families of the victims, and indeed all Canadians.
I look forward to your questions.