Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected Sunday evening in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, where a flying object was shot down by a NORAD fighter jet on Saturday because it “violated Canadian airspace”.
“The safety of citizens is our top priority. That’s why I made the decision to shoot down this unidentified object,” the Prime Minister said in a brief statement to the media Sunday morning in Ottawa.
If this visit was already planned in the capital of the Yukon, as part of the festivities of the 50e anniversary of the Council of Yukon First Nations, the Prime Minister will no doubt have to answer questions about this other “balloon”, according to the qualifier used by the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Wayne Eyre, the day before that he was accompanying the Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand, to take stock of the situation.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) publicly revealed the presence of the object over Canada’s far north on Saturday afternoon and it was an American F22 fighter jet that shot it down .
Trudeau will go to the field
” This evening [dimanche]I will meet with Aboriginal leaders, including leaders who could be affected by the descent of the object and tomorrow morning, I will speak to the Premier of Yukon,” said Mr. Trudeau.
“You see how seriously NORAD, Canada and the United States take these potential threats. We will find out more when we analyze the object that we find on the ground, ”said the Prime Minister.
Justin Trudeau reiterated that he had discussions with US President Joe Biden regarding this new incident in North American airspace, as he first stated in a series of tweets on Saturday.
At a press conference on Saturday evening, the Minister of National Defense, Anita Anand, affirmed that it is too early to know for sure if the “cylindrical” object which was shot down over the Yukon on Saturday came from China, but however, she hinted that it could indeed be another Chinese “spy balloon”.
“Early indications suggest this object is potentially similar to the one that was shot down off North Carolina, although it is smaller and cylindrical in shape,” Ms.me Anand, in reference to the Chinese balloon destroyed on February 5 by the United States.
If Mme Anand spoke of a ‘cylindrical object’ throughout his press briefing, Chief of the Defense Staff General Wayne Eyre referred to the object as a ‘balloon’ during the same meeting with the journalists.
Third Incident
The object shot down in the Yukon on Saturday is the third to violate North American airspace in the past two weeks, but the first to be revealed as it flew over Canada.
An alleged Chinese “spy balloon” had returned to the United States after flying over Alaska and parts of western Canada two weeks ago, before being publicly identified on February 1. The balloon was shot down off North Carolina on February 5.
A second object was shot down after flying into Alaskan airspace on Friday. US officials did not provide any details on the nature of this object, except to say that it was different from the first Chinese balloon. He was also shot.