Defence minister 'didn't know' about Iran strike on base housing Canadians until after media report
Defence Minister David McGuinty said he did not know about a strike on an air base in Kuwait where members of the Canadian Armed Forces were stationed until after it was first reported by a media outlet.
“No, I didn’t know about it before La Presse reported on it,” McGuinty said Thursday in a response to a question about whether he knew about the strike before the story was published, in a press conference in Kitchener, Ont.
McGuinty’s comments come one week after Canadians and members of Parliament only learned of a n attack on a Canadian section of the Ali Al-salem Air Base in Kuwait through a story published by Quebec newspaper La Presse, 11 days after the strike.
The same day the report was published, Chief of the Defence Staff Jennie Carignan, CSIS director Dan Rogers and RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme were seen leaving a cabinet meeting where Prime Minister Mark Carney and his ministers had been huddled all morning.
Also on Thursday, when Carney was asked about the La Presse report later that day during a media availability in the Northwest Territories, he said he is not “the only spokesperson for the government,” adding that all CAF members are safe.
The defence minister has remained reticent for several days in sharing any details on the incident, citing the operational security of CAF personnel on the ground . This month it was confirmed that nearly 200 personnel are stationed in the region.
“I was first informed about the situation in the Middle East while abroad with the Prime Minister on a global tour in the Indo Pacific,” said McGuinty. “As a matter of practice, we don’t comment for operational security reasons on these kinds of situations, our first and foremost responsibility is to the safety, for the safety and security of the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces.”
McGuinty and the Liberal government have faced criticism from opposition leaders about their lack of transparency and their failure to inform members of Parliament and Canadians about the incident. Opposition leaders who hold security clearances have expressed interest in receiving a briefing on the Middle East .
Conservative Defence Critic James Bezan called the minister’s comments “unacceptable.”
“Either Minister McGuinty didn’t know, which is failure of leadership, or he did know and is lying to Canadians,” said Bezan, in a statement. “As Minister of National Defence, he is regularly briefed, and has the ability to get briefed as frequently as he requests.”
“It appears that once again the Liberals are changing their stories to cover up their incompetence,” he added. “I will be holding the Minister to account next week in Parliament.”
McGuinty did not commit to providing briefings, but encouraged all the leaders of the parties to obtain their security clearances. This follows the defence minister’s earlier comments this week where he accused the Conservative Party of compromising security of Canadian military members and encouraged Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to get a briefing on the threat environment.
— More to come.
-with files from Dale Carruthers and Stephanie Taylor
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